European Parliament resolution on the Moluccan Islands in Indonesia
Date: 2000-01-20
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Moluccas, crime against humanity, democracy, forced migration, human rights, humanitarian aid, refugee, religious conflict, violence

C 304/212

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

Thursday 20 January 2000

Calls on the Chad Government and the International Consortium not to proceed with the oil extrac-

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tion project should the World Bank assessment be negative;

Strongly recommends that

the EIB not contribute to financing the project with the planned
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€ 44 million of credits to Cameroon and Chad under the Lomé Convention unless it considers that the
social and environmental concerns have been met;

Calls on the Chad and Cameroon Governments and the International Consortium, in the event of a

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positive assessment by the World Bank, to provide among others the following guarantees:

+ protection of indigenous peoples and adequate compensation for displaced local populations with

strict respect for human rights,

+ the most stringent environmental protection rules, including oil-spill prevention, pipeline routing, air

quality, disease control and accident prevention,

+ local re-investment of an adequate share of the revenues from the project;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the governments of the Member

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States, the Chad and Cameroon Governments and Parliaments and the World Bank.

12. Situation in the Moluccan Islands (Indonesia)

B5-0034, 0054, 0059, 0071 and 0073/2000

European Parliament resolution on the Moluccan Islands in Indonesia

The European Parliament,

+ having regard to its previous resolutions on Indonesia,

+ having regard to its resolution on the Moluccan Islands of 7 October 1999 (1),

+ having regard to the EU Presidency’s statements on behalf of

the EU on Indonesia in July

and September 1999,

+ having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2158/1999 of 11 October 1999 concerning a ban on

the supply to Indonesia of equipment which might be used for internal repression,

A. whereas its resolution of October 1999 referred to the worsening situation on the Moluccas where
between November 1998 and September 1999 several hundred people had died and tens of thousands
of people had fled their homes,

B. whereas the new Indonesian Government seems to sincerely wish to promote democracy and respect
for human rights in the whole of the country and has already taken concrete steps in that direction,

C. whereas, regrettably, despite this, the situation on the Moluccas has deteriorated further, with several
thousand lives lost around the turn of the century, many thousands of people injured and once again
tens of thousands of people fleeing to neighbouring islands and seeking refuge in refugee camps,

D. whereas this conflict has economic, ethnic and religious components which arise from the long-term
effects of the transmigration policy of the former Suharto regime as well as from general economic
neglect of the region, both of which add to the conflicts between the original Christian population
group and a growing Muslim population group, including many immigrants,

(1) Texts adopted at that sitting, Item 4.

24.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 304/213

Condemns the massacres to which the civilian population of the Moluccas has been subjected and

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the incitements to religious hatred by the President of the Legislative Assembly;

Thursday 20 January 2000

Criticises the EU for its excessive reticence until now in terms of political pressure and humanitarian

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aid, despite the call for such pressure and aid by the Parliament in October 1999;

Requests action by the international community to provide support for the Indonesian Government

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in its efforts to reduce the violence and restore human rights on the Moluccas;

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Notes the commitments made by the Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid, and his govern-
ment to ensure the full protection of the people of the Moluccas, and insists on the urgent necessity for
the Indonesian army to comply strictly with government policies and not to play any destabilising role in
the region;

Calls on the Indonesian Government to detain and punish aggressive provocateurs and militias and

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to promote peaceful dialogue between the Muslim and Christian populations on the Moluccas;

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Asks the Indonesian media and Government to make absolutely clear that both Christians and Mus-
lims have suffered terrible losses and not to quote sources from only one side of the conflict in order to
avoid fuelling one side’s anger against the other;

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Points out the dubious role played by the Indonesian army which all too often seems to side with
aggressive Islamic groups and does not succeed in dealing effectively with provocative action; therefore
reiterates to the Council its insistence that the export of arms and other prohibited equipment and military
cooperation must not resume;

Therefore strongly regrets that the Council did not decide to extend the duration of Common Posi-
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tion 1999/624/CFSP and Council Regulation (EC) No 2158/1999 beyond its expiry date of 17 January
2000; urges the Council to reconsider its position and insists that in the meantime no Member State
should resume such arms exports and/or military cooperation;

9.

Calls on the Commission and the Council:

+ to send a delegation to Indonesia to discuss the situation with the Indonesian Government and to
assist in finding solutions to the conflict, including the preparation with the UN and the Indonesian
Government of a programme aimed at rebuilding a civil society which respects the ethnic and reli-
gious balance of the Moluccas in Indonesia,

+ to urge once again the Indonesian Government to allow the presence of international observers on the

Moluccas in order to guarantee independent reporting on the situation,

+ to increase significantly EU humanitarian aid to the Moluccas and to make sure that it reaches all

sections of the populations that need such aid;

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Demands that UNHCR and other humanitarian NGOs be given free access to those who have fled
their homes and calls upon the Indonesian Government to ensure their full protection in accordance with
‘Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement’ prepared by the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs of the UN;

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Intends to send its own parliamentary delegation to Indonesia;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments

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of the Member States and the applicant countries and the Indonesian Government.