Christians to be Executed in Indonesia; International Community Called to Act

|TOP|Christians worldwide have urgently appealed to the international community to act as three Catholic Christians have been scheduled to be executed in Indonesia on Saturday.

According to a letter their families received from the Indonesian Attorney General, Fabianus Tibo, 60, Dominggus da Silva, 39, and Marinus Riwu, 48, were accused of masterminding the sectarian violence in Central Sulawesi and for leading a violent attack against an Islamic school in 2000, with all three men receiving the death sentence.

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has stated that although the men have admitted their involvement in the conflict, they were the only ones charged in a conflict in which massive numbers of Muslims participated, and yet have not received any punishment at all.

An ICC statement also says: “Tibo, Riwu, and Da Silva, all Christian, were the only men charged in the Poso conflict, even though the conflict started in 1998 and went till 2003. This is a glaring injustice and hints of massive cover-up by the Indonesian government. ICC has personally investigated the Poso conflict. Entire Christian villages were attacked with government munitions and burned down using Indonesian government fuel trucks. Christian adults and children were beheaded.”

|AD|The statement continued, “On the 19th of June, 2000, more than 200 Christian women, children and men were massacred in one church alone (Halmahera Evangelical Church in Duma), and not one person was ever arrested, charged or imprisoned, let alone executed for this crime. Altogether, approximately 10,000 Christians were murdered and 1,000 churches burned down across Indonesia from 1998 to 2003. Yet the government could never find any Muslims to charge?”

Jeff King, President of ICC, stated, “There are so many Muslims in the Poso area with blood on their hands that the Governor of Central Sulawesi, where Poso is located, recently conveyed to the community that in order to attain peace it was necessary to implement a ‘General Amnesty’ for those implicated in the Poso case. Religious and cultural leaders of the Poso community have also repeatedly held meetings in order to achieve a ‘General Amnesty.’ Strangely, the need for amnesty is only for those who have not been charged.”

At their trial, Muslim witnesses spoke out in their defence, and both Muslim and Christian leaders have called for the stay of execution and re-trial, report UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

A judicial review panel was set up by the country’s Supreme Court due to substantial evidence to support calls for a re-trial and pressure from local and national human rights groups. However, on 9 May 2006 the review panel of five judges upheld the verdict. Their final appeal for clemency was rejected by the President of Indonesia.

Over the last two years, the Christian community has faced constant attacks by militants in the region, most notably the beheading of three Christian girls in October last year. The security officials have made a number of arrests of militants responsible for the violence in recent months, but some leaders still remain at large.

Reverend Rinaldy Damanik, Head of the Protestant Church in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, speaking on behalf of Fabianus Tibo's family, has released a statement outlining a number of questions the authorities have not answered.

In it he cites a massacre of 200 Christians where “not one person was ever arrested, charged or imprisoned, let alone be executed for this heinous crime”.

He asks why the proposed “general amnesty” for those condemned in this case has not been applied to these three men.

Finally, Reverend Damanik explains that if these questions are not answered fully, the execution of Tibo must not go ahead.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, has said, “We urge the international community to act immediately to stop the execution of these three men. There is substantial evidence to support calls for a re-trial and at a time where relations between different faith communities are tense, we fear these executions will be exploited by those wanting to antagonise the situation.”