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March 12, 2006
Indonesia: Islamist Attack Creates Renewed Fears In Sulawesi
Sulawesi, an island in the Indonesian archipelago, has been the scene of horrific violence between Muslims and Christians, provoked by the actions of the Islamist group Laskar Jihad.
Between 1999 and 2002, Laskar Jihad mounted a sectarian war in the adjacent Moluccan islands, which killed 9,000 people. Between 2001 and 2002, before an uneasy peace was brokered, about 1,000 people were killed in Sulawesi as the Moluccan conflict spread.
On May 28 last year, a bomb exploded in Tentena near Poso, killing 22 Christians people at a market, and injuring at least 40. A less powerful bomb was detonated on October 27 on a bus travelling from Tentena to Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, which injured a young mother.
Two days later, three Christian girls, Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19) were beheaded by masked assailants, and one other girl, Noviana Malewa, was seriously wounded, as they went to school in Poso. Though the Indonesian authorities were reluctant to admit Muslim involvement, these incidents were certainly the work of Islamists trying to revive the sectarian conflict in the region.
SInce the beheadings, the atrocities escalated. On November 8, two more Christian girls were shot at point blank range in Poso. Though critically injured, the 17 year olds survived. "Yuli" SIti Nuriani was shot in the head, and her friend Ivone was shot in the left side of the jaw.
On November 20, we described how a Christian couple were shot and critically injured the previous day as they returned home from church near Palu. On the same day in Palu, three teenagers were shot, with a girl killed. And again on the 19 November, three young Christian women were attacked by men with machetes. One girl had her arm nearly sliced off in the assault, and another, named Afrianti, was hacked in the neck. The girls were refused entry to one hospital, and Afrianti died from blood loss.
On December 30, a bomb was detonated outside a house in Mahesa, in the southern part of the town of Palu, where pork was being sold to christians. This high-impact device killed six people who were queuing to buy meat, and injured 43 others. Many of the injured had leg wounds from the shrapnel in the blast.
On February 3 this year, we reported that two more Christians had been attacked at Poso. A pastor, Santoso, was hacked in the face with a machete, breaking all his front teeth and injuring his tongue while he was on his motorbike. His friend, riding pillion, had his fingers sliced off in the attack.
These cases illustrate how the violence of Islamists, probably allied to Laskar Jihad, has been enacted against Christians. On Friday (10 March), Associated Press via Express India reported that the latest targets of the suspected Islamists in Poso were not Christians, but Hindus.
A home-made bomb was detonated beside a Hindu temple, stated Poso Deputy Police Chief Major Andreas Wayan. It was left at the home of the temple's guard, 40-year old Nengah Sugiarta. As he opened the door, he unwittingly riggered the device, which caused the roof and wooden walls to collapse.
Major Wayan stated: "Whoever did this wanted to create panic and spread terror here in Poso." He described how black powder, nails and shrapnel indicated the bomb to be homemade.
Nengah Sugiarta was seriously injured in the blast, with his legs and waist lacerated by shrapnel and wood splinters. He was taken to hospital.
Indonesia has a population of 210 million, with nearly 90% being Christian, but on Sulawesi and particularly in the Moluccas, there is a lower percentage of Muslims. Posu is about half and half Christian/Muslim, but there is also a small percentage of Hindus in the region. Most of the Hindus have settled from the predominantly Hindu island of Bali over the past three decades.
Today's Jakata Post reports that churches in the provincial capital of Palu were put on a state of alert with police protection, following Friday;s attack.
Unfortunately, the bizarre web design of the online edition of the Jakarta Post means that by tomorrow, the article will have moved, and will not be accessible via archives. For these reasons, once again we apologise to the paper's owners, and provide the article in its entirety below:
Police guard churches during Sunday sermons in Palu
PALU, Central Sulawesi (Antara): Police officers were deployed to guard churches in the provincial capital of Palu following a bombing Friday, which injured one man at a Hindu temple.
At least five police officers were stationed at each worship house.
"We are tasked to guard this church for the whole day. We are not allowed to leave the church until our colleagues replace us," one police officer told Antara news agency.
The blast on the outskirts of Poso, a coastal town in Central Sulawesi on Friday, was caused by a low-intensity bomb that was placed in the home of the temple's guard.
The explosion wounded a man who was guarding the temple compound.
Some 3,000 security personnel have been deployed to the region - where Muslim-Christian clashes in 2001-2002 left more than 1,000 dead - following a resurgence of violence several months ago.
On Friday, National Police spokesman Bambang Kuncoko claimed that several suspects in terrorism crimes had been detained and questioned. The detainees were not believed to have connections with Friday's blast, he said.
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Above are two of the Christian girls who were decapitated on the morning of Saturday October 29, 2005. On the left is Alfrita Poliwo, aged 19, and on the right is Theresia Morangke, aged 15.
