[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Stop Violence and Biased News on Salena Case
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:31:11 +0100
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Salena Case
Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN/ Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the
Archipelago), WALHI- Friends of the Earth Indonesia, Kontras (The Commission
for Disappearances and Victims of Violence), HuMa (Association for Community
and Ecologically-Based Law Reform) and HRWG
Police personnel of the West Palu police station and community members of
Salena village, clashed on the 25th October 2005 in Buluri subdistrict, Central
Sulawesi, leaving three policemen and a member of the community dead. The event
led to the publications of news about an `Islamic deviant cult' called `Mahdi'
in the press and violence threats to members of Salena village community.
Fearing the impact, residents of Salena have now fled to the forests leaving an
empty village that was looted by residents of neighbouring villages in Buluri
and Tipo subdistricts. It is believed that the looting was triggered by biased
news about the so-called `Mahdi cult'.
In response to the possibility of a worsening situation in terms of the
physical and psychological welfare of the Salena villagers, AMAN, WALHI,
Kontras, HuMa and HRWG, now consider it important to correct the information
about the indigenous peoples of Salena village and so-called members of the
`religious deviant cult'.
1. Mahdi is a martial arts teacher in Salena village who is also a healer.
So far, the state has not yet been able to provide proper health care for the
villagers there, therefore Mahdi's skill in helping and healing people is
paramount.
2. There is no religious deviant teaching taught and practised in Mahdi's
martial art school. Mahdi only teaches his martial art of self-defence and
provides health care.
3. The news on `religious deviant teaching' did not originate from members
of Salena village, but from outsiders, particularly the police.
4. Members of Salena village are Moslem and practise their religion.
5. Members of Salena village respect their cultural traditions that have
been passed down from one generation to another.
6. Members of Salena village do not know the reason why police came to their
village and looked for Mahdi.
7. Only some members of the village belong to Mahdi's martial art school. So
far, there have not been any complaints about the school from other residents
of the village.
8. Interviews carried out with some members of the village were done under
the pressure and might have given rise to misinformation.
Based on these facts, we urge the Central and Local Government, the Indonesian
Police, Religious Authorities, the press and all members of the society:
1. To proactively restore peace and normal conditions in Salena, to prevent
any violent act perpetrated by both the State and other communities towards the
villagers and to disseminate impartial and balanced news on the incident.
2. To protect the indigenous peoples, particularly those who have not been
touched by social and health care from the State, and not to interfere with the
religious and beliefs of indigenous peoples and society in general, as long as
they do not force or carry out violent acts towards other members of society.
3. To guarantee freedom of observation and other manifestations of their
religion, beliefs and cultural traditions, as long as they do not harm other
people or other communities' rights by forcing or carrying out violence as
stipulated in the 1945 Constitution and Law No.39/1999 on Human Rights.
4. To explain to the public the reasons for the visit of the police to
Salena village and how the ensuing clash happened.
5. To give the opportunity (and guarantee of safety) to members of Salena
village to recount their side of the story on why the police, in large numbers,
came to their village.
6. To refrain from easily labelling religious, beliefs or traditional
cultural expression of a group of people or a community as a `deviant cult'
since it has the potential to trigger inter-community violence.
7. To guarantee freedom of gathering, association and religious, beliefs and
traditional/cultural expression to residents of Salena village as stipulated in
the 1945 Constitution and the State's ideology Pancasila.
8. As a country, which has ratified some international human rights
instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, Anti-Discrimination Convention,
and Convention on Biodiversity, to prove its responsibility to respect, to
protect and to fulfil the rights contained in those international human rights
instruments.
9. To clarify the incident thoroughly and to urge the press to perform an
in-depth investigation prior to any news publication
10. To call the Indonesia's Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM)
to thoroughly and objectively investigate the case.
AMAN, WALHI, Kontras, HuMa and HRWG would also like to emphasize that:
1. Violence and discrimination suffered by the indigenous peoples in Salena
village reflect the existence of social prejudice towards indigenous peoples
living in mountainous regions of the country. The lack of education and access
to public space added to the ritual beliefs performed by indigenous peoples
have been continuously used to label them as `abnormal', `deviant' or other
derogatory terms that discredit them.
2. The incident has demonstrated the lack of protection and proper social
services provided by the state to minority groups, especially ethic and
religious minority groups, in Indonesia.
3. The incident has brought about the onset of a process that could lead to
genocide towards a group of indigenous peoples.
Jakarta, 28th October 2005
AMAN/ Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago
Contact: Executive Secretary: Emilianus Ola Kleden
Telephone +62-(0) 21-7802771, Mobile +62-(0) 815-8239948
Email: emil.kleden@xxxxxxxxxx
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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