In Indonesia the 'terrorism' is often linked to Christian gangsters, Moslem gangsters and the American trained military.
The Coker Gang is a group of gangsters who are of the Christian faith.
The surrender to the Indonesian police of Berty Loupatty, the leader of the Christian Coker gang, led to revelations about the alleged role of Kopassus, the army's special forces, in the terror in Indonesia. http://www.infid.be/kopassus_maluku.html
The surrender to the Indonesian police of Berty Loupatty, the leader of the Christian Coker gang, led to revelations about the alleged role of Kopassus, the army's special forces, in the terror in Indonesia. http://www.infid.be/kopassus_maluku.html
Berty Loupatty claims that most of the terror in Maluku has been stage-managed by the military.
Tempo Magazine gained access to police reports, revealing that Coker was involved in at least 13 incidents, 9 of which included members of Kopassus. [Tempo No. 46, 19 January 2003].
Christian Rahayaan, a lawyer for Coker, told the press:
'During questioning, members of the Coker gang said Kopassus soldiers gave them directives, weapons and bombs to carry out every attack (in 2002). It's clear that the unrest in Maluku is the work of provocateurs. They use the pretext to create the impression that without the military, Maluku won't be safe'. [AFP, 8 January 2003].
"According to police reports Coker was involved in the destruction of a public transport terminal on 27 August 2001, killing 2 persons and wounding 16. A month later the Christian militia group placed a bomb in a minibus, killing one person.
"On 12 November 2001, supported by a Kopassus member called Ridwan, Coker members planted a bomb in an electronics shop killing 3 persons.
"Just before Christmas Day 2001 they exploded a bomb on a ferry carrying hundreds of passengers, heading towards the Galala harbour in Ambon. The ferry sank, 4 people were killed and scores were wounded. The Kopassus member involved was known as Dio.
"Together with Kopassus troops, Coker launched attacks on the villages of Portho and Haria on 10 April and 8 May 2002, with the intention of provoking the villagers to fight each other.
"The most vicious combined operation of Coker and Kopassus was the attack on the village of Soya... 22 houses were destroyed by fire, as well as the historic church of Soya built during Portuguese times and 12 people were killed. The Soya bloodbath created new tensions between Muslim and Christian communities. It is now clear that the attack was not the work of Muslim warriors as was thought at the time but an attack by a Christian militia gang together with Kopassus units."
PART II
Sources include
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/aut-op-sy/2000m02/msg00158.htm
http://www.asiapac.org.fj/cafepacific/resources/aspac/maluku.html
The rich elite sometimes use terror in order to hold onto their wealth and power. In Indonesia it is sometimes Christian gangsters, allied to members of the Christian elite, who carry out the violence.
Who are the Indonesian elite? Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs, many of them Christians, own two-thirds of the country's 300 biggest companies. Indonesia's generals, some of them Christian, are reported to be immensely wealthy. The Suharto family is reportedly allied to certain Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs and certain generals.
It now appears that Christian gangsters (and Moslem gangsters) and sections of the military have been behind much of the terror in the Spice islands/Maluku/Ambon and elsewhere. Christians have reportedly been responsible for attacking churches.
'In February 2000 a bloodbath occurred in Tobelo and Galela, in North Maluku. It is estimated that 1,500 Muslims were butchered within a short space of time, which was possibly the highest death toll in a religious conflict in the history ofIndonesia'.
http://www.infid.be/kopassus_maluku.html
George Aditjondro has written that the terror in parts of Indonesia 'has been triggered and fed by a number of provocateurs paid by the Suharto family and several cronies, according to monitoring by a sociologist and two human rights organizations, KONTRAS and Komnas HAM'
Komnas HAM discovered fake documents in Ambon (in the Maluku or Spice Islands) inciting the population to war (Sydney Morning Herald, 15 January 2000).
Alleged provocateurs from Maluku include Colonel Dicky Wattimena, former member of the Presidential Security Corps, and Yorris Raweyai, deputy chair of the Pancasila Youth, close to Bambang Trihatmodjo, the second son of former President Suharto(Jakarta Post, 18 January 2000; Sydney Morning Herlad, 19 January 2000).
Yorris Raweyai is reported to have been involved in trying to incite ethnic conflict in several parts of Indonesia.
In Ambon there are both Christian and Moslem gangs. These gangs have 'bosses' in Jakarta. The 'bosses' have tried to gain thesupport of Suharto's children.
The Christian gang is called Cowok Keristen (Christian Boys), shortened to Coker, and uses the Maranatha Protestant church as its headquarters. 'In Jakarta, they are connected to two Moluccan Christian youths, Milton Matuanakota and Ongky Pieters. This gang of Moluccan Christian youths dominate the shopping centre, parking area and gambling dens in West Jakarta.'
Communal clashes in Ketapang in Jakarta, November l998, involved Christian gangsters from Ambon. There were rumours that hundreds of Christian Ambonese security guards for a major gambling casino had destroyed a local mosque. The Ketapang clash led to a wave of church burnings . Indonesian human rights investigators found evidence that truckloads of youths, some of them paid, had been trucked in to take part in the violence. Of the thirteen killed, several were Ambonese. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/ambon/amron-02.htm
The Christian gangs are part of the Jakarta mafia, operating as security guards for illegal gambling dens, night clubs and brothels. From the start, the godfathers of the gangs were military officers. http://www.infid.be/kopassus_maluku.html
In Jakarta, rivals of the Milton and Ongky group include Ongen Sangaji, a Pancasila Youth activist and coordinator of a MoluccanMuslim university student organization. Many members of this group were recruited into the PAM Swakarsa (civilian security troops) used by General Wiranto to keep protesting students away from parliament in November l998.
Ongen reportedly has close ties to Suharto son Bambang Trihatmodjo. Milton is said tobe closer to Suharto daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (van Klinken, n.d.; HRW l999:8).
Thamrin Amal Tomagola, a professor at the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, suspects that in Ambon the network of provocators can be traced back to people connected to former Armed Forces Commander General Wiranto (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 January 2000).
Allegedly the terror in Maluku may be being funded by the Suharto family and by two Suharto cronies with business interests in North Maluku, Eka Cipta Widjaja and PrajogoPangestu (Jakarta Post, 18 January 2000).
Allegedly Suharto and his generals may also have received funds from another entrepreneur with big business in Maluku, Tommy Winata, who is reportedly very close to Yorris Raweyai (Tempo, 31 May-6June 1999: 39-50).
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Reportedly, Suharto's father was a minor immigration official and his mother a peasant. 'Their separation soon after his birth led to speculation that it was a marriage of convenience designed to hide Mr Suharto's real parentage'. There has been speculation that Suharto may have Chinese blood in him. Suharto's wife was born a Roman Catholic.
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