Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Poso (Fides Service ) – Four Protestants killed on Sunday 16 November, including Pastor Oranje Tadjodja, aged 58; 10 killed in October; Pastor Rinaldy Damanik, head of Protestant Crisis Centre in central Sulawesi, arrested on charges of detention of arms; episodes of violence in the streets; insistent reports of presence of Jemaah Islamiyah warriors trying the re-ignite religious conflict; deployment of 3.200 army troops to prevent disorder. This is the present situation in central Sulawesi, a large island in the East of the Indonesia archipelago, where Catholic Church leaders, ordinary people and the civil authorities voice concern about the danger of another civil war like the conflict in 2000, which killed more than 1.000 people.
Central Sulawesi has a network of coastal towns and villages. The main cities are Manado (north Sulawesi) and Makassar (south Sulawesi) about 1,000 km apart. After the first episodes of violence the Indonesian government sent a contingent of 3,200 army troops to Poso where the Christians were killed. Local Fides sources say that security forces escort buses in towns and on rural roads. Public transport between Poso and Tentena, Palu, Morowali Makassar and Manado are escorted. Road blocks have been set up and control is strict.
While Catholic Bishop Joseph Suwatan of Manado, Central Sulawesi is away in hospital, the small Catholic community in the area of Poso, Tentena, Palu shows solidarity with the Protestants but keeps the good relations established with local Muslims long before the 1999-2001 conflict and after the Malino agreement reached in December 2001 which put an end to the conflict.
Father Herman Hubas, Manado diocese bursar, told Fides: “This is not a general alarm but there are signs of tension and people are afraid. The Christian community is worried about the presence of extremist elements which, like three years ago, want to re-ignite the violence”. The 10 deaths in October and the four recent killings raised the alarm among the people. According to Father Herman, the political element should not be underestimated: violence could be part of a plan by certain civil and military leaders to gain power in view of elections in 2004.
The Indonesian authorities say the attacks were carried out by Jemaah Islamiyah, suspected of numerous criminal actions in Indonesia and thought to be connected with Al Qaeda. The army says that Jemaah Islamiyah has training camps in the forests in Central Sulawesi.
What is most concerning, say local Catholic sources contacted by Fides who ask not to be name, is an attempt by some sectors of the army, to strike Sulawesi’s Protestant Crisis Centre renowned for its service of information during the civil war, its stance in defence of human rights, its service to truth and defence of the weak against abuse by fundamentalists, political leaders and army soldiers. Pastor Rinaldy Damanik was arrested on charges of detention of arms: soldiers say they found arms and ammunition in the Pastor’s car but no witnesses were present at the time and the soldiers reports differed. Various organisations have protested the arrest: Christian Solidarity Wordlwide organised a campaign sent 15.000 postcards to Sulawesi requesting his release.
In the meantime in Jakarta general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Minister of Politics and Security has asked Indonesians to be on the alert to maintain peace particularly during the end of Ramadan festivities and the approaching Christmas Season, to prevent a fresh outbreak of conflict
(PA) (Fides Service 20/11/2003 lines 53 words 649)
