THESE ARE THE MOLUCCAN ISLANDS
Historically, Maluku (also known as the Moluccas or the Spice Islands) is perhaps, to the outside world, the best-known part of the Indonesian archipelago. Rich harvest of nutmeg and cloves lured the Dutch colonialist who ruled the islands as part of the Dutch East Indies for 350 years (1559 to 1950).
Indonesian neo-colonialism has now replaced Dutch colonialism but the Moluccan people still remain under foreign occupation.
The Moluccas are located in the southeastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, near the equator, north of Australia and west of West Papua. The city of Ambon, located on the island of Ambon, is the provincial
More than two million people live on these islands; in addition nearly
The total land area is roughly one-and-a half times the size of the Netherlands or Switzerland, or three times the size of El Salvador or Israel.
Vegetation and wildlife resemble the ecology of Melanesia, New Guinea and northern Australia, differing significantly from the ecology of Java and Sumatra - the main entities of the nation of Indonesia.
Although
THE PEOPLE
By race, culture, custom and manner, the Moluccans differ from the dominant Indonesians who are descendants of the Mogoloid-Malayan race. The Moluccans are Melanesians, a tall, dark-skinned people with wide eyes and curly hair. Like other Melanesians (and indigenous peoples throughout the world), they are in a constant struggle to preserve their village and tribal culture.
Through some 2300 years of domination by Arab, Portugese, Dutch and now Indonesian colonialism, the Moluccan people have not forgotten the ancient laws and traditions of their nationhood. One ancient practice is rooted in mutual assistance: members of one village traditionally lend plant seedings or help build a storehouse in a neighboring village.
A PEOPLE IN PERIL
The Moluccan people are victimezed. Fifty-eight years of Javanese-dominant occupation of Indonesia has taken its toll. The national identity of the Moluccan people is disappearing fast. An overall Javanese identity is taking its place, which is pervading daily social behavior. This is effectuated by ceasleless efforts of Jakarta to transmigrate tens of thousands Javanese families all over the Moluccan islands. The more than two million indigenous people are being engulfed by the influx of new settlers.
Reports from the Moluccas tell of the movement of Malay families into these Melanesian islands and also of planned and encouraged intermarriage by the government. Suffering under the political and military repression, which exists trhoughout Indonesia, the Moluccans are powerless. And because of the naivete (too-easy adaptability) of the Moluccan people, the Javanization of the indigenous culture takes place with negligible opposition.
The relatively tiny and disadvantaged indigenous people of the Moluccas is no match for the one hundred million plus of the Island of Java and the calculated program to institutionalize Javanism throughout Indonesia.
Adat-grounds (indigenous inherited lands) are granted to transmigrants under a "land reform" policy, which leaves indigenous landowner with only limited garden plots in the immediate vicinity of their homes. Often jobless, the diasadvantaged Moluccans have beeen selling off these lands in time of need.
In the Moluccas' countryside, valuable timber from the rain forest is indiscriminately felled by the Barito Pacific Timber, in conjunction with the armed forces (ABRI), holding a forest concession covering 1 million hectares. The Indonesian government had also issued licenses to Asian fishing companies/trawlers operators (Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, China, South Korea) collaborating with the Indonesian Navy to plunder the Moluccan waters. This have resulted in forced evictions of Moluccan indigenous people, environmental/ecological destruction, damaging undersea national parks in Arafura waters and a fish shortage among the Moluccan people, to whom fish is the principle protein source.
DEMOCRACY AND REFORMATION
On May 21 1998, general Suharto was pressured by the pro-democratic and reformation movements in Indonesia to resign. With the arrival of the next democratically elected fourth president Wahid of Indonesia in 1999, the era of the Orde Baru (Suharto's Order) came to an end. The power of the Indonesian army however, specifically its political and economical role and its territiorial structure outside the island of Java, still exists unimpaired.
