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Training in Conflict Management in Flores - Indonesia

Peace education activities in Flores have historically been carried out by churches, as the majority of Flores communities are Catholic. Since 1998 however, the demands for putting more attention on conflict reconciliation have become higher following the inter-religious conflicts in most parts of Indonesia (e.g. Java, Moluccus (Maluku), West Papua, Sulawesi, West Sumatra and East Nusa Tenggara, including West Timor and Flores). The split of East Timor from Indonesia which resulted in a high number of IDPs (Internally Displaced People) and former East Timor military forces in West Timor and other islands in East Nusa Tenggara have added to the tensions and have lead to potentially high conflict situations in these regions. Local NGOs and networks started to get involved in negotiations and mediation with all religious groups as preventive strategies to the escalation of inter-religious conflicts in East Nusa Tenggara.

– Training in Conflict Management, Report, pdf-document

– History of Conflict Transformation Workshops in IP, pdf-document

– Background History of PBI, pdf-document

One of the biggest networks focussing on conflict resolution in Flores is TRUK F (Voluntary Team for Humanity – Flores), based in Maumere. This network collaborates with its sub-teams in Larantuka and Ende in Flores, also in Kupang – West Timor. Even though there are activities for peace in Flores, there is a lack of peace education activities for the local community. Since 2001, PBI (Peace Brigades International *) – Jakarta, in collaboration with TRUK F has held nine peace education workshops in Flores involving a mixture of religious groups and other community groups.

Coordination with local NGOs is critical for the continuity and ongoing support and promotion for peace education in Flores. TRUK F acts as the contact organization that coordinates a number of peace education programs with PBI in Flores. While TRUK F mainly works in three districts in Flores, other local NGOs are involved in the coordination of the workshops in other districts (there are six districts on Flores island), for example Yayasan Mitra Swadaya, a local NGO in Bajawa that is involved in negotiation and mediation work for conflicts. PBI’s peace education workshops in Flores started in 2001. Nine workshops have been held in four districts (two trainings in Maumere, three trainings in Bajawa - Ngada, two trainings in Ende and two trainings in Larantuka). There is currently a request from Manggarai (another district in Flores) for a PBI-sponsored workshop.

Consideration was taken to empower local people in managing their own peace education activities by providing a “training for trainers” workshop in Bajawa and building up a network for peace workers. Unfortunately there was no follow-up from the coordinating NGO to gather these participants for further discussions. Some participants, however, have followed-up peace education activities related to their current work. For example; there have been two further conflict resolution workshops for primary school community members (teachers, principals, superintendents and members of school committees) who work in the area and there have been internal discussions within religious groups held by Catholic and Protestant priest participants.

The necessity of peace education in Flores

As previously mentioned, there is a potentially high conflict situation among religious groups in Flores, triggered by inter-religious conflicts on a national level. Rabies broke out in Flores in 1998 and some believe it was spread on purpose by certain groups/people in an effort to split the community as it had happened before in the Moluccus. Some suspected Muslims from Java who were killed during that time. In the same year, some Muslim people (from other islands nearby) arrived by boats and attacked a local community. They also burnt down some stores belonging to people with Chinese-Christian backgrounds. The tensions between religious groups were high, but there were no local inter-religious incidents afterwards.

In addition to insecurity in Flores, there were conflicts between the military and police. ICG’s (the International Crisis Group’s) press release of October 10, 2002, entitled “Flores: A Microcosm of Indonesia’s Problems” mentioned that the Maumere incident in July and August 2002 when shooting between military and police took place in the town can be considered as “symptoms” for bigger conflicts in Indonesia. Flores was forced to accept ex-East Timor military men since 1999 and in July and August 2002, there was a clash between the police and the military.

PBI’s assessment of the potential of conflict in Flores in February 2003 noted that there is a lack of dialogue between religious groups and therefore the possibility of inter-religious conflict emerging still remains. Conflict between the government and the local community was highlighted in meetings with TRUK F and those with Muslim leaders. Both the local and central governments are often perceived as being involved in widespread practices of corruption and often fail to address the needs of the local population. Currently a high-profile case of conflict between the church and one of the local Bupatis (district heads) over land ownership and social justice is beginning to cause splits within a community. The most recent cases are local conflicts in Larantuka (East Flores) and Manggarai (West Flores). All too often oppressive bureaucracies tend to use their power and money with support from the military and police force in implementing their policies. Those who have the power all too often abuse the implementation of policies promoting greater autonomy, currently being sought in Indonesia.

