PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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Maluku crisis: TAPOL demands reimposition of EU arms embargo on Indonesia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

26 June 2000

TAPOL has demanded the re-imposition of an EU arms embargo on Indonesia as evidence continues to point to the involvement of the armed forces in fuelling the devastating communal conflict in the Malukan islands.

The demand was made to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in a letter which called for immediate international pressure on the Indonesian Government. Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL says:

‘Maluku is now in a state of open warfare. The gravity of the situation threatens other parts of the country and the very existence of the Wahid government. The security forces’ appalling record of failure and partisanship is intolerable and decisive action must be taken by the central government and the international community to stop the killings.’

Lethal clashes between Muslims and Christians have intensified since several thousand Muslim Laskar Jihad fighters infiltrated the region in recent weeks. Although they underwent military training on Java nothing was done to prevent them travelling to Maluku.

Last Monday, Jihad forces attacked Duma, a Christian village on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku in what is being described as the worst atrocity since the conflict began in January 1999. While the official death toll is 114, local sources say that 160 people were killed and hundreds more injured. It is clear that the Jihad forces are able to move around freely. Survivors say that troops did nothing to prevent the Jihad forces approaching the village.

In the city of Ambon, warfare has been raging for nearly a week. The security forces are taking sides and even fighting each other. Last Wednesday, army troops with Jihad fighters torched the headquarters of the police Mobile Brigade and police officers’ living quarters. The death toll in the city in this latest bout of fighting is now over 50.

In its letter to Robin Cook, TAPOL called for pressure on the Indonesian Government to:

a) remove the Jihad forces from Maluku;

b) punish all members of the security forces who take sides in the fighting and withdraw all partisan units,

c) punish all those responsible for atrocities, including the arrest of Jihad leader, Jafar Umar Thalib and his cohorts,

d) allow an independent international team to enter Maluku to evaluate the need for humanitarian assistance, protection for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and to examine the basis for reconciliation between the warring sides.

Failing such action, the UN Security Council should consider international action to halt the fighting, TAPOL said. Senior Catholic and Protestant Church leaders have already appealed to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan for help.

ENDS

For more information, contact Carmel Budiardjo on 020 87712904 or Paul Barber on 01420 80153.

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