Led by the students on the Moluccas the call for democracy, reformation, openness and the right of self-determination got stronger. The Indonesian army (TNI) dispersed a massive demonstration of students in the town of Ambon on November 18, 1998. Some people died. By provocation methods this vertical conflict was transformed into a horizontal conflict in January 1999. Ambon, the surrounding islands, the Southeast Moluccas and the North Moluccas became the scene of a bloody conflict, which was instigated by the Indonesian Security Service.
At the same time the military elite, amongst whom army leader general Wiranto, declared the Moluccas a Military Command Area (KODAM). This was done to justify the placement of more troops, amongst which special command units, such as Kostrad and Kopassus. The scorched earth policy, which had been applied by the above mentioned command units in East Timor was also applied in Ambon/Maluku.
The arrival of thousands of well armed militants muslims (Lascar Jihad) in May 2000, from outside the Moluccas, encouraged by politicians, such as Amien Rais and Hamzah Haz, the fomer vice-president, should be considered as State Sponsored Terrorism against the defenceless Moluccan people. [Indonesian Crime in the Moluccas - International Herald Tribune]
In his article "The political economy of violence in Maluku", Dr. George J. Aditjondro, East Indonesia specialist and teacher at the University of New Castle in Australia, wrote - "Finally, behind all this, the one who stands to gain the most from the political instability in the Moluccas is Suharto, his family and cronies since the political troubles hinder serious efforts to bring them to court to account for their political and economic crimes. They benefit from the disturbances of the peace that serve to perpetuate the Armed Forces' dual function, especially as the Armed Forces, through scores of foundations and pensioned officers are deeply enmeshed in the tentacles of the Suharto family business".
The so-called "Maluku conflict", in which the people of the Maluku islands have been embroiled in a "civil war" between Muslims and Christians, has lasted from 19-1-199 until 11-2-2002. This conflict has probably cost over 20.000 lives and around 500.000 people have fled. In this period the right of self-determination - the RMS ideal - got an extra impulse by the establishment of the "Front for Sovereignty of the Moluccas" (FKM) on December 18, 2000 in Ambon.
In 2004, the hoisting of the flags in honour of the 54th birthday of the Proclamation of the free Republic of the South Moluccas has led to a second row of riots in Ambon. The Indonesian army (TNI) killed 40 demonstrators and imprisoned tens of FKM/RMS political activists.
More recently, pro independence activists have attracted international attention when they danced and unfurled the RMS flag in front of president Susilo Bambang Yudhojono in Ambon on the 29th of June 2007.
POVERTY
Although the Moluccan Islands are blessed with a abundance of natural resources, the mayority of the Moluccan people still live under the poverty level. The poverty level in Maluku Province has increase substantially since 2004. The current poverty level is at approx. 60%, an increase of ~30% since 2004. The "civil war" that took place in Maluku between 1999 to 2003 has a devastating impact on the Moluccan people and has thrown back the economic development of the Moluccan Islands for many decades.
MELANESIA AND INDONESIA
by Bernard Nietschmann
Consider that there are two major forces in collision worldwide:
the expansion of states and the defending nations. Indonesia and Melanesia - two large geographic areas of islands -represent these counterpoised forces of political incorporation by invasion, and political liberation by self-determination. Indonesia is a new colonial state built on Javanese expansion by armies and settlers against the peoples of Sumatra, Kalimantan, South Moluccas, East Timor, and West Papua. Melanesia is an equally large area that has an emerging geopolitical identity based on independence from colonial occupation. Indonesia is an archipelago of different nations united by force; Melanesia is an archipelago of similar peoples united by choice.
Independence from colonial rule is spreading throughout Melanesia: Fiji (1970), Papua New Guinea (1975), Solomon Islands (1978), Vanuatu (1980), and Kanaki (New Caledonia claimed by France) will achieve independence in the near future. That leaves the Torres Strait Islands (claimed Australia), and West Papua, South Moluccas and East Timor (claimed by Indonesia).
