Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JAKARTA4365
2006-04-04 09:50:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

CENTRAL SULAWESI: "POSO 3" CLEMENCY APPEAL REJECTED

Tags:  PHUM PINS PGOV KJUS ID 
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RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #4365/01 0940950
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040950Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2261
INFO RUEHJA/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 1321
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9284
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 004365 

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DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/IET, DRL

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SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: NA
TAGS: PHUM PINS PGOV KJUS ID
SUBJECT: CENTRAL SULAWESI: "POSO 3" CLEMENCY APPEAL REJECTED
- EXECUTION SENTENCE FOR MASS MURDER ON TRACK

REF: A) 01 Jakarta 244

B) 01 Jakarta 1288

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 004365

SIPDIS

FROM AMCONSUL SURABAYA 993

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/IET, DRL

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: NA
TAGS: PHUM PINS PGOV KJUS ID
SUBJECT: CENTRAL SULAWESI: "POSO 3" CLEMENCY APPEAL REJECTED
- EXECUTION SENTENCE FOR MASS MURDER ON TRACK

REF: A) 01 Jakarta 244

B) 01 Jakarta 1288


1. (SBU) Summary: The executions of the so-called "Poso 3"--
Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Martinus Riwu--in
Central Sulawesi following their 2001 convictions for mass
murder, torture and arson, could take place next week.
"Procedural" reasons delayed the executions from their
planned April 1 date. Two court appeals, including one to
the Supreme Court, upheld the convictions; clemency requests
have not prospered. While some local Christians protest the
executions, few have claimed innocence for the three;
supporters oppose the death penalty and argue that the three
should remain alive to testify against 19 other alleged
masterminds of the Central Sulawesi conflict, all
Protestant. The executions do not appear likely to touch off
violence, in part because most appear to agree on the men's
guilt, but local leaders nonetheless have tried to develop
strategies to reduce the chances of violence. End Summary.

Background
--------------


2. (SBU) The Palu District Court in 2001 found guilty
Fabianus Tibo (60 years old from Flores),Dominggus da Silva
(42 years old from Flores) and Martinus Riwu (48 years old
from Kupang, West Timor) for a series of brutal murders
between May 23 and June 30, 2000 in Poso, Central Sulawesi
(Ref b). Tibo led the "Red Bats", a Christian militia group
instrumental in the mass violence during the worst days of
the Poso conflict (Da Silva and Riwa belonged to the "Red
Bats".) While media reports also pointed a finger at a
former civil servant, Advent Lindo Lateka, as the original
financial backer and "brains" of the militia group (Lateka
died during a clash in June 2000),Tibo reportedly got
recruited to lead the group based on his reputation as
"tough" due to a 1990 conviction for murder. Tibo does not
deny involvement with the group or the conflict, but claims
that 16 other "intellectual actors" (masterminds) encouraged
him to get involved and should therefore also face trial.


3. (SBU) Following the 1999-2000 violence sparked by Muslim

gangs, who burned hundred of homes, killing several
Christians, police arrested several perpetrators. When a
mob stormed the local jail, the detainees escaped. This
sparked a new and vicious round of violence. Reftel B
reported that a number of provocateurs, including Tibo, Da
Silva and Riwu, led some 700 Red Bat recruits in several
mass attacks on Muslim villages in and near Poso. As
reported at the time, a mob led by Tibo, da Silva and Riwu,
surrounded a group of about 200 Muslim men who had taken
shelter in a mosque at the Walisongo pesantren. According
to an eyewitness who escaped, Tibo and his gang tied the
victims' hands behind their backs and proceeded to hack them
to death with machetes (ref B). While police initially
reacted slowly, with the help of the military they managed
to put together sufficient evidence to jail the three
leaders -- Tibo, Da Silva, and Riwu. (Note: Many see Muslim
outrage over the Walisongo massacre as prompting the arrival
in Central Sulawesi of Muslim jihadist groups, including
Laskar Jundullah, veterans of the conflict in the nearby
Maluku Islands. End Note.)

Verdicts Upheld Up to the Top
--------------


4. (SBU) During the course of the 2001 trial, 28 witnesses
and other evidence linked Tibo, da Silva, and Riwu the
deaths of some 300 people in a two-month period. Per Ref B,
none of the men showed remorse during the trial; the
defendants had grinned and clapped their hands on hearing
the charges read before the court. The court convicted all
three of mass murder, torture, and arson; the mass murder
charge alone carries the death penalty in Indonesia. The
three subsequently appealed to the Central Sulawesi High
Court, which upheld the guilty verdicts later that year.
Tibo, da Silva and Riwu subsequently appealed to the
Indonesian Supreme Court, which in November 2002 upheld the
lower courts' decisions.


