Tim Gill

[Ed. Note: The following paper was presented in Geneva, Switzerland, at the briefing of the Asia-Pacific caucus for the second meeting of the preparatory committee for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR).]

During the three years since the overthrow of Suharto's military dictatorship, Indonesia has literally exploded with ethnic and religious violence, separatist conflict and renewed xenophobic sentiments. The driving force behind the majority of this violent conflict has been elements in the military, supported by the remnants of the old regime that still enjoy a great deal of power and wealth. Ethnic and religious conflicts have included:

• The anti-Chinese riots of May 1998, which targeted property owned by ethnic Chinese-Indonesians and involved the raping of hundreds of ethnic Chinese women;
• Religious conflict in the Maluku Islands, beginning in 1999, which has claimed 8,000 lives and displaced more than 250,000 people;
• The latest Dayak-Madura conflict in Cetnral Kalimantan in February 2001, which involved the killing and mutilation of more than 500 people, mostly Madurese settlers, and the creation of 80,000 internally displaced people; and
• Independence struggles in Aceh and West Papua in which the violence in these self-determination struggles has been steadily increasing (for example, in Aceh, 673 people have been killed, 161 people have disappeared and 907 people have been tortured between January 2000 and February 2001).

This is a humanitarian tragedy of enormous proportions. Yet the violence has rarely been merely the spontaneous bubbling up of communal hatred but in many cases has been engineered by people who stand to gain from the culture of terror and cycle of revenge. This incitement to hatred and violence is surely one of the worst forms of crime in need of being addressed at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in South Africa.

In addition to this violence, Indonesia has retained most of the hundreds of discriminatory regulations that target ethnic and religious minorities. There are still only five officially allowable religions. Consequently, those from minority religions are not allowed to practice their faith. There still also exists the Agency for the Coordina-tion of Chinese Affairs which targets, harasses and encourages further discrimination against the ethnic Chinese community.

The role of the military in many of the conflicts is twofold. First, in the initiation of the conflict, elements of the military have successfully inflamed negative communal sentiments and even religious and ethnic hatred. The employment, support and training of unemployed youths is a common tactic and was a key element in the initiation of conflicts, such as the May 1998 riots and the religious violence in Maluku. The corruption of impoverished youths in this way for the purpose of creating ethnic and religious hatred demands an international outcry. The second role of the military in the conflicts has been to participate directly in them. TV cameras caught on film members of the military providing covering fire for religious terrorists in Maluku, and there is a great deal of evidence of provisional support for various militias still operating around the country.

Another disturbing development is the increasing xenophobic attacks on ideological minorities in Indonesia for which there is historical precedent in Indonesia. The massacre of more than a million suspected communists in 1965 -1966 that swept Suharto to power is a crime against humanity thatÐlike almost every other conflict already mentionedÐhas never seen a single person arrested or prosecuted. In the current political crisis, groups, including the militias of Eurico Guterres who openly led the massacre of more than 1,000 East Timorese after the 1999 independence referendum, operating with the support of the military, are openly attacking organisations, books, statues or people suspected of harbouring a left-wing ideology. The massacre of 1965-1966 was a form of ideological genocide that has gone unpunished, which paves the way for the current wave of hate-speech, threats and violence targeted at those of a particular ideology.

The role of the police and judiciary is also of great concern as horrendous crimes go unpunished and the country heads towards a complete breakdown of the rule of law. Some progress must be made in the prosecution of those responsible or at least involved in the past crimes and current conflicts raging around Indonesia.

At a meeting of Asia-Pacific non-governmental organisations (NGOs) held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from April 27 to 29, 2001, to prepare for the WCAR, the following section about Indonesia was contained in the Kathmandu Declaration issued at the conclusion of the meeting:

"We deplore the low health status of indigenous women and children in Indonesia and remind the State that it is responsible for improving this situation. We note with shock that currently the mortality rate is higher among indigenous women and children because of the lack of health facilities, services and information.

"We call on the State to acknowledge the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands and resources and to provide just and adequate compensation where these rights have been or are violated and denied.

"We demand an end to the systemic militarism that serves to discriminate and target religious and ethnic minorities in Indonesia, especially the women of these minorities.

"We recommend the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue to assist the resolution of religion-based intolerance in this country.

"We call for the repeal of all discriminatory laws that deny or limit indigenous peoples the right to self-determination and in addition urge that state law recognises the equality of customary law with state law.

"We also call for an indigenous people's representative to be given the space and opportunity to participate in political processes and decision-making in Parliament."

We further call on the Indonesian government to repeal the hundreds of discriminatory regulations and policies remaining from the Suharto regime based on race, ethnicity, religion and political persuasion. We are extremely concerned that the Indonesian State continues to sponsor the Badan Koordinasi Masalah Cina or BKMC (Agency for the Coordination of Chinese Affairs) that targets, harasses and encourages further discrimina-tion against the ethnic Chinese community, and we urge the government to immediately disband this agency.

Furthermore, an anti-discrimination act must be expeditiously passed to counter the unabashed racial, ethnic and religious discrimination continuing in Indonesia to enable reconciliation and to provide compensation, restitution and rehabilitation for the victims of these crimes. A National Anti-Discrimination Commission must be established to oversee the implementation of this act.

Regarding the widespread impunity of those responsible for violence and serious human rights abuses against specific religious, ethnic, racial and political minorities, the Indonesian government must investigate all incidents and bring to justice the perpetrators of these racist, intolerant and xenophobic crimes. Among the extremely serious incidents that require investigation and prosecution are the anti-Chinese riots of May 1998, the religious violence in Poso and Maluku and the massacre of 1965-1966.