The current government of Indonesia, led by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, seems to be unwilling to take a stand against the rise of extremist Islam. It has stood by while campaigns of church closures have taken place in the nation. One group spearheading the campaign churches is the "Anti-Apostasy Alliance", but also the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front) and Hizb ut-Tahrir are also involved. In 2005, at least 30 churches were forcibly closed in Indonesia. Another group which appears to control the political aspects of these campaigns is the National Council of Ulemas (MUI)
In July 2005 this body issued a fatwa containing 11 decrees, which stated that any liberal or pluralist interpretations of Islam are forbidden or haram. Since that decree, violence against minority faiths and "heretical" Muslims, such as the Ahmadiyya, have increased.
We have described how laws introduced introduced in 1969 by Haji Mohamed Suharto, the second ruler (or dictator) of Indonesia, who was in power from 1967 to 1998, have been exploited by Islamists to close churches. Ironically the legislation, called the Joint Ministerial Decree or SKB, was introduced to prevent mosques being built by Islamist extremists.
Hizb ut-Tahrir have recently been involved in Indonesia and also Bangladesh in mounting demonstrations and campaigns to protest the depictions of the prophet Mohammed. The Front Pembela Islam has been involved in violent attacks against the US Embassy, and also campaigns of intimidation against foreigners, using the issue of the cartoons as a pretext to enact threats.
As the Islamic extremists in Indonesia become more extreme, the government too is becoming more extreme. We reported on Friday that the Religious Affairs Minister, Maftuh Basyuni, appears to be going along with the discrimination against the Ahmadiyya sect, by stating that instead of calling themselves Muslims, they should declare themselves a new religion.
It appears that as in Pakistan, the violent anger shown by Islamist protesters against the cartoon issue has caused the government to become more "Muslim" in its credentials, and less concerned about the rights of minority faiths, which it feebly states it protects.
In late November last year, Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group, one of the fiercest critics of the abuses of minorities in Indonesia, was summarily expelled, with no reasons given.
Now another aspect of Islamism has appeared ready to be introduced by the government, the "Anti-Pornography Bill". Yesterday, 300 women protested against this bill in Lombok. Again, with apologies to the jakarta Post, this is the article.
Lombok ladies angry over 'moral police state'
Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tanggara
About 300 people, mostly women, took to the streets Saturday in a loud protest against the antipornography bill, which they said degraded women, insulted many local cultures and threatened tourism.
They marched through the main streets to the provincial council building to file their petition, demanding that the House of Representatives in Jakarta toss the bill in the nearest dumpster.
Grouped in the Alliance of United People (ARB), the demonstrators expressed concern that the bill would provide a legal basis for the suppression of women's rights and kill the principle of gender equality.
"The bill is full of anomalies, especially in its definition of key issues. Why does the state want to serve as our morality police and repress women?" yelled one woman, Nyayu Erawati, the protest leader.
The protest caught some locals off guard because Lombok is known as a staunchly Muslim island and the bill has found its strongest support among Muslim groups in other parts of the country.
Three councillors met the protesters, but refused to sign a statement rejecting the bill. However, they conceded that they would discuss the demand with the other 52 council members.
Like neighboring Bali, Lombok depends heavily on tourism. Bali, where local culture has always been tolerant of discreet nudity in the fine arts, has fiercely rejected the bill for similar reasons. Some Balinese are so upset, they are now threatening to secede from Indonesia and become an independent state.
Many people in Lombok fear that if the bill, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a Rp 2 billion fine, was passed, it would practically kill off the tourism industry and threaten the indigenous cultures.
"We would no longer be allowed to wear our traditional dresses," Suhaili Mahsun, a respected local figure, told Antara.
Local traditional attire for both women and men does not entirely cover parts of the body that the bill defines as "sensual", which mostly applies to women, such as thighs, hips, the navel and breasts.
"If that's what they (advocates of the bill) want, then Lombok would eventually lose its indigenous culture and identity," said Suhaili, who chairs the Senggigi Business Forum.
"The government and the house should focus on more pressing issues than this bill. The real pornography issues in the bill have been adequately addressed by the Criminal Code and other regulations."
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A truly worrying picture of what the new "morality drive" can create is found in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald.
In Tangerang, a satellite suburb outside Jakarta, the capital, has recently introduced a set of bylaws to stamp out gambling, drinking and prostitution.
The Sydney Morning Herald describes how, merely for wearing make-up, Lilis Lindawati, a married mother of two, who is three months pregnant, ended up in court, on charges of prostitution. She was waiting for a bus in the evening when arrested and jailed overnight. When in court she denied being a prostitute.
Judge Sinurat pronounced: "You are guilty. You are prostitute." She could not produce the $40 fine, and was jailed for three days, merely for being outside after sundown, and having make-up.
The bylaws, based on sharia, are also being enforced in other areas. The new anti-pornography bill will mean that across Indonesia, public kissing, wearing "alluring clothing" and even baring a navel can bring a jail term.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 12, 2006 7:49 PM
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