2000 Walisongo school massacre
Encyclopedia
The Walisongo school massacre is the name given to a series of attacks by Christian
militants on the 28 May 2000 upon several predominantly Muslim
villages around Poso
town, Central Sulawesi
, Indonesia
as part of a broader sectarian conflict in the Poso region. Officially the total number killed in the attacks is 165, however there is no definite figure of how many died. The number of dead is believed to be greater than the 39 calculated from bodies later discovered in 3 mass graves, and equal to or below the 191 quoted by Muslim sources. The massacre is named for the Pesantren Walisongo boarding school in Sintuwu Lemba where the most high profile murders occurred. Three leaders of local Christian militia groups were later convicted and executed in 2006 for crimes committed during the massacre.
is geographically divided along Muslim and Christian lines, with coast
al villages and cities majority Muslim and highland towns and villages majority indigenous Protestant.
In part due to centuries of shipping trade
, the indigenous Muslim population had integrated Bugis
migrants from South Sulawesi and a small group of Arab
traders, whose decedents held important places in Islamic institutions. The district also includes villages built under the government transmigration program, which brought in residents from densely populated areas, such as the primarily Muslim islands of Java
and Lombok
, and a small minority from the Hindu
island of Bali
. Residents identifying themselves as Muslim attained a majority in Poso district by the late 1990s, and now top 60 percent, according to current government figures.
This significant growth in the Muslim population relative to the Christian population created tension over political representation, particularly when large sections of the Poso economy were controlled by Muslim migrants. The lucrative production and export of cocoa, especially, had been dominated by Bugis
and Chinese
migrants. Following the devaluation of the rupiah, the cultivation of such cash crops
by migrants increased and several trans-migrant groups established plantations in previously forested
interior areas considered to be Christian land. This marginalization of the indigenous Christian population lead to fear that the traditional, if unwritten, power sharing structure of the Poso district, which separated administration between Christians and Muslims, may be threatened.
Human Rights Watch
describes that the outbreaks of violence
co-incided with disputes over candidates for economically significant district political positions, as the elected official was able to grant valuable government contracts. In particular it notes a dispute for the position of district secretary
in April, 2000 immediately prior to the massacre and newspaper
s at the time printed statements by a Unity Party member of the provincial assembly predicting greater violence if the candidate Ladjalani was not chosen as secretary.
to further divide the community and enhance their own power and allege unnamed members in Poso's
government paid thugs to incite gang
fights during competition for local government positions.
The gang fights escalated to full scale riot
in Poso and the local police chief called in Palu
troops from a police paramilitary unit. On April 17 the unit allegedly fired upon a crowd of rioting Muslim youths, killing 3 and inciting the youths to torch
at least 300 Christian homes throughout April. Many of those Christians displaced in the violence fled to Tentena or the hills around Poso and it was rumored that many youths took refuge at that training camp of a Christian militia in Kelei.
Early on the morning of May 23, a gang of Christian militia members, lead by transmigrant Fabianus Tibo
, killed a policeman and two civilians in central Poso town and took refuge in a Catholic
church. A mob, allegedly composed of angered Muslim residents, gathered to burn the building, unwittingly allowing Tibo to escape. The mob was involved in fierce sectarian fighting throughout the day that injured at least 10 in the Sayo district of Poso.
During a heavy downpour on 28 May 2000, the electricity in the Muslim village of Sintuwu Lemba was cut, allegedly by the attacking militants. Masked members of a Christian
militia surrounded the village, populated mainly by resettled
Java
nese cacao farmers who had previously lived in South Sulawesi
, and captured the village women and children and some men. Around 70 adult or adolescent males fled to take refuge in the Walisongo religious boarding school
compound where they were set upon and killed with small arms
fire and machetes.
Aside from those killed at the school, others captured were reportedly bound and forced to walk two kilometers to the Poso river
near the town where many captives were killed, including children and infants, and there were reports that the Poso River was clogged with bodies in the aftermath. Many surviving women later reported having been rape
d by the militants and having seen relatives suffer sexually assault
also. One female resident recalled witnessing 9 of her relatives being murder
ed by the militants, including her youngest child in third grade. Another male resident, who survived the attack at the school, told a journalist he had been captured again four days later and taken to the river to be executed and escaped.
Testimony to Human Rights Watch
indicates the modus operandi
of the militants was similar in other towns populated by Muslim residents; a further 8 Muslim residents disappeared from the village of Tabalo after the assailants had the locals gather and walk to Kasiguncu township. At least 14 Muslim transmigrants
from Lombok
and Java
subsequently disappeared after being abducted from another town by an estimated 100 masked militants who had ordered the locals to gather at the village hall. Witnesses described the militia as having a list of names of people to abduct and several trucks to transport them.
