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Sulawesi
The Conflict in Central Sulawesi |
In the past three years, Central Sulawesi has been periodically shaken by religious violence between the Christian and Muslim communities. Particularly, the brunt of the fighting has taken place in the city of Poso. The escalation of the conflict is often described as having occurred in terms of stages. See Norwegian Refugee Council
The trigger of the conflict emerged in the shadow of Suharto’s resignation as Indonesia’s President in 1998. As a matter of social convention, the custom in Poso over the past many years was for the bupati (local governor) to alternate between Christian and Muslim office-holders. In this way, the special favors that naturally sprang from political office were somewhat diffused between the two communities. Apparently seizing the transitional tone of the day, then-bupati Arif Patanga, a Muslim, proposed that one of his family members succeed him instead of a Christian.
At around the same time, in what is referred to as the first stage in the Poso conflict, Muslims launched an attack on Christians in Poso, following a brawl between a Christian and Muslim youth. Muslims began to burn down churches and Christian homes, culminating in the second phase of the Poso conflict in April 2000 in which hundreds of Christian homes were destroyed, and many were killed.
The third phase began in May 2000, when the retaliation began in earnest as Christian “ninjas” terrorized and tortured Poso Muslims. Calling themselves “Black Bat” raiders, the Christians attacked Muslim villages. Illustrative is the case of Sintuwulemba, a Muslim village in which a large percentage of the men disappeared or were killed. It is estimated that 300 people were killed although authorities have claimed that it is difficult to produce definitive numbers of the deaths, as the bodies of many victims have supposedly floated out to sea under cover of darkness by way of the Poso River.
In August 2000, the governors of the four Sulawesi provinces declared a truce in the Christian stronghold of Tentena, Pamona Utara subdistrict. Then, in April 2000 the Palu local district court ruled that three Christians who had been accused of involvement in the previous year’s violence would be put to death. Many Christians felt that the death sentence was unjust and biased, considering that no Muslims had been tried for violence that occurred in the first two phases of the conflict. Following the sentencing, there was a resurgence of violence in Central Sulawesi.
In late November 2001, the Muslim-Christian fighting flared up once again, spurred on by the introduction of thousands of Laskar Jihad members in Poso, armed Muslim gangs attacked and burned Christian villages around Poso. An estimated 15,000 Christians had fled from the attacks by early December.
In December, the government sent 2000 troops to control the violence in Poso, bringing the total number of security forces in the area to around 3,500. In an attempt to bring about a long-term solution, the parties of the conflict met in December 2001 in government-sponsored peace talks. The resultant declaration of peace, known as the Malino Declaration, was signed by both parties, and calls for all parties to end all disputes and to abide by the due process of the law. It remains to be seen whether the declaration marks an end to the conflict, as this is the latest of fifth such agreements. More than 300 people have died since May 2000, and tens of thousands have been displaced.
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