Armed conflict in the world today: a country by country review
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MOLUCCASStatement: The situation in the Moluccas is a war of national liberation in exercise of the right to self-determination. Background: The Moluccas, independent for much of its history, was part of the Netherlands East Indies during the colonial period. The Round Table Conference Agreements of 1949 (Netherlands, Indonesia and the United Nations), the basis for the Moluccan claim to self-determination, provided for transfer of sovereignty over the territory of the Netherlands East Indies from the Netherlands to a new Indonesian state (the United States of Indonesia) which was bound to guarantee the right to self-determination to its component parts. The Indonesian government was to have a federal structure in which the component states of Borneo, East Indonesia (including the South Moluccas), and the Republic Indonesia were automatically recognized as equal powers. The wishes of each area’s population were to be taken account of in a plebiscite to determine if they wished to form a separate state. If any state did not ratify the final Indonesian constitution, it would have the right to negotiate for a separate status. Nevertheless, in 1950 the Javanese-dominated government of Indonesia used armed force to maintain the territory as a unitary state. The Moluccan people, exercising their rights under the Round Table Conference Agreements, declared their independence from the state of East Indonesia and the United States of Indonesia and formed the Republik Maluku Selatan (Republic of South Moluccas). The Republic of South Moluccas was invaded by Indonesian forces in July 1950, with a second invasion in September 1950. Despite this direct violation of the Round Table Conference Agreements, the Republic of Indonesia was admitted to the United Nations as a unitary state in September 1950. In December 1950, the Moluccan Army withdrew to Ceram. The Moluccan leader Chris Soumokil was captured and summarily executed in 1966. The occupied Moluccans have been facing dangers of ethnocide and genocide through forced contraception and continued transfer of Javanese settlers to the islands. Many of their resources, including timber and forest products, are being exploited wholesale. The Moluccans are becoming a minority population in their own territory and face high unemployment and essentially no freedom of speech and expression. In 1997 there were increased clashes due to the increasing “colonization” of Moluccan lands by Javanese. Moluccan resistance continues, including the formation of provisional governments. Indonesian President Soeharto resigned in May 1998 after mass protests against his government. The new President, B.J. Habibie, began discussions regarding East Timor (see “East Timor”) and investigation into army atrocities in Acheh (see “Acheh”) during Soeharto’s long rule. He did not begin investigation into the many atrocities committed by Indonesian authorities in the Moluccas. Current Situation: There has a large increase in the clashes between the Javanese settlers and the Moluccan people, with most of the incidents taking place in Ambon. The Javanese, primarily Muslim, have been attacking the Christian Moluccan’s churches and other cultural property in what observers feel is an effort to intimidate Moluccans into not seeking independence. Initially flaring up in Spring 1999, the situation deteriorated dramatically in July 1999, and by October 1999 there had been more than 200 people killed and 600 injured. In August 1999, Muslim mobs attacked 6 Christian villages in Seram and burned down 8 churches. Over 100 people were killed in six days. The fighting spread to West Seram and other islands in the Moluccas. In October 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid became president and Magawati Sukarnoputri vice president in the first elections in Indonesia in over 40 years. Demonstrations by Moluccan people abroad, mainly in the Netherlands, took place the same month. One Moluccan faction, the government-in-exile of the Republic of South Moluccas (RSM), claimed in December 1999 that it was investigating possible political arrangements, including autonomy for the Moluccas within a federal Indonesia. On December 12, President Walid and Vice President Sukarnoputri visited Ambon (Moluccas) along with four members of the Moluccan community from the Netherlands, two from the RSM. However, the fighting has continued. In early January 2000, the Indonesian military authorities, led by General Max Tamaela, were unable to maintain control of the situation, while the death toll in one week from late December to early January, 2000, reached 500, the worst of the past 50 years. By early February 2000, there were rumors of a military coup against President Walid (perhaps led by at the hands of Army Chief of Staff Tyasno Sudarto), especially when security chief General Wiranto refused to resign despite three requests from Wahid. President Wahid went on a European tour in January 2000. By early March 2000, Javanese youth, primarily from Jakarta, began forming a militant group calling itself Laskar Jihad, with a mission to attack Christians in the Moluccas. In mid-May 2000, as many as 2000 members of the Laskar Jihad were in the Moluccas and carried out several massacres in Halmahera, one killing about 30 villagers and another at the end of May in which a reported 60 Christian villagers were killed and 100 more wounded. By the end of May 2000, the last of the aid workers left Ambon due to the conflict. Estimates at time of writing (June 2000) range between 2700 and 3500 Christian Moluccans killed since January 2000. Clashes are a daily occurrence, and at time of writing it appears that the newest clashes have resulted in hundreds of killed. The Moluccans are beginning to flee from the Laskar Jihad to West Papua and other areas. Over 10,000 people are thought to have died as a result of the lengthy conflict. UN Action: (For additional citations on Indonesia, see East Timor.) SC Committee of Good Offices on the Indonesian Question (1947-1949). SC Comm for Indonesia (1949-1955): Reports: UN Docs. S/1373, S/1417, S/1842, S/1873 and S/2087. SC Res (1/28/1949). The Round Table Conference Agreements: 69 UNT.S. 3 (1950). Sub-Comm Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/L.25. 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