The Indonesian government made a series of serious missteps leading to human rights violations in its handling of one of the worst outbreaks of ethnic conflict the country has seen in decades, according to a new report, Communal Violence in West Kalimantan. The new report, issued as the first anniversary of the violence approaches, documents the conflict that erupted in late 1996 and early 1997 between indigenous Dayak people and immigrants from the island of Madura who settled in the province of West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo site of the forest fires that are currently wreaking environmental havoc across Southeast Asia. Based on investigations in the province in January and July, the report gives a lower death toll than most previous accounts, documenting about 500 deaths rather than 1,000 or higher as was initially reported. It notes that major questions remain unanswered almost a year later about how the conflict spread and about army and police actions that may have exacerbated the conflict. The report itself does not come to any conclusion about a central question: whether the worst of the violence was spontaneous or manipulated. Human Rights Watch does state, however, that in two short visits, it was unable to find any hard evidence of provocateurs. Instead, it outlines the kind of information that would have to be collected before such a judgment can be made and stresses the importance of a thorough and impartial investigation if another round of violence is to be avoided. One year later, the situation remains explosive.
Communal Violence in West Kalimantan