Indonesia's Shame - Stop the injustice! Stop the executions!

Ibrahim B., December 17, 2005 www.IndonesiaWatch.org Urgent action needs to be taken now to avoid a serious miscarriage of justice. The execution of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu must be stopped to allow time for justice to prevail.

IndonesiaWatch has been carefully studying the case against three men on death row in Central Sulawesi, the Court proceedings and it is clear that there are some serious problems with this case: 1. Evidence was presented by a series of witnesses, both Muslim and Christian that vindicated Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu. 2. Evidence that was offered to prove the guilt of the accused was surrounded in emotional lies at a time when the newspapers had already named and convicted these men. One example was the evidence that airplanes and helicopters were supplying weapons to Christians in Tentena and Kelei. Not only was there no longer any airport in the area, but if such flights were undertaken, how come the radar of airports in Palu, Makassar, Luwuk and Manado had no such records. Where could they have come from? America? How ridiculous. Such information was accepted rather than the testimony of those who vindicated the three men. 3. Every week of the trial Islamic masses tried to storm the prison vehicles and kill the defendants and even their lawyers were at risk. The masses called out that if the three men were not convicted, then the masses would take law into their own hands and even the panel of judges would be executed. Such intimidation on the court defiles the process of justice. 4. The injustice of this case is even more obvious when one understands the history of what happened in Poso. At Christmas 1998 and Easter 2000 there were massive Islamic attacks against the Christian community burning down homes, churches, shops and killing the innocent. One girl killed was a maid at the Pentecostal church. She was chased by the mobs to the river. She tried to run across the bridge. Others came at her from the other side so she jumped into the river. She tried to swim ashore but machete wielding men slashing at her kept her in the river till she drowned. There are many other such incidents. But who was arrested? Why have not the murderers of the Christians been arrested? It was the failure of the Government, the military and the police to protect the Christian minority that forced the Christians to have to protect themselves. The three men are only on death row because they dared to try and defend the Christian community in the third round of attacks in May-June 2000. The masterminds of the first and second attacks, and the Government, police and military officials who failed in their responsibility should be held accountable before any responsibility should be laid at the feet of those who only wanted to protect their homes and families. 5. There is an evil rumor afoot that the execution of these three men has been hastily brought forward to balance the impending executions of the Bali bombers. It is also to show “balance” and “fairness”. If only the Islamic bombers are executed the Government runs the risk of being accused of being unfair and even anti-Islamic. So to balance the books, execute the Christians as well. This is grossly unjust and must not be allowed to proceed. The underlying causes of the Poso tragedy need to be thoroughly investigated before any executions take place. In the name of justice, Stop the Executions! 6. The timing of these planned executions is all wrong. Since the three men were arrested, tried and sentenced to death there has been an unrelenting attack against the Christian community. With these three men charged and sentenced to death and with none of the perpetrators of the many killings, bombings, assassinations and burning and looting of Christian villages from 2001 to 2005, arrested, tried and convicted, the timing is all wrong. The Christian community already feels betrayed by the Government, military and police who they feel are allowing a slow genocide to take place. It was once claimed that these three men were the instigators of the violence, but in Christmas 1998 and Easter 2000 these men were not involved. They did not instigate the attacks against the Christian community. They only became involved in May 2000 in the third round of attacks in order to defend their community against a genocide to which the government, police and military were closing their eyes. Furthermore, after they were arrested, how could they have been behind the following events in the area: i. New Year’s Eve bombings of five churches in Palu ii. The burning down and looting and killing in the villages of Pantangolemba, Betelemba, Saatu, Masani, Tangkura, Dewua, Sangginora, Mayumba, Beteleme, Sepe and many others. These attacks even used Government owned trucks to carry the jihad warriors, used a Government owned Kerosene Tanker to spray the homes of Christians as they travelled back and forth on a narrow road, the only road, and the police and military said they saw nothing. iii. The frequent withdrawal of police and military who were protecting Christian villages an hour before the village was attacked. The community knew that if the police were withdrawn it meant their village was about to be attacked. iv. The government – The Provincial Governor and the City Mayor both publicly, and reported in the news media, welcomed the Laskar Jihad to come and participate in Poso. v. Assassination of Pastor Susanti while preaching in her church. vi. Assassination of Chief Justice Silalahi on his way home from Church. vii. Assassination of the Synod Treasurer of GKST churches with his nephew. viii. The bombings of the Omega and Antariksa buses killing many passengers ix. The killing of an Italian on his honeymoon, Lorenzo Tadei, on a bus travelling to Tentena. x. The Laskar Jihad inspection posts where Christians were dragged from their vehicles and executed. xi. The Tentena market bombing killing 24, seriously injuring another 56. xii. The beheadings of three school girls - Theresia Morangke, Alfita Poliwo and Yarni Sambue. xiii. The shooting in the face of two schoolgirls – Ivon and Siti in Poso. xiv. The shooting of Novlin Pallinggi and her husband Pudji Laksono on their way home from church. xv. The assassination of the two witnesses to who was behind the Tentena market bombing, Mr. Budiyanto and Mr. Sarlito and the police officer investigating the bombing, Detective Agus Sulaiman. xvi. And many other incidents that have occurred since the three men were arrested, tried and sentenced to death. In the face of all these unsolved attacks, murders, lootings, assassinations, bombings, terrorism, how can it be just to single out three men who were forced to defend themselves, their homes, their families and their community, and then to execute them? Stop this injustice! Stop the executions!