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October 31, 2006

Indonesia: 15 Muslims Arrested For Sulawesi Unrest

There has been conflict between Muslims and Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, stretching back to 1998. The violence began after the fall of the dictator Haji Mohamed Suharto, who had ruled with an iron fist from 1967 to 1998. During his rule, extreme Islamism had been suppressed. In Sulawesi and the Moluccas, a war was waged from 2000 to 2002, which led to the deaths of 9,000 people. 1,000 people died in Central Sulawesi during this period. Since the main conflict, attacks on Christians have continued, particularly on Poso, as described earlier.

Last week in Poso, a group of Muslims attacked police on Monday (October 23) who were searching homes for explosives and weaponry. In the ensuing conflict, one Muslim was killed. Two other Muslims and a police officer were also injured. A church which had survived a home-made bomb on September 30 was gutted by a fire on Tuesday. Since then, houses rented by police officers who had been drafted in to help with the unrest were set alight.

On Monday, October 30, Antara News reported that an extra 406 military personnel had been dispatched to conflict to assist with preventing a resurgence of inter-faith violence. The extra soldiers will be used to assist in the rebuilding and renovation of 1,009 houses in 69 villages in Poso regency. These had been damaged in earlier fighting. They are expected to complete this task within four months.

Syamsir Siregar, the head of the Indonesian National Intelligence Agency (BIN), said on Monday that there was a group of people, not connected with either the Christian or Muslim communities on Poso, who were agitating within the region, and "sowing terror".

Siregar said that the group was still in Poso, and that they had explosives, and also firearms. They had supplied the firearms used to kill the protestant priest, Rev. Irianto Kongkoli, who was shot in Palu, the provincial capital, on October 16.

Central Sulawesi's Governor Paliuju confirmed the existence of armed groups on Poso. He said that police on search operations there often heard shots which they themselves had not fired. Paliuju said the government would initiate an independent team to investigate the violence on Poso. This would include police, military and local residents, he said.

Today, police in Central Sulawesi announced that 15 Muslim suspects had been arrested, states the Jakarta Post. A further 29 suspects are still at large and are being pursued.

The police announced that those who had been arrested had been caught after a surveillance operation which had lasted 8 months. They are suspected of involvement in 13 cases of shootings, beheadings, bombings and robberies going back to 2001, said the national police spokesman, Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam.

In separate news, it is reported that yesterday (Monday, October 30), the youngest son of the former Indonesian dictator Suharto was released from Cipinang prison in West Java. Tommy Suharto, aka Hutomo Mandala Putra, had been given a sentence of 15 years' jail on July 26, 2002. He was convicted of ordering the killing of a Supreme Court Judge, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who was murdered in July 2001.

"Tommy" Suharto (pictured) had in 2000 been convicted of a land fraud deal, and Judge Kartasasmita had been on the panel which had convicted him. Suharto had been given an 18-month jail sentence for that offence, and had expected a presidential pardon. When this did not happen, he went on the run. He had taken revenge by ordering two men to kill the judge. Suharto was apprehended on October 28, 2001.

While in jail, he lived a life of luxury, stated Marianne Kearney in July 2003. His cell had a wall-to-wall blue carpet, a 21 inch TV with subscription to cable, and he was allowed to breed ornamental fish. He had recently been allowed to leave the prison to go on hospital visits for an unspecified medical condition.

Last week, it was announced that President Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono had once again reduced Tommy Suharto's sentence as a goodwill gesture at the end of Ramadan. As a result, the corrupt son of a dictator, who benefitted from nepotism and caused a judge to be murdered, has served only four years and three months of a 15-year sentence. By contrast, the two individuals who carried the judge's killing on his orders have received life sentences, and therefore have not been offered any reductions in their sentencing.

Suharto will remain under parole for a year, states Antara News. His sentence had been reduced to 10 years without explanation. Under Government Regulation No. 28/2006, the justice ministry does not have to request permission from the Attorney General's Office to authorize releases of prisoners. There is much anger that Suharto seems to have been granted semi-impunity for his murder and illicit accumulation of wealth. According to the Jakarta Post, after his release, Suharto told a throng of reporters that he was "well" and that he intended to make a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Meanwhile, Antara News states that the three men due to be shot for their part in the Bali bombings of October 12, 2002, will be receiving family visitors on November 14. The three individuals, Imran Samudra, Amrozi and his brother Mukhlas, (aka Ali Ghufron) are currently held on the island prison of Nusakambangan. They had been moved there from Denpasar, Bali, following the second Bali bombing on October 1, 2005. Locals were so enraged by the second attack that there were fears of civil unrest.

The three individuals had assisted in arranging the bombing in 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly tourists. 88 Australians and 27 Britons died in the multiple suicide blasts in Kuta on Bali. At his trial, Amrozi had shocked people by laughing and sniggering. Samudra went on to become a best-selling author while incarcerated, eulogizing his terror activities in two books.

The Muslim Legal Defence Team (TPF) coordinator, Achmad Michdan, said: "We are planning to visit Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas on November 14 to have an informal gathering after the Idul Fitri festivity and discuss the follow-up to the legal review of their case. The visit is a routine post-Idul Fitri agenda. Besides us (legal counsels), their wives, children and other relatives will also visit them."

The unrest in Poso was stoked by the execution of three Christians, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu who were shot by firing squad on September 20 for their alleged involvement with killings of Muslims on Poso. There is considerable doubt about their guilt. Now that the three Christians have been executed, there is pressure on the Indonesian authorities to carry out the death sentence of the three Bali bombers.

UPDATE: November 1 - AKI quotes a statement by Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam, who has said that the 15 people currently detained belong to the groups Tanah Runtuh and Kompak Kayamanya.

The Tanah Runtuh group, which does not feature in reports on terror activities seems to get its name from a location - a village in Poso district. In October 2003 an armed group were found to be in the forest near this village, who had fired shots at the community and set fire to a house. Three militants then had been killed and six had been captured. Recently, a bomb exploded in a field at Tanah Runtuh on August 3, states Paras Indonesia, which added: "The explosion is suspected to be a response by a particular group related to show its presence. Apparently, the police plan to raid the group - which they suspect as the mastermind of several disturbances in Poso (the Tentena market bombing; shootings of the police headquarters, and mutilation of three school girls). The police named the raid location "Tanah Runtuh" and the raid committee will include all the important members of the anti terror Debasement 88 squads in Central Sulawesi. The raid is scheduled for August 15, 2006."

The "Kompak Kayamanya" is an amalgamated name, and probably refers to the known militant group Mujahidin Kayamanya which is based in Poso, and is known to have links to KOMPAK (Komite Aksi Penanggulangan Akibat Krisis - Action Committee for Crisis Response - an Islamic "charity" which was founded by the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia or DDII), which funded militants in the Moluccas (Malaku) and Poso. This group has affiliations with the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. For a background to the conflict in Poso and involvement of KOMPAK and others, see our Special Report.

For a more detailed review of the various Mujahideen groups and factions in the Poso and Malaku conflicts, see the document in pdf format HERE. Ms Sidney Jones PhD, of the International Crisis Group, has suggested that Mujahidin Kayamanya may have been involved in the Tentena bombings in Central Sulawesi last year. Tentena is a mostly Christian community. During the conflict on Poso, Christians from the city and district took refuge at Tentena.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 31, 2006 8:21 AM

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