WRITTEN QUESTION E-2636/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(18 September 2002)

Subject: Persecution of Christian communities in Indonesia

Is the Commission aware that Christian communities in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia are being increasingly persecuted and attacked by extremist Islamic militants of the Laskar jihad?

Is the Commission also aware that local police are targeting for arrest key Church leaders, such as Rev Rinaldy Damanik, rather than the jihad militants?

What pressure will the Commission bring to stop these senseless attacks and how will the Commission ensure local police neutrality?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(10 October 2002)

The Commission's Delegation in Jakarta, together with the diplomatic missions of the Member States, closely follows human rights developments throughout Indonesia and participates in all Union démarches to draw attention to concerns regarding human rights issues in Indonesia. The Commission shares the stated position of the Union, firmly supporting Indonesia's territorial integrity, while encouraging the Government to make urgent efforts to address and resolve peacefully Indonesia's internal conflicts, whether separatist or sectarian in character. Like the majority of the international community, the Commission considers that these internal conflicts are primarily the responsibility of Indonesia, and should be addressed first and foremost by the Indonesian Government, and by civil society organisations, the religious communities and other institutions in peaceful dialogue, within the rule of law, and respecting human rights without favour to any particular group.

The Government of Indonesia led by President Megawati is, the Commission believes, making a real effort to balance the internal tensions and to encourage the settlement of disputes peacefully with respect for human rights. Their brokering in December 2001 in Poso, Sulawesi of the Malino I peace declaration between representatives of the Christian and Moslem communities and other rival groups in Sulawesi is one example. And a similar Malino II declaration agreed in April 2002 concerning the Moluccas is another. But these declarations of principle require implementation with sensitivity to the different communities.

The ongoing tensions and violence in the Sulawesi islands that the Honourable Member asks about as well as in the other provinces of Aceh, the Moluccas and Papua are receiving the Commission's continuing attention. The Commission is providing humanitarian assistance for the victims of disputes, as well as financial assistance to help resolve disputes and to improve the human rights situation in Indonesia. Of the EUR 11 400 000 available (2001-2004) for Indonesia under the aid to uprooted peoples budget, up to EUR 1 000 000 is available for internally displaced persons in Sulawesi during 2002. The remainder is for the Moluccas where similar intercommunal conflicts have been occurring.

Already since 1999 the Commission has provided EUR 4 600 000 in emergency aid to assist the victims, both Christian and Moslem, of the violence in the Moluccas particularly internally displaced persons. For the future, Indonesia is also a focus country for the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) 2002-2004. An indicative amount of EUR 2 500 000 is programmed for further EIDHR actions to be financed during 2002. Already, in 2000 and 2001, four actions for a total value of EUR 1 862 880 have been funded under this Initiative through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

At a policy level, the Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations already discussed conflict prevention and human rights with the Indonesian Foreign Minister in November 2001. It was agreed then that, in the framework of the Union Rapid Reaction Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, the Commission would send a fact-finding mission to Indonesia in January 2002 and February 2002, to report on conflict situations and human rights problems and to propose how the Union might assist in their resolution. The mission visited Jakarta, Poso Sulawesi, Papua and the Moluccas and the full text of the final report of this independent expert mission is available on the Indonesia section of the External Affairs part of the Commission's website(1). In the light of the recommendations of this report, the Commission has approved EUR 520 000 financing under the Rapid Reaction Mechanism to help facilitate conflict resolution and to enhance respect of human rights in the Moluccas and Papua where there are tensions between the Christian and Moslem communities. Assistance is foreseen to mediation for conflict resolution in the Moluccas, and to the participation of various local civil society and women's groups in peaceful dialogue in Papua. The allocation to Sulawesi in 2002 of EUR 1 000 000 from the aid to uprooted peoples budget line (see above) was another outcome of this report.

Following the Indonesian Parliament's approval in 2001 of decentralisation laws applicable throughout Indonesia, and specific regional autonomy laws for Aceh, and Irian Jaya (to be called thereafter Papua) their implementation could make a significant contribution to resolving the difficulties. To support this process in the longer term, the Commission envisages within its Country Strategy for assistance to Indonesia to focus on encouraging good governance and the rule of law in the framework of these decentralisation and regional autonomy policies. EUR 15 000 000 is available for providing assistance to good governance, as well as improving the performance of the judiciary and the law enforcement processes within Indonesia. Since the Commission does not underestimate the challenges facing Indonesia to solve problems of corruption, inefficiency and to reinforce the rule of law, it is prepared to make a sustained and substantial contribution in this regard.

The Commission is appreciative of the efforts of the Government of Indonesia to begin co-operating with the international alliance against terrorism. It has noted that the leader of the Laskar Jihad movement, Mr Jafar Umar Thalib, has been arrested in the Moluccas in May 2002 and is now held in custody in Jakarta and it encourages the Government of Indonesia to apply thoroughly the due processes of law as appropriate in this and other cases without discrimination.

Finally, in the framework of an Union-Indonesia Ministerial Troika in the margins of the Asia-Europe Meetings in Copenhagen on 24 September 2002, the Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations has raised and discussed again all these concerns with Foreign Minister Wirajuda. He can assure the Honourable Member that the Commission continues actively to follow the complex and evolving human rights situation throughout Indonesia with careful attention to Sulawesi as well as to Aceh, the Moluccas, Papua and the other regions.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/indonesia/intro/index.htm.