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Lawamena
Victoria
Reports
by
CRISIS
CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 - Ambon 97124 ( Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
e-mail [email protected]
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THE
SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS - Report No. 300
2002-06-21
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Ambon,
July 21, 2002
1.
THE INDEPENDENT INQUIRY TEAM – Eleven of the
fourteen members of the Independent Inquiry Team arrived in Ambon
last July 10 to start preliminary activities. Team leader Drs. I
Wayang Karya declared to the newsmedia that since their mandate
had been issued on June 6, the team members had been preparing
themselves both by consulting relevant literature and by meeting
with various persons that made them acquainted with the general
and actual situation of the Moluccas, naturally focusing their
attention on the conflict and its implications. The presence of
the Inquiry Team in Ambon is the implementation of point 6 of the
Moluccas Agreement of Malino: “A national independent team will
be established to investigate conclusively on the event of January
19, 1999 [the start of the conflict]”.
Meeting
with the Provincial House of Representatives, I Wayang Karya
explained that the Team’s aim was purely investigation and
gathering of facts; they had no executive or judicial power.
Members of the House of Representatives insisted that any
involvement of military and police should not be overlooked by the
Team.
Meanwhile
the “Group of Eleven”, calling themselves “Forum Musyawarah
Umat Muslim Maluku” = Moluccas Muslim Meeting Forum (see
Report 241), refused to meet with the team. Chairman Husni
Putuhena declared that they disagree with the team’s presence in
the Moluccas.
2.
TURMOIL ABOUT AN AUSTRALIAN FISHING BOAT – On July
10, 2002, an Australian fishing boat, the “Alfred Nobel”, came
and anchored off the coast of the island of Ambon facing the
(Christian) village of Amahusu. They were found to have three
standard rifles on board. On learning this piece of news, a ship
was sent from the naval base of Halong, which then brought the
fishing boat up to Halong. This caused two local news media, the
Muslim SPMM Radio Station and the usually accurate (Muslim run)
Ambon Express daily newspaper, to suppose that the boat had come
to drop weaponry for the “RMS/FKM Christians”. However, the
weapons turned out to have been officially sealed by the customs
in Ambon and were saved in a box. The Governor himself explained
that the boat had been given permission to operate in the Moluccas
in joint venture with a Moluccan fishing company. The immigration
office in Ambon declared that on April 30, 2002, they had issued
permit on the name of captain John Calvin to operate in the
Moluccas for ten years. The rifles were a precaution of the crew
against any pirates they might meet. They had dropped anchor at
Amahusu in order to forage. The vessel was set free again on July
15 and has left Ambon.
3.
DARWIN–AMBON YACHT RACE – The traditional annual
Darwin-Ambon yacht race, which used to take place around the month
of July, had not taken place during these last three years due to
the unrest in the Moluccas. However, the Darwin Sailing Club, upon
learning that not all of the Moluccas was closed to foreigners,
together with the Bupati
at Saumlaki proposed to revive the tradition this year, altering
it slightly into a “Darwin-Saumlaki Race”. Saumlaki is the
capital of the newly erected Kabupaten
(sub-province) of the Western South-East Molucccas. It should then
be held on 25-27 July, 2002. However, it seems that for security
reasons Governor M.S. Latuconsina is inclined to disapprove of the
event for the time being, although Saumlaki is considered to be a
safe and secure area.
4.
TEMPORARY SOLUTION TO POLITICAL CONFLICT IN S.E.MOLUCCAS
– The unruly political competition concerning the
succession of the “Bupati” (head) of the Kabupaten
(sub-province) of the South-East Moluccas for the period 2002-2007
in Tual (see Report 293),
is calming down now that the Minister of Interior Affairs has
appointed Drs. A.G. Wokanubun as “caretaking” Bupati. The
hand-over ceremony will probably take place on July 21, 2002.
Wokanubun will lead the Kabupaten until a definitive Bupati will
be chosen, which has to be realized within six months’ time.
5.
RUMOUR ABOUT TOBELO – Recently there was some
tenseness in Tobelo, North Halmahera, probably in connection with
the fact that combined security forces had confiscated a number of
weapons from Muslims. Consequently some houses were burned and a
church was damaged by fire. On Sunday, July 14, the local
government organized a meeting between local Christians and
Muslims. The conclusion was that the trouble was caused by a
“third party”. We received this information from a trustworthy
source in Ternate, who also praised the military forces and the
Governor for the way they managed to cope with the suddenly
arising tenseness.
6.
YAFAR UMAR THALIB ACCUSES THE GOVERNMENT – Since
Monday, July 15, the Ambon district Court in a series of
preliminary sessions (“sidang praperadilan”) has been handling
the case in which Laskar Jihad leader Yafar Umar Thalib – still
under arrest in Jakarta – accuses the Prosecutor of the Moluccas
of unlawful detention and demands the court to declare the letter
of detention illegal. The request by the accusing party to have
Yafar himself present at the proceedings in Ambon was rejected as
he was deemed to be sufficiently represented by his lawyer, Made
Rachman Marasabessy. The legal process attracks much attention and
a crowded courthouse from a considerable number of Yafar
supporters. Up to Thursday some minor skirmishes with the Kopassus
security forces at the courthouse could not be avoided. On
Wednesday the accusing party proposed a settlement of the case
under condition that the Prosecutor of the Moluccas acknowledges
that the detention of Yafar was wrong, even criminal.
N.B.
Technical failure at the server caused an interruption in
e-mail connection since July 11.
We apologize to those who met
a “full mailbox”.
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C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
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