From: apakabar@access.digex.com (John A. MacDougall)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: Indonesian Army Strikes Church
Date: 25 Jan 1993 13:11:27 -0500
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Forwarded by hrwatchnyc@igc.apc.org:
 
Asia Watch press release
 
January 25, 1993                                                                                                      
Vol.5, No.3
 
INDONESIA: MILITARY REPRESSION AGAINST THE BATAK CHURCH
 
Summary
 
In late November 1992, a long-simmering conflict broke out in the open over 
the leadership of the Batak Protestant Christian Congregation (Huria Kristen 
Batak Protestan or HKBP) in north Sumatra. The head of the congregation is 
known as ephorus, roughly equivalent to "archbishop." In December, the North 
Sumatra branch of Indonesia's internal security agency, BAKORSTANASDA, 
intervened on one side of the conflict and issued a decree appointing its own 
choice for ephorus, a man who was a convicted embezzler. In the uproar and 
protests that followed, dozens of church members were arbitrarily detained, 
houses were searched without warrants, and press coverage of the situation 
was banned. As of January 18, 1993, some sixty people were believed to be 
in detention. Asia Watch called on the Indonesian government to release all 
those arbitrarily detained, to lift restrictions on freedom of expression 
and to allow members of HKBP full freedom of association to choose their 
leadership without government interference.
 
Background to Intervention
 
        The Toba clan of the Batak ethnic group in north Sumatra is largely 
Protestant, and the church is organized into a congregation, the HKBP, of 
some two million members, headed by an ephorus and a governing Central 
Council. The ephorus is elected for a six-year term. Between November 23 
and 28, 1992, the HKBP, which has a history of social activism, convened its 
51st Synod in Sipoholon, Tarutung, North Sumatra, at which the election of 
an ephorus was to take place. Rev. Dr. S.A.E. Nababan, the current ephorus 
elected in 1986, was being challenged by a faction within the HKBP close 
to the army. That faction was headed by the Secretary-General of the HKBP, 
one Rev. Simorangkir. 
 
        The synod was marked by demonstrations and disruptions. On the final 
night of the synod, November 28, at about 10 p.m., the session was in 
disarray, with Simorangkir's faction noisily claiming that Nababan was trying 
to block discussion of three items. There had been no election. Nababan 
suspended proceedings as an ephorus is authorized to do under HKBP's rules 
of governance; an army officer, Lt. Col. Paris Ginting, then appeared and 
ordered Nababan to leave the room.
 
        After his departure, a rump session of the Central Council was held 
with Ginting; Colonel Daniel Toding, the regional military commander 
(DANREM 023); and Simorangkir, among others. Participants at the meeting 
told the press that the main subject of discussion was the security problems 
caused by the fractious synod.
 
        Later on, in the early hours of November 29, Simorangkir, claiming 
a mandate from the Central Council, called a general meeting of the synod, 
without the knowledge of Nababan, and read out a typed statement. Purporting 
to be the decision of the meeting the night before, it announced the 
formation of a caretaker council with Simorangkir himself as acting 
ephorus, on the utterly false grounds that Nababan had resigned for 
health reasons. Participants in that meeting, however, said no such 
decision had been reached or even discussed, and suggested the statement 
must have been prepared long in advance. Members of the synod rejected 
Simorangkir's coup attempt and overwhelmingly voted to retain Nababan. 
Simorangkir then claimed that the HKBP had turned the leadership question 
over to the Indonesian government to resolve. Neither Simorangkir nor HKBP, 
however, had any authority to act without the agreement of the ephorus, 
i.e. Nababan.
 
        As the meeting degenerated into a mass protest largely directed 
against Simorangkir, Colonel Toding, who was present throughout, ordered 
his men to arrest unruly members. He also, however, cancelled Simorangkir's 
"decision" to make himself acting ephorus and the meeting broke up.
 
