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Civil
emergency ends in N. Maluku after three years
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The
Jakarta Post
May
20, 2003
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Civil emergency ends in N.
Maluku after three years
National News - May 20, 2003
The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Almost at the same time that
President Megawati Soekarnoputri imposed martial law in Aceh to
start a war, she issued a decree to end three years of civil
emergency in North Maluku.
Presidential Decree No.27/2003 took
effect as of May 18, one day before Megawati issued Decree No. 28
to impose martial law in Aceh, Cabinet deputy secretary Erman
Rajagukguk told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Decree No. 27 annulled Presidential
Decree No. 88/2000, which president Abdurrahman Wahid issued on
North Maluku and Maluku in 2000.
Muslim and Christians had been
fighting each other for almost three years in both provinces, in a
conflict that claimed the lives of some 5,000 people.
Compared to martial law, civilian
rulers remain in control under a state of civil emergency.
Both, however, put a lid on
civilian rights, with a possibility of curfews and news blackouts.
But now North Maluku has seen a
steep drop in the level of violence. A peace agreement signed last
year took the province back to normal life.
The government decided to lift the
state of emergency last month because of the improved security
condition.
Maluku, meanwhile, remains under
civil emergency with no plans to lift it any time soon.
The government considers Maluku
unsafe as sporadic violence continues, and many weapons remain in
civilian hands.
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