Public Pressure For The Government To Investigate The Killings In Sigi

JAKARTA - Public pressure for the government to immediately investigate the murder of a family by the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) led by Ali Kalora in Lemban Tongoa Village, Palolo District, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi continues to be heard.

The public wants the security forces to be able to find the perpetrators and motives for this action. In addition, the public also spoke out so that the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD and the Indonesian Parliament evaluated the Tinombala Team Operations Task Force after this Sigi incident.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) issued a number of recommendations related to the murder in Sigi, Central Sulawesi which was carried out by MIT. First, they requested that this incident be thoroughly investigated by law enforcement officials to determine with certainty the perpetrator and motive behind the incident.

"The Indonesian Police can immediately reveal the perpetrators and motives for the killings and arson in Sigi by taking into account human rights principles and parameters," Kontras Coordinator Fatia Maulidiyanti said in a written statement to reporters quoted on Wednesday, December 2.

Paying attention to human rights in investigating terrorism cases is an important matter. The reason is that it is feared that handling terrorism in a controversial, non-transparent manner and without paying attention to the parameters of human rights and the rule of law is feared to trigger or create another chain of expressions of terror.

In addition, KontraS also asked Mahfud MD, Commission I and III DPR, TNI and Polri to conduct an open audit and evaluation of the series of operations that have been ongoing.

"The incident that occurred in Lemban Tongoa Village, Sigi Regency must be the starting point for conducting an audit of the early detection system through intelligence work," said Fatia.

"It is also important to evaluate the Tinombala operation involving the TNI-Polri which has been operating for about five years and has been extended three times this year," he added.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said some time ago that the government had made efforts to investigate this case, including deploying a joint TNI and Polri Tinombala Task Force to pursue a group that was left over from the separatist group led by Santoso.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has ordered the National Police Chief General Idham Azis to dismantle the MIT network to its roots without exception.

"I have ordered the police chief to thoroughly investigate the perpetrator's network and expose the network to its roots," Jokowi said in a video uploaded to the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube account.

Jokowi also ordered the Police and TNI to maintain security and increase vigilance after the massacre of one family. This is because Indonesia will not tolerate acts of terrorism.

"Once again I emphasize that there is no place in our homeland for terrorism," he stressed.

However, until a few days after the incident, there was no information on whether this team had succeeded in arresting Ali Kalora's MIT group who was also on the wanted list (DPO). To answer this, the government, through the Presidential Chief of Staff, Moeldoko, explained the reasons why the Tinombala Task Force had difficulty pursuing this terrorist group.

According to him, it was indeed difficult to catch up to Ali Kalora, cs because they were hiding in the forest in the mountains and hunting had to be done there. According to Moeldoko, this is certainly not known to the people who live outside the area where the incident occurred.

"If we describe it here, maybe how hard it is that it can't be repaired. But if you look at the terrain there where the mountains are multi-layered, like that is not easy," Moeldoko told reporters.

The former commander of the TNI said that the forest where the MIT group was hiding was a dense forest. In addition, residents living far apart from each other are also considered to be a difficulty in itself.

"He (the MIT group, red) can mingle with the community. He has fast maneuvers, because he already knows that their own operation area is also one of the difficulties faced by the troops who are sent there," explained Moeldoko.

Previously, the terror act carried out by the MIT group led by Ali Kalora took place on Friday, November 27 at around 09.00 WITA and reportedly reached the police at 13.00 WITA. This incident occurred in Lemban Tongoa Village, Palolo District, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi.

From this incident, there were four victims who were declared dead by the police.

"The four victims were named Yasa, Pinu, Naka, and Pedi. The four people were Ulin's family who were witnesses to the reporting," said Head of Public Relations of the Central Sulawesi Police, Kombes Didik Suparnoto when contacted by reporters, Saturday, November 28.

Based on the testimony of an eye witness, named Ulin, the MIT group led by Ali Kalora came to Ulin's house in Lemban Tongoa Village and took the Ulin family hostage who managed to escape.

Ulin's father, Yasa, and Ulin's husband, Pinu, were killed by this group. Meanwhile, the cause of the deaths of Naka and Pedi is unknown. Meanwhile, Yasa's wife, Nei, survived despite experiencing a number of injuries on her body. After carrying out the action, the perpetrators took 40 kilograms of rice and burned six houses around the murder site.