Some residents of Tabalo recognized the militants as youths from the nearby villages of Tangkora and Sanginora, and even some from their own town who had disguised themselves in all black attire and ski masks. Several residents described the militants as being armed with bamboo spears and Ambon arrows, powerful slingshots that fire sharp metal bars, among other projectiles.
Anywhere up to 4,000 homes were reported torched
across a number of villages, with the militia specifically targeting those owned by Muslim families. This created a significant movement of Muslim residents, either left homeless or fearing other attacks, to majority Muslim areas within or around Palu
and refugee camp
s were established in the local Palu football stadium
by various local Muslim groups. In mid-2008 several Sintuwu Lemba villagers displaced by the violence were still occupying burned-out houses with little to no sanitation.
attended by the president
and vice-president
, as authorities would be distracted by the large event and the presence of the Indonesian executive leaders.
A number of groups sought retaliation
for the attacks, most prominently Al-Khaira'at, an important Islamic educational institution in Eastern Indonesia
, which is alleged to have purchased materials to produce weapons and to have distributed machetes and quantities of money
to volunteers sent by truck
from Palu to Poso. Witnesses suggest two truck-loads of Palu
recruits engaged Christian militia in the village of Tokorondo on May 29, but suffered casualties and did not participate so directly in the later conflict.
In response to the massacre and retaliation, the Indonesian Regional Military Command sent 1,500 more soldiers, ten tanks, and a combat unit to the Poso area increasing the military presence in the area to three infantry battalions or some 2,200 uniformed troops. On 6 June, Christian militia battled with the authorities east of Poso, suffering heavy casualties.
were arrested southeast of Poso, in Kolonedale, for carrying weapons, mainly machetes.
Later that July, three militants originally born in East Nusa Tenggara
, convicted murderer Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Don Marinus Riwu, were apprehended on suspicion of organising the massacre. In 2001 a three-judge court, after hearing testimony from 28 witnesses, convicted Tibo as the leader of a Christian militia called the Red Group, and found that that da Silva was one of his commanders and that Mr. Riwu took part in the killings. Though the defense claimed Tibo may have been little more than a hired thug, all three were sentenced to death by firing squad and executed in September 2006 for their crimes.
During his trial, Tibo gave in his testimony the names of 16 people who he alleged were the coordinators of the massacre, including several senior Christian church leaders, though none of those named have ever been charged or brought to trial.
ed in Buyung Katedo were the Imam of the local mosque
and Firman, an infant
.
Muslim militants are accused of two separate massacres against Sulawesi
civilians in October 2003, which killed 8 in the predominantly Christian villages of Saatu, Pantangolemba and Pinedampa
and another 3 in the neighboring Morowali regency a few days earlier. Thirty houses and a church were ransacked and torched, also.
As of 2011 the total number of people killed in the 28 May massacre still remains unclear, with mass graves still being unearthed across the Poso regency. The bodies of 63 unidentified people were discovered at the base of a ravine nearby Tagolu village several months after while a further mass grave, allegedly containing more deceased residents of Sintuwu Lemba, was unearthed in May 2006 following the information provided at trial by the three convicted militants.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
militants on the 28 May 2000 upon several predominantly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
villages around Poso
Poso
Poso is the main port and transportation hub for the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its geographical location is .Poso is one of ten regencies in Central Sulawesi Province, located exactly in the middle of the province on the shore of the gulf of Tomini, right in the central...
town, Central Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia located in the centre of Sulawesi. It was established on 13 April 1964....
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
as part of a broader sectarian conflict in the Poso region. Officially the total number killed in the attacks is 165, however there is no definite figure of how many died. The number of dead is believed to be greater than the 39 calculated from bodies later discovered in 3 mass graves, and equal to or below the 191 quoted by Muslim sources. The massacre is named for the Pesantren Walisongo boarding school in Sintuwu Lemba where the most high profile murders occurred. Three leaders of local Christian militia groups were later convicted and executed in 2006 for crimes committed during the massacre.
Prelude
The population of the Poso area in Central SulawesiCentral Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia located in the centre of Sulawesi. It was established on 13 April 1964....
is geographically divided along Muslim and Christian lines, with coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
al villages and cities majority Muslim and highland towns and villages majority indigenous Protestant.
In part due to centuries of shipping trade
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
, the indigenous Muslim population had integrated Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
migrants from South Sulawesi and a small group of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
traders, whose decedents held important places in Islamic institutions. The district also includes villages built under the government transmigration program, which brought in residents from densely populated areas, such as the primarily Muslim islands of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
and Lombok
Lombok
Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...
