Poso conflicts will forever be a mystery ?
On 31 August 2006, Head of Central Sulawesi Police Department, Oegroseno, was replaced with Badrudin Haiti. Head of Indonesian Police, General Sutanto, didn’t reject the allegation that the replacement was triggered by the delay on Febianus Tibo/Dominggus da Silva/Marinus Riwu’s execution delays.
Oegroseno’s position is now Head of Informatian and Data Processing, Telematics Division, in National Police Headquarter.
Poso has been in conflict since 7 years ago. Located in Sulawesi island, the clashes were between the Christians and the Muslims. The killings were among the most brutal, including the notorious high school girls mutilation case.
Since Oegroseno was in charge however, evidence on the role of external hands have started to be found and (most importantly) investigated. His intelligence found that weapons are being smuggled into Indonesia, through South Filipina to North Sulawesi, then transported in secret through various routes, until it reaches Poso. The weapon smuggled includes M-16, AK-47, SS-1, SKS, M1-Carabeen, M1-Garand, and others.
Not only that, he also pioneered the tough action against corruption in Poso. Drs Andi Azikin Suyuti MSi, ex Poso District Major / ex Head of Social Security of Central Sulawesi, was set as the suspect in corruption case of Poso’s victims fund. What’s even more surprising was the fact that Prof Drs Aminuddin Ponulele MS has also been set as the suspect in the same case; he was Governor of Central Sulawesi, and Head of Central Sulawesi branch of Golkar Party - arguably the most powerful political party in Indonesia.
Among his latest action was obtaining a list of 16 suspects of the real puppet masters of Poso conflict. He has gone through 10 names when he was replaced. Among his response to his moving was a plea to continue this particular case :
“kalau boleh titip, misteri Poso harus dibuka agar generasi berikutnya tidak bertanya-tanya tentang apa yang terjadi tujuh tahun lalu,” kata Oegroseno kepada wartawan.
Dia mengatakan, misteri kerusuhan Poso harus dibuka dengan melibatkan seluruh komponen masyarakat baik dari kelompok muslim maupun nasrani.
“Mereka seharusnya secara sadar mau bercerita apa adanya (apa yang terjadi) saat kerusuhan tujuh tahun yang lalu. Jangan ada yang diputarbalikkan agar misteri ini bisa dibuka,” ujarnya.
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Ketika ditanya mengenai upaya yang dia lakukan selama menjabat sebagai Kapolda Sulteng untuk mengungkap misteri Poso, Oegroseno mengatakan pihaknya terus mengusut 10 dari 16 nama yang disebut-sebut terlibat sebagai penggerak kerusuhan Poso.Namun, karena peristiwanya sudah lama berlalu maka pengusutannya tidak berjalan maksimal.
“Ini kan soal lama, kita harus berkomunikasi dengan masyarakat di Poso karena mereka yang tahu kejadian sebenarnya, jangan sampai tidak ada komunikasi,” ujarnya.Seandainya dugaan keterlibatan 10 nama itu akan diselesaikan secara hukum maka polisi harus memulainya dari lokasi kejadian.
Kesulitan yang dihadapi menurut Oegroseno adalah harus meminta mereka untuk bercerita, padahal belum tentu orang-orang tersebut bersedia memberikan keterangan kepada polisi.
Translated:
“If I may ask, the Poso mystery must be unraveled, so the next generation won’t be confused on what really happened 7 years ago”, said Oegroseno to journalists.
He said, the Poso conflict mystery can only be unraveled by involving all components of the community, including those from Christian and Muslim comunity.
“They should willingly tell the stories as it really happened. Don’t change/manipulate it in anyway. Then we’ll be able to unlock this mystery”, he said
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When asked on his own efforts while in charge as Head of Central Sulawesi Police Department to solve the mystery, Oegroseno said that he’s already investigating 10 of 16 people named as the real conspirator on Poso conflicts.However, because the events occured so long ago, up to 7 years back, the investigation process was not easy.
“These are old events, so we had to communicate with a lot of parties in Poso because only they know what really happened. We need to keep good communications with them.”, he said.If anyone wishes to follow this up, they will need to start from the place where the (first) conflict took place.
However, indeed it’s not easy to get people to talk to the police.
There are efforts to stop anyone from finding out the real conspirators on Poso. Among others, the killing of two key witnesses, Budianto and Sugito, in August 2005.
The Accused Trio’s (Febianus Tibo/Dominggus da Silva/Marinus Riwu) lawyers, was shocked and protested the event. Roy Rening and Paskalis Pieter organized a pers meeting on 31/8/2006 in Phoenam Cafe, Pengayoman street, Makassar. They said that they have respect to Oegro Seno in relation to his handling of the case, and he has all the intention to investigate it comprehensively. They feared that this event will quicken the execution of their clients, which will again make it harder to find out the real masters of the Poso conflicts.
A lot of parties are also airing their objection on the Oegroseno’s replacement; saying that this will set back the good progress made on Poso so far. The parties includes Soraya Sultan (Head of Poso Center), Edmon Leonardo (Sulawesi Coordiantor of Commission for Missing Persons and Anti-Cruelty [Kontras]), Huismant Brant (Director of Development and Study of Human Rights [LPSHAM]), Gabriel G Sola (Head of Advocacy division, Advocacy Service for Justice and Peace in Indonesia [PADMA]), and others.
PADMA even organized a protest, showing banners such as “Indonesia Berkabung Kapolda Sulteng Oegroseno Suara Kebenaran Dibungkam” (Indonesia in Grief, Voice of Truth Oegroseno Has Been Silenced).