Jakarta/Palu – With the police still in the dark over the identities of the killers of three Christian schoolgirls in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday, the security authorities came in for harsh criticism on Monday for failing to secure the small town of about 6,000 residents.
Critics questioned the authorities' failure to stop a series of attacks in Poso despite the deployment of more than 3,500 police and soldiers as part of a security operation in the area.
The Sintuwu Maroso security operation has been extended seven times since 2002 as sporadic violence has continued in Poso despite the signing of a peace deal a year earlier by local Muslim and Christian leaders.
"It is ironic. Poso is smaller than a subdistrict in Jakarta, but the huge number of police and military personnel have been unable to capture any of the attackers," said Rendy Lamadjido, a member of the House of Representatives' special committee on Poso. "That shows the security forces are not serious about dealing with Poso," added the legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Similar criticism was voiced by House Speaker Agung Laksono, who blamed the police and intelligence agencies for a series of attacks in Poso, including Saturday's beheadings of the three schoolgirls. This latest tragedy raises serious questions about how the security authorities are carrying out their duties, he said.
"We have heard about the poor performance of our security forces, and this latest incident in Poso, which took place during Ramadhan, has provided further proof," Agung said.
Otto Syamsuddin Ishak of rights watchdog Imparsial accused the security authorities, including intelligence agents, of neglecting the persistent violence in Poso. The government must launch counterintelligence operations to prevent further attacks there, he said. "And a close examination of intelligence officers is required to determine whether or not they have carried out their duties properly."
National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usman Hamid called for an investigation into the circulation of explosives and weapons in Poso since the deployment of police and soldiers to the area in 2002.
According to data from Imparsial and Kontras, there were at least 19 shooting incidents in Poso in 2002. There were 10 incidents in 2003, seven in 2004 and four so far this year. The rights groups also recorded at least 11 murders in Poso between 2002 and 2005, and 33 bombings in the town over the same period. In the majority of these incidents no suspects have ever been arrested.
Rendy said his House special committee had recommended that the government take stern action against state officials implicated in the continued violence in Poso. The committee also asked the government to do more to prevent violence, and to outline mechanisms to boost coordination between the police and military in Poso. However, these recommendations have been ignored, Rendy said.
Two days after the murders of the three schoolgirls, police said they had questioned at least six witnesses but still had no leads on the murderers. The six witnesses included a survivor of the attack, Noviana Malewa, and a local woman and her 10-year-old child who were near the scene of the murders.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boediharjo called the beheadings a "well-planned crime", but could not say if the attackers had "military-style training". National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said the killers must have come from outside Poso.