, and a small minority from the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
island of Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
. Residents identifying themselves as Muslim attained a majority in Poso district by the late 1990s, and now top 60 percent, according to current government figures.
This significant growth in the Muslim population relative to the Christian population created tension over political representation, particularly when large sections of the Poso economy were controlled by Muslim migrants. The lucrative production and export of cocoa, especially, had been dominated by Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
migrants. Following the devaluation of the rupiah, the cultivation of such cash crops
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
by migrants increased and several trans-migrant groups established plantations in previously forested
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
interior areas considered to be Christian land. This marginalization of the indigenous Christian population lead to fear that the traditional, if unwritten, power sharing structure of the Poso district, which separated administration between Christians and Muslims, may be threatened.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
describes that the outbreaks of violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
co-incided with disputes over candidates for economically significant district political positions, as the elected official was able to grant valuable government contracts. In particular it notes a dispute for the position of district secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
in April, 2000 immediately prior to the massacre and newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s at the time printed statements by a Unity Party member of the provincial assembly predicting greater violence if the candidate Ladjalani was not chosen as secretary.
May riots
Both Muslim and Christian leaders blamed the local political elite for using religious differencesReligion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
to further divide the community and enhance their own power and allege unnamed members in Poso's
Poso
Poso is the main port and transportation hub for the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its geographical location is .Poso is one of ten regencies in Central Sulawesi Province, located exactly in the middle of the province on the shore of the gulf of Tomini, right in the central...
government paid thugs to incite gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
fights during competition for local government positions.
The gang fights escalated to full scale riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
in Poso and the local police chief called in Palu
Palu
Palu is a chartered city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, located 1,650 km northeast of Jakarta, at . It is the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi. The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain...
troops from a police paramilitary unit. On April 17 the unit allegedly fired upon a crowd of rioting Muslim youths, killing 3 and inciting the youths to torch
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
at least 300 Christian homes throughout April. Many of those Christians displaced in the violence fled to Tentena or the hills around Poso and it was rumored that many youths took refuge at that training camp of a Christian militia in Kelei.
Early on the morning of May 23, a gang of Christian militia members, lead by transmigrant Fabianus Tibo
Fabianus Tibo
Fabianus Tibo was an Indonesian Catholic citizen executed by firing squad on September 22, 2006 at 1:20 a.m. local time together with Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu for leading riots in Poso, Sulawesi in 2000 that led to the murders of about 200 people...
, killed a policeman and two civilians in central Poso town and took refuge in a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church. A mob, allegedly composed of angered Muslim residents, gathered to burn the building, unwittingly allowing Tibo to escape. The mob was involved in fierce sectarian fighting throughout the day that injured at least 10 in the Sayo district of Poso.
The attack
According to a report compiled by local Islamic academics, on the morning of the attack some villagers sought refuge at the district military command in Kawua. They allege that the subdistrict police chief forced them to return home, insisting the situation was safe.During a heavy downpour on 28 May 2000, the electricity in the Muslim village of Sintuwu Lemba was cut, allegedly by the attacking militants. Masked members of a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
militia surrounded the village, populated mainly by resettled
Transmigration program
The transmigration program was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government, and later continued by Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country...
Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
nese cacao farmers who had previously lived in South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi Island. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi province to the north, South East Sulawesi province to the east and West Sulawesi province to the west...
, and captured the village women and children and some men. Around 70 adult or adolescent males fled to take refuge in the Walisongo religious boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
compound where they were set upon and killed with small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
fire and machetes.
Aside from those killed at the school, others captured were reportedly bound and forced to walk two kilometers to the Poso river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
near the town where many captives were killed, including children and infants, and there were reports that the Poso River was clogged with bodies in the aftermath. Many surviving women later reported having been rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by the militants and having seen relatives suffer sexually assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
also. One female resident recalled witnessing 9 of her relatives being murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed by the militants, including her youngest child in third grade. Another male resident, who survived the attack at the school, told a journalist he had been captured again four days later and taken to the river to be executed and escaped.
Testimony to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
indicates the modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
of the militants was similar in other towns populated by Muslim residents; a further 8 Muslim residents disappeared from the village of Tabalo after the assailants had the locals gather and walk to Kasiguncu township. At least 14 Muslim transmigrants
Transmigration program
The transmigration program was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government, and later continued by Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country...
from Lombok
Lombok
Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...
and Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
subsequently disappeared after being abducted from another town by an estimated 100 masked militants who had ordered the locals to gather at the village hall. Witnesses described the militia as having a list of names of people to abduct and several trucks to transport them.
