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November 20, 2005

Indonesia: More Christians Killed By Suspected Islamists

We wrote earlier on the attacks against Christians in Indonesia. Churches have been closed down, despite government assurances that minorities' rights will be protected. But now the hostility towards Christians is intensifying at a rapid pace in Central Sulawesi.

Three Christian girls were decapitated, and another severely injured in Central Sulawesi, on October 29. The incident took place in Poso, scene of horrific violence between Muslims and Christians, when 1000 people were killed in the period 2000-2001. At Christmas, 1998, the town of Poso had been virtually destroyed by riots. Less than a fortnight after the beheading of the three Christian girls, two more Christians were attacked in Poso on November 8, shot in the head at close range. Though one report claimed the girls had died, the Observer today states they are in critical condition in hospital.

The Observer also states that last week a bomb attack on a minivan in Poso critically injured a young mother, who was among 11 Christians inside.

Today, the Jakarta Post reports that a Christian couple were shot on Saturday evening while returning home from church. The man, a university lecturer, Pudj Laksono and his wife Novlin were attacked by unidentified assailants in Palu, a town not far from Poso in Central Sulawesi. The couple are now being treated in hospital.

On Friday, gunmen shot at three teenagers in Palu, killing one girl.

Yesterday, according to Dog Pundit, the Jakarta Post carried a story of another atrocity in Central Sulawesi. On Friday, three young Christian women encountered assailants. One of the men, weilding a machete, hacked at them. One, Afrianti, was slashed in the neck. Another girl's arm was nearly amputated from the machete. The girls were taken to Wirabuana hospital by Anca, another of the young women, but the hospital refused them entry, saying the wounds were too serious. By the time Anca got her friends to Undata Hospital, Afrianti had bled to death (picture).

Today's Observer carries an in-depth account of the background to these attacks. The point is made that the Indonesian government seems unable to admit that these attacks are the work of Muslims. Instead, the Muslim government claims the attacks are the work of "gangsters" who are trying to upset the equilibrium and commit atrocities to incite Muslim/Christian factional violence.

According to Sidney Jones of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the killings could only have been committed by extremist Muslims linked to the regional networks of terrorism who have been blamed for the Bali attacks.

Claims of army complicity are rife among Christians, who regularly accuse the military of turning a blind eye to the Islamic militia in the area and the smuggling of weapons from the mainland.

Others point to a lack of prosecutions for attacks on Christians and talk darkly of militant training camps in remote valleys, as if to say the next mass slaughter is just around the corner. 'There is a pattern,' says Mona Saroinsong, co-ordinator of the Protestant Church Crisis Centre in Manado, north Sulawesi. 'There have been other attacks apart from the beheadings and shootings and none of the aggressors has been found. The attackers operate in small groups, each with a specific task and area to cover, and wear black masks to avoid being identified. Another similarity with previous attacks is that the head of the police was elsewhere when the killers struck.'

These issues need to be addressed, and dealt with fast. The mother of Noviana Malewa, who is the sole survivor and potential witness for the October 29 beheading attack, is angry.

"My daughter is fighting for her life because she is a Christian. This has nothing to do with local gangsters; it is about religion." she says. "But they won't be able to provoke us, we don't want another war. We want justice, not vengeance. We are suffering enough.'

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 20, 2005 12:31 AM

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