In November 2003, the court in Larantuka was burnt down by local people after a trial of a priest; Father Frans Amanue, who is also the chief Justice and Peace Commission of the Larantuka diocese. Fr. Amanue was accused of ruining the reputation of the District head (Bupati) by publicly announcing his violation of rights and corruption practices. Some efforts have been taken by local NGOs and other community groups to release the priest, but the court and military took the Bupati’s side. The accumulation of local people’s disappointment about the injustice in East Flores erupted the day the priest was sentenced to prison for two months. A mass movement spontaneously set fire to the court symbolizing their lack of trust in the court and the local government. A lot of pressure was aimed at the Bupati but he continues to receive support from the police and military. In early January 2004, a group of police entered a convent where some local activists usually gathered for discussions and forcefully dismissed the group.

In Manggarai, since October 2003, the local government implemented a policy to acquire land and forest traditionally owned by local people. These people’s fields were destroyed, including their livelihood. At least 162 coffee fields owned by local people were no longer available for production. Some permanent houses and huts were also destroyed during the operation. The operation team, which consisted of military and civil police, also provoked local people in their actions, requesting money from the farmers and sexually harassing local women. A network has been set up by local and national NGOs to advocate for the farmers and an investigation has been completed by the Office For Justice, Peace And Integrity Of Creation - Ordo Fratrum Minorum (JPIC - OFM) Ruteng Diocese and Pelayanan Advokasi Untuk Keadilan Dan Perdamaian Indonesia (PADMA Indonesia). Despite this the problem still remains.

In relation to the local culture, the position of women is very weak and as a result there is a high frequency of domestic conflict and violence. A very small number of women are in high positions in public offices and in the parliament (although there is no woman in the parliament in Bajawa). Violence has become part of the culture in Flores that needs to be addressed. Cultural ceremonies where animals are publicly killed in extremely cruel ways are common practice. Boys are expected to be skilled in the killing of these animals. Verbal violence originating in the domestic sphere also influences the harshness within the community. Family conflicts are also emerging as a result of returning TKI (Indonesian guest workers) from Malaysia, as so often their positions in the community have been filled, and in some cases they or their partners have taken on new spouses. This has been further exasperated by the fact that the Catholic Church still doesn’t allow divorce. There are also some conflicts among local communities over land ownership leading to ‘war’ among clans or ethnic groups to the point where people kill each other. This kind of conflict happens all over Flores all too frequently and is still a challenging issue to be overcome by both the local government and the local community.

Currently each kabupaten (local district) is considering the proposal to establish Flores as a new province. This suggestion has resulted in “open” competition between some districts to become the capital of the province. Conflicts in Indonesia, such as in Aceh, West Papua, Poso, Moluccus and also in Flores, should be resolved within specific local politics and policies along with the reform of the centralized police force and military.

There is not much attention given by international communities to conflicts in Flores as they are considered to be on a much smaller scale compared with conflicts in Aceh, West Papua, Sulawesi or Maluku. However, the mentioned ICG report on Flores noted that they need to be considered as violent actions in remote areas which get little attention, reflecting many of the difficulties which should be handled by Indonesia: How to control the centralized military power over local politics? How to eliminate corruption and nepotism of the police and military? How to make the police more professional? Can decentralization open the possibilities to prevent violence? How to avoid new conflicts? These are all questions which need greater community debate.

As indicated, there is still considerable potential for further conflicts in Flores. There is a need to create a stronger civil society. With a strong civil society it has been proven possible to counter provocative actions which may lead to bigger conflict. Peace education can play a very significant role in creating a strong civil society by building peace in the community through formal and/or informal education and to initiate concrete actions in promoting peace. Human rights issues in Flores as well as in other parts of Indonesia need to be addressed. While the awareness of human rights in other parts of the world is relatively high and has become a practical issue, greater effort is needed to socialize human rights and democratic practices in Flores and the wider Indonesian community and the various levels of government as a fundamental element in peace building activities.

The aims of PBI trainings:

- To bring together inter-community groups to form a network for addressing and limiting further conflicts in vulnerable areas of Flores.

- To assist the up-scaling (capacity building) of the participants’ knowledge of conflict resolution theory, which ideally should be blended with their practical skills and experiences to further assist them in resolving local conflicts in a non-violent and culturally sensitive way.