Melanesia has a very strong internal affinity based on identity and a growing consensus against non-Melanesian control by occupation. Vanuatu is in the forefront of the pan-Melanesian movement. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly (October 11, 1984), Vanuatu Foreign Minister Sela Molisa stated:
We regret that there is some justification to the Israeli and South African complaint that the international community is very selective in its denunciations. It pains us deeply that there is indeed a grain of truth to this argument. How else can we explain the condemnations of the annexation of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, but silence on the annexation of East Timor? How else can we explain the condemnations of apartheid but the silence on the plight of the Melanesian people of West Papua?
How else can we explain the appeals to sever economic ties with South Africa while a South African company participates in the exploitation of West Papua's oil resources? How else can we explain the concern over Israeli and South African military expansionism, and the indifference to the military expansionism in our region which has already seen West Papua and East Timor swallowed, if not digested, and which now provokes, and threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our good neighbor, Papua New Guinea?
Our region is known for its calm and serene atmosphere. The countries of the South Pacific are populated by peace loving people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. However, our similar colonial histories have instilled in us all a strong aversion to external interference and foreign rule. On this we are in total accord.
Unfortunately, the international community has not yet taken note of this. Thus, while our support is given as a matter of principle in the struggle against apartheid, little is known of our own struggle against the same practices in our own region. Molisa, October 11, 1984
"Indonesia claims to have become a democracy, but democracies don’t
put people in prison for peaceful expression."
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Moluccas International Campaign for
Human Rights
A CALL FOR JUSTICE, INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT
MICHR is set up in april 2008 to raise international awareness of the current situation in the Moluccas (Maluku) and it is composed of individuals in different countries involved in human rights and justice issues.
Read more
http://michr.weebly.com/our-campaign-amp-contact-michr.html
"Shoot them on the spot." The Traditional Dance of Rewarding War Crimes
News and Comment
Friday, December 14, 2007
By Allan Nairn
Last June, when President/General Susilo of Indonesia visited one of his provinces, in the Moluccas, he was greeted by local residents performing a traditional dance for him, a ritual often repeated around the world when powerful rulers travel, the implicit message being: this is us, but to you, we bow.
http://www.allannairn.com/2007/12/shoot-them-on-spot-traditional-dance-of.html
Police studying possibility terrorist attack in C Maluku
Antara 05/06/08 21:08
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/5/6/police-studying-possibility-terrorist-attack-in-c-maluku/
Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Horale village in Maluku
May 28, 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B6ErhovhaIc
Repression of Supporters of the Republic of Maluku Selatan – ‘Summon Indonesian Ambassador'
May 8th, 2008
by Harry van Bommel, Member of Parliament for the Dutch Socialist Party (SP), and Sylvia Pessireron, author of the book Molukkers in Nederland
BRIMOB Oppression in Ambon
the elite Mobile Brigade paramilitary police (Brimob) has a poor human-rights record and a history of killings
The Indonesian government employs Snipers against the Moluccan people
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: The Indonesian government should give urgent priority to identifying and prosecuting the snipers responsible for dozens of deaths on 25th April 2004 in Ambon. Read More
CITIC Discovers Oil at Indonesia's Oseil Field
CITIC 5/23/2008
CITIC Resources Holdings Limited is pleased to announce the discovery of the Lower Nief and Manusela carbonate oil reservoirs at the Nief Utara A-1 drilling well located at Seram Island/Moluccas in Indonesia.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=62277
No tsunami after 6.7 magnitude quake jolts Maluku
2008-05-25 10:50:38
Continue...
US travel warning`s lifting expected to help boost Maluku`s tourism
05/30/08 17:52
Continue...
Landslides, floods hitting Ambon since Friday
2008-05-31 17:34:19
Continue...
