TRAGEDY AT THE POS KOTA AMBON

AMBON MUSLIMS WERE TORTURED BY MARINERS

Ambon, 10 SEPTEMBER 1999

The tragedy befell on Ambon muslims has not seemed to end. When the
security force being asked for their credilibility in ensuring safety,
once again they did a terrible action which destroyed the image of the
country's security force. Today, at 15.50 local time, the mariner corps
brutally tortured and shot the muslims who were at the cross-junction (the
end of Ay Patty street) in front of Local Police Station Sirimau, facing
the remains of Pelita shopping centre which was burnt. Tens of muslims who
were there became the victims of the brutality of the mariners. Not only
this. the torture by mariners was also done in front of Al Fatah Mosque .
A father was shot in front of Jami' Mosque which was next to Al Fatah
Mosque Ambon.

POS KOTA TRAGEDY

The incident at Pos Kota was inseparable with the disturbance and
initial attack done by the extreme christian group. At 12.00 local time,
when the Ambon muslims were about to do Jum'ah Prayer, a group of
christians from Air Mata Cina disturbed and threw things to the muslims
who were going to Ponegoro, where they lived. The Ponegoro muslims then
run to Soabali. As a result, the Soabali muslims were angry because of the
attack from the christians. Within a very short time, tens of muslim
masses gathered in Soabali. At the time, several muslims lead by H. Amir
Tuasamu were negotiating with the mariners chief, Letkol Ivan. While the
negotiation has not yet finished, mariners who saw muslims fired upwards.
As the result, muslims ran away from the crowds.

The impact of the christian mass disturbance in Soabali was that after
Jum'ah Prayer, at 14.45 local time, the jihad troop was released from the
Jamie Mosque, Ambon. The troop consisted of more than 150 people. Mostly
wore whites, with white and green headban. Their ages were mostly
young, some were even 10 yrs old children. The troop was divided into
several groups. The plan was that the muslims would be directed towards
the border between the muslim and christian areas to defend themselves and
prevent the possibility of the christian attack.

The muslim mass then gathered in front of the cross-section (at the end of
Ay Patty street, in front of Local Police Station Sirimau, beside of Ambon
District Attorney).

Security force from the mariner corps blokaded the street in front of the
Ambon District Attorney. The number of the mariners exceeded 30
personnels. Suhfi Majid, the secretary of Justice Centre for Ambonese
Ummah Care who was at the location explained that when the muslim mass
gathered, one of the muslim mass leader lead the muslims to recite dzikr,
shalawat and takbir. Tens of people in the mass sat down and recited dzikr
and takbir. At 15.30 local time - continued Rusli Lausepa, one of the eye
witness - one of the chiefs of the mariner coprs then asked the muslims to
step back and maintai security. While negotiating and the muslims stepped
back, suddenly there were shootings from the mariner corps. The muslim
mass did not attack. At the first shooting, the muslims ran back. At that
time, tear gas was sprayed by the mariners followed by direct shootings to
the muslims. The mariners shootings were directed right to the muslims who
were running. Tens of victims fell, identified as 8 died, 52 badly injured
(explained Rasyid Kaisyupi, Sabili correspondent at the incident location
and who helped to carry the shooting victims). All victims were rushed to
Al Fatah Hospital in critical condition. Two persons who were dead were
shot at the head, their brain appeared and their heads got holes. One had
bullet at the tigh, whilst another victim was shot at the stomach, his
intestines appeared. One of the dead victims was a 15 yrs old teenager.
Tens of the victims are still in critical condition.

TORTURE IN FRONT OF AL FATAH.

The massive number of victims fell in front of Local Police Station
Sirimau caused many muslims in front of Al Fatah Mosque to get angry and
they gathered at the cross junction near the Simpang Shop. The mariner
coprs again did a brutal act by shooting this mass. According to Mr.
Ridwan who was in the crowd, the mariner corps took shooting position with
a clear direction, to the muslim mass who temporarily gathered. At the
time, one of the muslims was only doing oration to react to the torture
done by mariners at Pos Kota.

The muslim mass was then bombarded by bullets. Four teenagers became
shooting victims. One man was even shot at the Jamie Mosque verandah (400
m from the Simpang Shop). The mariner's bullets target was not only the
muslims, but also the Al Fatah Mosque. The front door and the walls of
Al Fatah Grand Mosque got holes from the mariners shooting.

The torture done by mariners was the second one after the last 25 August
torture. Again, the victims were the Ambonese muslims. The Pos Kota
tragedy was most heart breaking. An unhumane torture. The shootings were
done by the mariners when the muslims stepped back and not at the
attacking position at all. It is a wise decision to withdraw the mariners,
who took an unclear position in this matter. Their positioning in Ambon
was only to add to the problems, not to solve it. There even arised an
opinion in the muslims community, that questioned the netrality of the
Chief of Military Area Pattimura - Brigjen Max Tamaela - in POS KOTA
tragedy.

Investigation Team