Strategies of the project: involving local NGOs and activists in the cooperation and in identifying local conflicts and needs, and in trainings for sustainable and ongoing peace building in local areas.

Methods used in trainings: are focused on the participatory method of learning, using local examples, practice, feedback and reflection as the basis for all PBI trainings. They also include group work, role plays, active involvement, “learning by doing”, inclusiveness of all groups (religions, ethnic, community groups) and gender balance both with respect to the number of participants in general and the ones involved in group activities.

Approaches used in the trainings: the trainings aim at developing conflict resolution based on the participants’ knowledge and experience (an elicitive approach – from the Lederach model). However, there is a need to teach some models of conflict analysis and to develop skills in mediation and negotiation which then combine the elicitive approach with a prescriptive approach. These two approaches have proven to work effectively (according to evaluations by participants). There is also a typical approach used by PBI in addressing and acknowledging the participants’ feelings and emotions when beginning and ending each day’s workshop.

Wider parts and further representatives of the community are expected to be involved in the workshops, such as: religious communities, ethnic groups, community leaders, community members, community groups, activists from local NGOs, youth groups and government officials.

Challenges:

- Coordinating NGOs tend to invite more people associated with their own organizations. The limited number of peace education workshops is a hindrance to providing opportunities for a broader involvement of the local community in peace education activities.

- The weaknesses in selecting participants who do not have an interest in or background of conflict resolution within the community are sometimes problematic, as they can create gaps between those who already have some experience in dealing with issues of conflict and those who just start to learn.

- It is a challenge to apply an elicitive approach where participants are expected to be fully involved in all workshop activities. In some districts there is a resistance from local community leaders, as they are used to a prescriptive approach and find it hard to work together with “ordinary” community members. There is also the situation of some participants who never expect to be called upon to share their thoughts.

- Participants in conflict areas often expect intervention or support from international NGOs when they face difficult situations in relation to oppressive bureaucracy. This is a very difficult ethical issue for PBI, considering the mandate of PBI (e.g. non-partisanship).

- Gender issues: male participants seem to have difficulties listening to female participants. This is influenced by the culture and social system in Flores. Therefore, gender issues should be addressed in each workshop.

- There are some local NGOs initiated by Catholic churches such as TRUK F and JPIC, and other local NGOs which address the conflict issues in Flores. However, the work is limited to conflict reconciliation, and not much work is done in peace education. Prevention versus Resolution or Cure.

- Some areas are geographically isolated and have a limited government and non-government infrastructure and facilities, which creates further difficulties in communication and coordination for all parties.

- As peace education is a relatively new issue to the community, there is very limited provision of information and other resources; including resource persons for peace education initiatives.

- There is an open question that often comes out in peace education workshops: How to deal with repressive bureaucracy & military in a peaceful way, without having innocent people victimized?

Topics

PBI has developed certain topics for workshops based on the needs of the local community. Usually these topics are developed after consultations and need assessments with local NGOs. In the process, PBI’s Peace Education Sub-Committee holds some meetings to decide the content of the workshops. These meetings are continued with the involvement of local NGOs and/or facilitators in the workshops.

The topics of the workshops include:

- Basic understanding of conflict: definition, types of conflict and the differences between conflict and violence,

- Tools for conflict analysis (conflict mapping, the conflict tree, the conflict triangle, the onion model, the use of timelines),

- Emotions and feelings,

- Communication skills and de-escalation of conflict,

- Mediation and negotiation skills,

- Non-violent actions in dealing with conflict,

- building-up local models of intervening as a mediator in a conflict (Lederach’s model),

- Five roles of intervening, etc.

Each workshop is held over 5 days where peace activities are encouraged through all sessions. Workshops usually end with a reconciliation session where all participants and facilitators come together to acknowledge the importance of peace for the community and the world.

The most unique approach introduced by PBI in their workshops consists of addressing and acknowledging the participants’ feelings and emotions at the beginning and at the end of each day’s workshop (as “check-ins” and “check-outs”). Sometimes they also get addressed during the day, especially after role plays or other activities which may raise the participants’ emotions.

Contact:

Peace Brigades International

Jakarta Sub – Team

Jl. Persatuan Guru 19

Petojo Selatan

Jakarta Pusat 10160

Indonesia

tel + 62 21 386 0786

fax + 62 21 3483 4435

email: pbi-jkt@indo.net.id

Link: http://www.peacebrigades.org

 

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