The December 23 Decree
 
        Over the following weeks, tension remained high, and the HKBP 
headquarters in the village of Pearaja, Tarutung, was surrounded by the 
military. On December 23, Major General R. Pramono, the regional commander 
of BAKORSTANASDA, who is also the regional military commander, issued a 
decree appointing a member of the Simorangkir faction, Dr. S.M. Siahaan, 
as acting ephorus, effective December 31. Siahaan, former dean of the 
education faculty of the respected Nommensen University in North Sumatra, 
had been convicted of corruption in 1976 for embezzling university funds 
and sentenced to six months in prison; he was also accused of taking funds 
from HKBP's Education Foundation in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra.
 
        The BAKORSTANASDA decree (appendix 1) claimed the intervention was 
necessary on national security grounds given the upcoming session in March 
1993 of the People's Consultative Assembly which is expected to re-elect 
President Suharto. It cited two other decrees giving the government 
responsibility to settle the HKBP dispute. One was a BAKORSTANASDA decree 
dated February 27, 1991; the second was a Ministry of Religious Affairs 
decree dated October 21, 1992, meaning the military had decided to intervene 
long before the synod was ever convened. The December 23, 1992 decree also 
cited a report from the military commander, Colonel Toding, on the failure 
of the synod to elect a new ephorus, and a report by the Committee of the 
51st Synod about matters the synod was unable to resolve. The latter report 
was prepared by Simorangkir. The decree also called for a special synod to 
be convened, in cooperation with BAKORSTANASDA, no later than mid-February 
1993 to elect new officials for HKBP.
 
        Outrage over the BAKORSTANASDA intervention was widespread and 
instantaneous. HKBP filed a law suit against the regional military 
commander and BAKORSTANASDA head, General Pramono. (On January 11, the 
court ruled in favor of HKBP.) Some 4,000 HKBP members marched to the 
provincial parliament in Medan on December 28, demanding the decree be 
revoked. Others gathered at the governor's mansion, and still others 
marched to the regional military headquarters. Security forces lined 
their route. A major Jakarta newspaper, Suara Pembaruan, wondered aloud 
whether BAKORSTANASDA had not gone too far and said the action constituted 
unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of the church. 
 
        Curiously, the Interior Minister, General Rudini, and a senior 
minister close to President Suharto, Admiral Sudomo, the Coordinating 
Minister for Political Affairs and Security, publicly opposed the 
BAKORSTANASDA action, both claiming that they joined with church 
leaders in supporting Rev. Nababan. They thus stood in direct opposition 
to Commander of the Armed Forces, General Try Sutrisno, who backed 
General Pramono.
 
        On December 31, the day that Dr. Siahaan was to be inaugurated, 
thousands of HKBP members occupied the church at HKBP headquarters in 
Pearaja to prevent the ceremony from taking place. There were also 
demonstrations in Jakarta. The occupation of the church, as well as other 
protests throughout the Toba Batak area of North Sumatra, continued for 
the next two weeks.
 
Military Action Against HKBP
 
        On January 9, the Indonesian government issued a decree banning 
all individuals and organizations from commenting on the HKBP crisis. By 
the terms of the decree, only Sudomo, the Coordinating Minister for Political 
Affairs and Security, and General Pramono, the regional military commander, 
had the authority to make public statements on the issue. By this time, 
Sudomo had clearly changed his stance, telling the press that the 
BAKORSTANASDA move against HKBP was "justified and not an act of 
interference."
 
        This clear violation of freedom of expression proved to be the prelude 
to a military crackdown which began on January 15, 1993. Eight church members 
staying in thehome of Rev. J.A.U. Dolakseribu were seized by the army and 
taken to an undisclosed location. Rev. Daulat Sitorus, another minister who 
went to look for the eight was also seized. The house of the chief judge 
of the North Sumatra High Court, Judge Lintong Oloan Siahaan, who agreed 
to hear the HKBP law suit, was reportedly stoned and vandalized.
 