Maluku police join workshop with NZ officers
2008-06-02 13:31:23
Laura Davis, The Jakarta Post,Ambon
The police force in Indonesia's Maluku province is looking at overseas techniques to help maintain order, improve its relationship with the community and perhaps its image in the process. Four years on from the Continue...
Government confirms re-election of Thaib as N. Maluku governor
Tue, 06/03/2008 9:48 AM
read more
Get rid of home minister: Golkar
The Jakarta Post 2008-06-19 13:55:21
Home Minister Mardiyanto came under strong criticism from Golkar lawmakers Wednesday over their party's recent defeat in a North Maluku gubernatorial election dispute. read more
NZ police back from workshops in Maluku and Banda Aceh
2008-06-30 06:32:23
New Zealand police officers have returned from Maluku and Banda Aceh after teaching their counterparts about non-lethal law enforcement. Community policing
http://newszealand.blogspot.com/2008/06/nz-police-back-from-workshops-in.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lmzAnU2xI
Indonesian freedom elusive for some
Aljazeera.net TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008 5:18
MECCA TIME, 2:18 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5FFDF8F9-6229-42A7-9F7C-D366E7C9E9FA.htm
Indonesia: Separatist Gets Life In Prison For Waving Flag In Front Of President
MySinchew 2008.04.04 JAKARTA,
INDONESIA: A court has sentenced the leader of a separatist group in eastern Indonesia to life in prison for waving the flag of a mostly Christian secessionist movement in front of the president last year.
At court official said at least 19 others were convicted of treason and sentenced to between 10 and 20 years over the flag-waving demonstration, which was nonviolent.
The incident was a major embarrassment to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as he presided over a government ceremony in the eastern province of Maluku, which was wracked by violence between Muslims and Christians between 1999 and 2002.
The harshness of the punishments shows Indonesia's extreme sensitivity to separatist movements in the sprawling archipelago and will likely trigger criticism by rights activists.
The group itself _ a tiny outfit known by the Indonesian acronym RMS _ has little support. It does not believe in violence, and analysts say it poses no threat to central government control of the region.
Court spokesman Amin Syafrudin said the leader of the separatist group, Johan Teterisa, was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday (3 Apr) in the provincial capital Ambon after being found guilty of treason.
State news agency Antara reported Teterisa cried when the sentence was handed down.
His lawyers were not immediately available for comment Friday (4 Apr).
Another 19 members of the group have been convicted on treason charges over the last two months, said Syafrudin on Friday. The trials have received little attention in the national media.
Indonesia is overwhelmingly Muslim, but Christians form the majority in parts of Maluku and other eastern regions.
The RMS first emerged in the 1950s soon after Indonesia won its independence from Dutch colonial rule. The group, which was mostly Christian but had some Muslim members, was defeated militarily and its leadership fled to the Netherlands, where it briefly had a government-in-exile.
It was largely forgotten until Maluku erupted in Muslim-Christian violence in 1999 that killed some 9,000 people. The Muslim side took to calling their Christian foes separatists, a charge that helped give their cause legitimacy among the country's mostly Muslim leadership and media.
An overwhelming majority of Christians in the province insist they do not want a separate state.
Indonesia, which has some 18,000 islands and scores of ethnic groups, is battling separatists in Papua province. In 2005, the government reached a deal with secessionists in Aceh province, ending a war that had killed 15,000 people. (By CHRIS BRUMMMITT/ AP)
Related Articles
'Nonsense' life sentence for separatist
Lilian Budianto , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Sat, 04/05/2008 12:44 PM | Headlines
Read More
Indonesia General Says Separatists Could Be Shot - AFP
Dow Jones Newswires 12-11-07
JAKARTA (AFP) -- The military chief overseeing security in Indonesia's restive Maluku province has told his soldiers they may shoot separatists on the spot if necessary, his spokesman said Wednesday.
ACCUSED: The UN says Indonesian police regularly torture suspects
AFP May 17, 2008
