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October 17, 2006

Indonesia: Muslim-Christian Tensions Rising

Yesterday, we wrote of the killing of a priest, Reverend Irianto Kongkoli in Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Rev. Irianto was buying ceramic tiles from a building store, accompanied by his wife, when an unidentified gunman wearing a mask shot him in the head. He fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice, states Reuters AlertNet. His wife was waiting outside the shop, in their car. She is a policewoman.

There seems some confusion as to whether the priest was Catholic or protestant. ReutersAlertNet, AKI and Catholic News suggests he was a protestant while Spero states he was a Catholic. He had been chairman of the Central Sulawesi Churches of Synod (GKST).

According to Spero, the governor of Sulawesi, Bandjela Paliudju, told the press that he believed that Irianto Kongkoli was killed because he had defended the three Catholics who were executed by firing squad on September 22. Paliudju said: "He was an outspoken priest who many times led Christian protests against the executions."

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42 had been executed for their alleged roles in sectarian violence against Muslims in Poso in May 2000. They had been sentenced in April 2001, in a trial of dubious justice, and their executions went ahead despite pleas from the EU, US senators and Pope Benedict XVI. At the men's trial, crowds of Muslim activists demanded their death, and it is believed they received their death sentences to pacify the mob.

The violence on Poso in Central Sulawesi was part of a sectarian Muslim-Christian conflict which lasted from 2000 to 2002 and killed 1,000 people, though Poso had been subject to inter-faith violence since December 1998. More Christians than Muslims died, but the maximum sentence given to any Muslim for the violence has been 15 years' imprisonment. The conflict on Sulawesi was part of the wider Moluccan War, initiated by Lashkar Jihad, which lasted from 1999 to 2002.

The deliberate assassination of a priest has heightened tensions in Central Sulawesi, where there is an equal number of Muslims and Chrisians. According to AKI, Joseph Suwatan, the Catholic bishop of a diocese which includes North and South Sulawesi, said: "We are not sure how to read this killing. We are very worried about the situation in the region."

Suwatan said he feared that Christians would organise themselves into groups to defend themselves. He warned: "We are very active in reminding them [Christians] not to fall in this trap and not to search for justice alone."

Speaking of the mass murders which happened in Sulawesi, Suwatan said: "I do not understand why in all these years, the government has not been able to find out who is behind to all this violence. It is their responsibility. We demand a serious and big effort."

He disagreed with governor Paliudju's suggestion that the priest had ben killed because he had defended the three Catholics who were executed. "The killing is linked to years of violence and not just to the execution of the three Christians. It seems to me too simple to limit it only to that," he said.

The national police chief of Indonesia, General Sutanto, said that he has ordered an investigation into Rev. Iranto Kongkoli's death. He said: "We need to make sure such killings do not happen again."

Asia Times quotes Fr Benny Susetyo, secretary of the Interfaith and Religious Dialogue Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, who said: "Let an independent taskforce or fact-finding team be established to disclose the facts. Without any strong commitment from local government and Jakarta, peace and order in Poso will not be achieved."

Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim group in Indonesia, condemned the priest's murder. Din Syamsudin, its chairman said that security forces "must keep the peace and bring to justice the murderers."

A local Muslim leader, Adnan Arsal, said: "We said it in the past and we repeat it now. Local Muslims are not involved in this violence. The provocateurs came from outside and the government must act." Arsal is currently involved in inter-faith reconciliation, but AKI states that he had taken part in the sectarian conflict.

We wrote yesterday of the escalation of conflict between groups on Sulawesi, where Muslim militants mounted fresh attacks against Christians last year, particularly at after the end of Ramadan. Schoolgirls have been beheaded and in one instance, it transpired that two Christian schoolgirls who had been shot in the head and critically injured had been attacked by a policeman.

Reverend Andreas Yewangoe, head of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, the umbrella group for Protestants, said: "The lives of people in Central Sulawesi are shrouded with fear. The government's approach is too standard. Every time there is unrest, troops are sent. More should be done. The church institution urges the setting of an independent team to probe the recurring violence."

He added: "We call on Christians not to react to the provocation that these acts of terror represent; they are only meant to set one community against the other."

Much of the recent violence has centered on Poso. Recently 800 extra police have been sent to the city. On September 6, a 50-year old Christian man, John Tobeli, was killed by a bomb in a village in Poso district. On Saturday september 9, a 20-year old Christian woman, Nela Saliango, was killed when a bomb was thrown at her house in a suburb of Poso city.

On October 1, three homemade bombs went off in Poso, on the first anniversary of the last Bali bombings. The first bomb was set off outside a church which was under construction. Later in the day, a Muslim mob dragged a Christian man off a bus and stabbed him. He survived the attack.

But there have been more bombings, states Associated Press via International Herald Tribune. On Saturday (October 14), a small bomb was detonated outside a government building in Poso. It did not cause great damage. Sulfur, pipes and shrapnel were found at the scene. Poso police chief Lt. Col. Rudi Sufahriady did not suggest who may hae set of the device, but said the bombing seemed to be "part of a campaign to terrorize the people."

Today, International Herald Tribune states that another blast happened yesterday (Monday 16) in Poso city. It went off in an abandoned house. No-one was injured. Again, Lt. Col. Rudi Sufahriady would not proffer suggestions on the identity of the bombers and said: "This is a part of a campaign to create unrest."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 17, 2006 5:21 PM

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