        On January 16, at about 7 a.m., some 100 troops consisting of 
soldiers from the Bukit Barisan command, police, and military police, 
charged the occupied church, injuring at least three ministers and one 
lay person in the process. Two hours later, Rev. Nelson Siregar, the 
director of HKBP's community development program, and Rev. W.T. Simarmata, 
director of its education department, were summoned by the local military 
commander. They were later arrested and transported 300 km to the provincial 
capital, Medan, where they were held in the military headquarters, Gaperta. 
Thirty-six students were also detained, all but 10 of whom were released 
the next day.
 
        On Sunday, January 17, a human rights lawyer, Laudin Napitupulu, from 
the Legal Aid Foundation's Medan office, was detained together with a HKBP 
minister, Rev. Togar Hasugian, and seven students and lay members. All were 
arrested at the house of a minister in the village of Aek Siancimun by police 
from the North Tapanuli command (POLRES). On the same day, about 30 police 
officers arrived at the house of Rev. Nababan, the HKBP ephorus, where many 
protestors had gathered. About 25 people, mostly students, were taken away 
in military vehicles.
 
        On Monday, January 18, the head of HKBP's youth program, Rev. J.A.U. 
Dolakseribu (whose house had been stormed by police three days earlier) was 
arrested after performing a wedding service at the HKBP church on Jalan 
Sudirman, Medan.
 
        As of January 18, some 60 HKBP members, including 43 students, were 
believed under arrest. Those detained in Gaperta, Medan were denied visits 
from their families, in violation of Indonesia's own Criminal Procedure Code.
 
Conclusions and Recommendations
 
        The action against HKBP is taking place against the backdrop of 
heightened security measures more generally as the "election" of President 
Suharto approaches in March and of a fears of increased religious 
polarization between Indonesia's tiny Christian minority and the 
Muslim majority.  A spate of attacks on Christian churches took place 
in November 1992 by Muslim groups fearful of "Christianization."
 
        But tensions within the Batak church have been going on for years 
and have little to do with recent political developments. There is no 
justification for the action taken by BAKORSTANASDA against the church 
leadership. Asia Watch calls on the Indonesian government to release 
immediately and unconditionally all those arbitrarily arrested for 
peaceful protest in connection with the protests over BAKORSTANASDA 
intervention in HKBP's affairs, including Rev. Dolakseribu, Sakti 
Pakpahan, Hendrik Siagian, Rev. WTP Simarmata, Dr. Tumpak Tobing, 
and Haposan Tobing.  It notes the action taken by BAKORSTANASDA 
to appoint an ephorus against the wishes of the congregation was in 
violation of the internationally-recognized right to freedom of 
religion and association. The arrest of peaceful protestors was a 
violation of their right to freedom of expression.  Finally, Asia 
Watch calls for disciplinary action to be taken against Major 
General Pramono, the man responsible for the human rights abuses cited 
in this statement. General Pramono was also responsible for atrocities 
committed during the counterinsurgency campaign in Aceh in 1990-91.
 
                                       ****
 
For More Information
 
Sidney Jones (212) 972-8400
             (718) 398-4186
 
Email: hrwatchnyc@igc.apc.org
 
Asia Watch is an independent organization created in 1985 to monitor and 
promote internationally recognized human rights in Asia.  The Chair is Jack 
Greenberg, the Vice Chairs are Harriet Rabb and Orville Schell, and the 
Executive Director is Sidney Jones.
 
Asia Watch is a division Human Rights Watch, which also includes Africa 
Watch, Americas Watch, Helsinki Watch and Middle East Watch.  The Chair 
of Human Rights Watch is Robert L. Bernstein and the Vice Chair is Adrian 
DeWind.  Aryeh Neier is Executive Director; Kenneth Roth, Deputy Director; 
Holly Burkhalter, Washington Director; Susan Osnos, Press Director.
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