Jakarta – The political history of bombings in Indonesia took a sharp turn after the 1998 May riots, in which all of the cases involving bomb explosions have never been solved, the Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID) secretary Munir said on Thursday.
"While investigating the December 24, 2000 Christmas Eve bombings we studied the political history of bombings in the country," Munir told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion regarding the Aceh and Ambon conflicts.
"It turned out that bombings have taken place since 1971, but the cases have always been solved by the state, and the culprits were arrested," Munir said, adding that most of the explosives used during that period were traditional devices.
But after the May riots in 1998, none of the bombings were ever resolved, Munir said.
He said that after May 1998, the pattern changed. The explosives being used were far more sophisticated, targets more significant, and none of the culprits ever caught.
The December 24 Christmas Eve bombings in nine cities across the country killed 18 people and injured more than 100 others.
It is recorded that in the period after May 1998 there were six bombings, in 1999 nine bombings, and 20 more explosions occurred last year, he said.
"None of these cases were resolved. The authorities only captured the field operators, but never the mastermind. I wonder why the state is getting weaker in handling such acts of terrorism? Maybe there are political changes that must be observed," he said.
Munir said that FID never associated the names of nine generals with the Christmas Eve bombings. "Up until today we haven't found any connection with the bombings. We have received all information but it has to be clarified and carefully probed first. Most of those allegedly involved, however, are civilians."
He further stated that a dispute arising from President Abdurrahman Wahid's statement in Newsweek, which mentioned the names of two retired army generals, Hartono and Prabowo Subianto, "will only side to the favor of those military generals and others who are allegedly involved in the bombings".
"Public opinion about the dispute has already formed, believing that Gus Dur's statement was a blunder," Munir, who is also foundation chairman of the commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said.
The latest findings by FID on the Christmas bombings revealed that the explosives used in the incident are "very specific, unique and non-traditional, and come from limited sources", he said.
"Not all of the nine cities have a potential communal or religious sentiment, so this is not about such primordial conflicts. The arrested suspects, such as in Bandung and Medan, were not connected but they conducted organized, similar operations at the same time. So, basically, we have to find out who is organizing these field operators," Munir said.
Most of the captured suspects in relation to the Christmas bombings are only civilian field operators, he added.
Meanwhile in Bandung, 51-year-old Djua, the wife of Haji Aceng, a key suspect in the Christmas Eve bombing in Bandung, eventually met her husband for one hour, which ended at 6pm on Thursday.
The closed-door meeting took place at the office of West Java's deputy chief detective corps Adj. Sr. Comr. Tatang Somantri. Djua refused to talk to reporters and quickly left the building in a red Honda Civic sedan.
Journalists, however, were banned from seeing another suspects, named Iqbal, 40. "Both Aceng and Iqbal are physically okay but they are still in shock and too embarrassed to meet people," Tatang said.