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Untitled Document
Jakarta/Brussels, 17 May 2004: The Indonesian government should give urgent priority
to identifying and prosecuting the snipers responsible for dozens of deaths recently
in Ambon, the site of bitter communal violence between 1999 and 2001, lest new
killings disturb fragile Muslim-Christian peace as national elections approach.
In a briefing published today, Indonesia:
Violence Erupts Again in Ambon*, the International Crisis Group notes that
many who live in the Moluccan island city believe the violence that erupted
on 25 April, the anniversary of a short-lived Republic of the South Moluccas
that tried to break away from Indonesia in 1950, was provoked. Two-thirds of
some 40 people killed were Muslim, most shot to the head, neck, or chest. (Others
died of machete wounds.) An additional 200, Muslims and Christians alike, were
wounded, and close to 10,000 people were displaced.
The shootings took place after members of the pro-independence Front for Moluccan
Sovereignty (known by its Indonesian initials FKM) held a ceremony at the house
of their group's exiled founder, Alex Manuputty, on the morning of 25 April.
FKM, a largely Christian organisation, sees itself as continuing the struggle
for the Republic of the South Moluccas. Manuputty had been detained on rebellion
charges, but late last year, was released on a technicality and fled to the
United States.
"The failure of the local police to prepare adequately for the 25 April
commemorations was clearly a factor in this outbreak", said Robert Templer,
ICG's Asia Program Director, "but the key questions are who were the snipers,
and why did they open fire?" Those questions need to be answered in a thorough,
transparent, and impartial investigation, or the risk of another round of violence
will be serious.
ICG discounts the government's quick presumption that the gunmen belonged to
FKM or radical Muslim groups. The former have no sniper capacity, the latter
would not have aimed at members of their own community. Much speculation has
focused on members or ex-members of the security forces, who would have the
necessary marksmanship. But no hard evidence at this stage supports any of the
conspiracy theories that link the killings to the national presidential elections
later this summer or local police-military rivalry.
The new ICG paper looks at how the violence began, the missteps made by officials
in addressing it, and the different theories that have emerged to explain it.
"The richness of the conspiracy theories is equalled by the paucity of
hard facts", said Templer. "The longer the snipers remain unidentified,
the greater the chance of a new round of violence in a sensitive place and at
a sensitive time for Indonesia's democracy".
Read the full ICG report here
in ms word format.
Source: ICG
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