Some residents of Tabalo recognized the militants as youths from the nearby villages of Tangkora and Sanginora, and even some from their own town who had disguised themselves in all black attire and ski masks. Several residents described the militants as being armed with bamboo spears and Ambon arrows, powerful slingshots that fire sharp metal bars, among other projectiles.
Anywhere up to 4,000 homes were reported torched
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
across a number of villages, with the militia specifically targeting those owned by Muslim families. This created a significant movement of Muslim residents, either left homeless or fearing other attacks, to majority Muslim areas within or around Palu
Palu
Palu is a chartered city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, located 1,650 km northeast of Jakarta, at . It is the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi. The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain...
and refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s were established in the local Palu football stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
by various local Muslim groups. In mid-2008 several Sintuwu Lemba villagers displaced by the violence were still occupying burned-out houses with little to no sanitation.
Investigation and aftermath
Some observers suggested the violence was planned during a national Koran reading contest in PaluPalu
Palu is a chartered city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, located 1,650 km northeast of Jakarta, at . It is the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi. The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain...
attended by the president
President of Indonesia
The President of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.- Sukarno era :...
and vice-president
Vice President of Indonesia
The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia is the first in the line of succession in the Republic of Indonesia.-History of the office:The Indonesian Vice Presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 constitution by the Researching Body for the Preparation of the Indonesian...
, as authorities would be distracted by the large event and the presence of the Indonesian executive leaders.
A number of groups sought retaliation
Retaliation
To retaliate is to take revenge.Retaliation or Retaliate may also refer to:*Retaliate , an album by Misery Index*Retaliate , an album by Angerfist*Retaliation...
for the attacks, most prominently Al-Khaira'at, an important Islamic educational institution in Eastern Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, which is alleged to have purchased materials to produce weapons and to have distributed machetes and quantities of money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
to volunteers sent by truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
from Palu to Poso. Witnesses suggest two truck-loads of Palu
Palu
Palu is a chartered city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, located 1,650 km northeast of Jakarta, at . It is the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi. The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain...
recruits engaged Christian militia in the village of Tokorondo on May 29, but suffered casualties and did not participate so directly in the later conflict.
In response to the massacre and retaliation, the Indonesian Regional Military Command sent 1,500 more soldiers, ten tanks, and a combat unit to the Poso area increasing the military presence in the area to three infantry battalions or some 2,200 uniformed troops. On 6 June, Christian militia battled with the authorities east of Poso, suffering heavy casualties.
Criminal charges
The then governor identified A. L. Lateka, a Protestant figure, as mastermind of the massacre and general increase in violence. Lateka was later killed on 2 June when hundreds clashed in the Poso neighborhood of Kayamanyab and in mid-July another 124 ProtestantsProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
were arrested southeast of Poso, in Kolonedale, for carrying weapons, mainly machetes.
Later that July, three militants originally born in East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara is a province of Indonesia, located in the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, including West Timor. The provincial capital is Kupang, located on West Timor...
, convicted murderer Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Don Marinus Riwu, were apprehended on suspicion of organising the massacre. In 2001 a three-judge court, after hearing testimony from 28 witnesses, convicted Tibo as the leader of a Christian militia called the Red Group, and found that that da Silva was one of his commanders and that Mr. Riwu took part in the killings. Though the defense claimed Tibo may have been little more than a hired thug, all three were sentenced to death by firing squad and executed in September 2006 for their crimes.
During his trial, Tibo gave in his testimony the names of 16 people who he alleged were the coordinators of the massacre, including several senior Christian church leaders, though none of those named have ever been charged or brought to trial.
Subsequent events
A similar attack by alleged Red Group members was staged against the majority Muslim village of Buyung Katedo on 3 June 2001, killing at least 14 people, all but two of whom were women and children. Among those murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed in Buyung Katedo were the Imam of the local mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and Firman, an infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
.
Muslim militants are accused of two separate massacres against Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
civilians in October 2003, which killed 8 in the predominantly Christian villages of Saatu, Pantangolemba and Pinedampa
Poso
Poso is the main port and transportation hub for the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its geographical location is .Poso is one of ten regencies in Central Sulawesi Province, located exactly in the middle of the province on the shore of the gulf of Tomini, right in the central...
and another 3 in the neighboring Morowali regency a few days earlier. Thirty houses and a church were ransacked and torched, also.
As of 2011 the total number of people killed in the 28 May massacre still remains unclear, with mass graves still being unearthed across the Poso regency. The bodies of 63 unidentified people were discovered at the base of a ravine nearby Tagolu village several months after while a further mass grave, allegedly containing more deceased residents of Sintuwu Lemba, was unearthed in May 2006 following the information provided at trial by the three convicted militants.