P2 Playing Political Football with Moluccan Lives
which began with the liberation of East Timor. They are assisted by soldiers and deserters from the Indonesian military and police.
The second group consists of the Jayanti, Barito Pacific, Sinar Mas, and Artha Graha Groups which are closely linked to the Suharto family.Two of these conglomerates, Jayanti and Sinar Mas, have close ties and joint ventures with Australian companies. Jayanti, which owes Rp 206.5 billion (US$ 23.7 million) to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), is exporting Moluccan fish to Australia and Sinar Mas is exporting palm oil to the Australian food giant, Goodman Fielder.
With officers loyal to Wiranto deeply entrenched in the armed forces, Wahid and his deputy have their hands and feet tied to end the violence in Maluku. In fact, the ongoing violence in Maluku is basically maintained by their opponents who continue to play political football with the lives of the Moluccan people. Every time Suharto or Wiranto are interrogated, a new wave of violence flares up in Maluku.
Therefore, Australia and the ASEAN countries should seriously lobby friendly nations without predominant Muslim and Christian populations, such as India, Thailand, South Korea and Japan to play a more active role in ending the violence in Maluku. Australian military cooperation with Indonesia should be postponed until the Indonesian military can prove its impartiality in domestic disputes such as Maluku. A trade embargo with Indonesian companies which benefit from the violence in Maluku is also recommended.
Certainly, Australian military cooperation with Indonesia should not be normalised as long as the perpetrators of human rights violations in East Timor are not taken to justice and are allowed to foment unrest in Maluku and other parts of the Indonesian archipelago.
*) Dr George J. Aditjondro, who teaches at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Newcastle, specialises in what he calls the 'Indo-Melanesian' or 'West Melanesian' cultural zone of Papua, Maluku, Timor and Flores. He has done extensive interviews with sources in Jakarta, Maluku, Germany and Australia, to uncover this background of the Maluku unrest.
Received via email from : George Aditjondro
Copyright © 1999-2000
The second group consists of the Jayanti, Barito Pacific, Sinar Mas, and Artha Graha Groups which are closely linked to the Suharto family.Two of these conglomerates, Jayanti and Sinar Mas, have close ties and joint ventures with Australian companies. Jayanti, which owes Rp 206.5 billion (US$ 23.7 million) to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), is exporting Moluccan fish to Australia and Sinar Mas is exporting palm oil to the Australian food giant, Goodman Fielder.
With officers loyal to Wiranto deeply entrenched in the armed forces, Wahid and his deputy have their hands and feet tied to end the violence in Maluku. In fact, the ongoing violence in Maluku is basically maintained by their opponents who continue to play political football with the lives of the Moluccan people. Every time Suharto or Wiranto are interrogated, a new wave of violence flares up in Maluku.
Therefore, Australia and the ASEAN countries should seriously lobby friendly nations without predominant Muslim and Christian populations, such as India, Thailand, South Korea and Japan to play a more active role in ending the violence in Maluku. Australian military cooperation with Indonesia should be postponed until the Indonesian military can prove its impartiality in domestic disputes such as Maluku. A trade embargo with Indonesian companies which benefit from the violence in Maluku is also recommended.
Certainly, Australian military cooperation with Indonesia should not be normalised as long as the perpetrators of human rights violations in East Timor are not taken to justice and are allowed to foment unrest in Maluku and other parts of the Indonesian archipelago.
*) Dr George J. Aditjondro, who teaches at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Newcastle, specialises in what he calls the 'Indo-Melanesian' or 'West Melanesian' cultural zone of Papua, Maluku, Timor and Flores. He has done extensive interviews with sources in Jakarta, Maluku, Germany and Australia, to uncover this background of the Maluku unrest.
Received via email from : George Aditjondro
Copyright © 1999-2000