5. (SBU) In November 2005, the three filed their first
request for clemency, based partially on the claim, first
broached during their 2002 appeal to the Central Sulawesi
High Court, that at least 16 other men acted as the "real"
masterminds of the Poso unrest. (Note: Tibo had named the

JAKARTA 00004365 002 OF 003


16 during his trial and reports indicate they included local
officials and former military officers. Da Silva later
added 3 names to that list, including 2 priests, all of them
Protestant. End Note.) The clemency request failed.
Central Sulawesi Police Chief Oegroseno has reopened an
investigation into the alleged 19 perpetrators--some of whom
no longer live--but has stated that this will not delay the
execution of Tibo, da Silva and Riwu. The three then
submitted a second clemency plea; however, the Central
Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office did not retreat from its
position that the sentence of death would go forth, and
noted that Indonesian law allows only one request for
clemency.

Death Penalty Becomes the Issue
--------------


6. (SBU) Our contacts say that until about six months ago
when the planned date of the executions neared, the case
drew little local attention. In part, this may reflect
local commitment--both Christian and Muslim--to having
perpetrators of violence during the conflict tried for their
crimes and possibly part of a growing local reluctance to
reopen the wounds of the conflict years. Our recent
discussions with contacts in Central Sulawesi that few if
any, be they Muslim, Catholic or Protestant, believe these
men innocent. Even local Catholic leaders who have lead
public efforts against the executions do not deny that the
men's guilt; as the secretary to the Sulawesi Bishop told
reporters several months ago, "[our resistance to their
execution] does not mean that the Church defends and
condones their actions."


7. (SBU) Local or national resistance to the executions
appears based on anti-death penalty sentiment, and on a
desire to preserve the men's testimony to develop possible
cases against other perpetrators. From discussions with
local contacts and review of the issue, we do not know of
any evidence offered over the past four years to suggest
innocence for the three. Their request for clemency claims
that other guilty parties exist who should face trial, and
asked for delay in the execution so they can give evidence
against 19 other individuals allegedly involved. On Sunday
April 2, thousands of Christians in the city of Tentena held
a mass prayer for Tibo, da Silva and Riwu and demanded
abolishment of the death penalty. (Embassy note: On the
same day some 200 hundred noisy protestors stood in
Jakarta's Plaza Indonesia demanding the men's release.)

Slight Delay, But Government Prepared
--------------


8. (SBU) "Technical difficulties" delayed the execution
scheduled for April 1; however, the difficulties appear
procedural, not waffling by the government. Our contacts in
Central Sulawesi say the "technical" reasons refer to a
requirement that a notification letter from the Attorney
General go to the families no later than 72 hours prior to
the execution. While officials have not publicly set a new
date for the executions, they suggest it could take place
within the next week.


9. (SBU) While a few local leaders have voiced concern that
the executions could incite unrest, the recent public
discussion of the executions in Central Sulawesi has not
sparked violence; some local groups have held vigils or
gatherings, but Poso city has remained calm. Local
government figures appear committed to keep it that way.
Central Sulawesi governor Paliudju met provincial leaders
including Police Chief Oegroseno, Army and Naval commanders,
and the head of the provincial legislature (DPRD) on Monday,
April 3, to discuss the executions and develop strategies to
contain any trouble afterwards.

Other Cases
--------------


10. (SBU) Our contacts in Central Sulawesi and other
observers tell us of their frustration at the slow pace of
trials and convictions for those involved with sectarian and
other violence in the province, and point to the lack of
charges against Muslims responsible for the initial May -
June 2000 violence or against members of the Laskar Jihad
Islamic paramilitary groups which instigated violent
incidents in 2001. They add, however, that the courts have

JAKARTA 00004365 003 OF 003


handed down other convictions related to earlier Poso
violence in addition to that of the Poso 3. In 1999, the
court convicted Herman Parimo, a Protestant local
legislator, for inciting the first wave riots and violence
and sentenced him to 14 years in prison; Parimo died in
April 2000 while appealing the verdict. District Chief
Agfar Patanga, a Muslim, convicted in 2000 for inciting
violence and received a sentence of 24 months. Protestant
preacher Renaldy Damanik, known for his extremist and
polarizing rhetoric and convicted in 2002 for weapons
possession after police discovered weapons in his home, had
portrayed himself as the leader of Poso's Protestant
community. He left jail in late 2004, and has lobbied
against the executions and "warned" of possible violence.

Comment
--------------


11. (SBU) Nothing we have seen suggests that court falsely
convicted these three individuals. Shortly after the May
2000 killings in Poso, Embassy Jakarta (and later, a senior
U.S. official in the UN) issued a press statement condemning
the perpetrators of the massacre (Ref B). The USG has
consistently urged the Government of Indonesia to bring
perpetrators of mass violence to justice through Indonesian
courts and legal processes in accordance with Indonesian
law, including holding perpetrators of both the Central
Sulawesi and Maluku conflicts legally responsible for their
crimes. While we could criticize the lack of additional
convictions for both the May-June 2000 violence and the
August 2001 violence, the bottom line remains that we see no
indication that the "Poso 3" did not commit the crimes.

PASCOE