Interview with Rev Rinaldy Damanik
By Adison Wongkar

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Poso, located in Central Sulawesi, has been constantly in turmoil because of the civil wars that ripped apart the region since 1998. This edition, we present our interview with Rev. Rinaldy Damanik who has been a prominent figure in peace negotiation and reconciliation efforts in Poso among different groups especially between Muslims and Christians. Rev. Damanik was falsely accused on weapons charges and imprisoned in 2003 but later set free. While imprisoned, he was elected as president of GKST (Christian Church of Central Sulawesi). At the point of interview, he has just stepped down from GKST presidency while still continuing his work to head the Poso Crisis Center.

Note: The opinions reflected in this interview are solely the interviewee’s and do not necessarily represent FICA Cross Point’s

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AW (Adison Wongkar): What would you say is the key for the true reconciliation to happen between Muslims and Christians in Poso?

RD (Rinaldy Damanik): For reconciliation to happen, first and foremost there must be a motivation. Good will among involved the parties must not only be present but also strongly manifested. There must be a strong motivation to reconcile and to forgive.

Full reconciliation can only be achieved when real facts are divulged and revealed. Facts about transgressions that had happened, for example, need to be publicly disclosed according the legal process and rules applicable in Indonesia and Poso.

It is only possible for an individual or a group to forgive if they are provided the knowledge or information of: what they are forgiving, who they are forgiving, and what behavior they are forgiving. The factual information has to be made public so that people would not be repressing their outward emotion while at the same time brewing animosity inwardly [Indonesian idiom: “api dalam sekam”]. If the true facts are kept concealed and withheld from public, one day this sort of emotion could no longer be contained and had to burst out. So, disclosure of facts is another key to reconciliation.

There are several groups involved in this conflict, i.e. the Muslim group, Christian group, the government, and so on. Reconciliation also needs to happen between the government and the people. Everyone has their share of wrongdoings and everyone’s wrongdoings have intermixed with each other.

Each of these groups has to also work on internal reconciliation. If we want to accomplish an external reconciliation, the internal reconciliation needs to be simultaneously worked on as well. This means, internally these groups has to be in agreement with one another, keeping away from internal discord. The Christians in the Christian group has to be reconciled to one another. The same has to happen with the Muslim group, so that there won’t be any factions. Therefore, when these groups meet externally with other groups, this meeting can really happen out of oneness of heart. I think this is the key.

AW: So, the most important to this reconciliation effort is the motivation and goodwill. Do you see important role of certain public figures such as religious leaders to instrument a peaceful reconciliation?

RD: Yes, certainly there are. Even so far we have put an effort to meet with the so-called hardliners. In the context of Poso, there is someone named Ustad Adnan Arzal who is popular among Muslims there. We conducted meetings with him. These meetings were criticized and confronted by our fellow Christians. They would ask why we had to meet with such a person.

Nevertheless, we had to be willing to meet and talk with anyone. We have to find out what they want. And they had to also listen to what we want. That has to take place. So, it shouldn’t be a taboo to meet with them. This can be done realistically because they are also willing to meet with us.

Regarding how to move forward, it has to be discussed further in the respective groups. Within the Muslim group and within the Christian group.

AW: Aside from external criticism towards your effort to meet up with Ustad Adnan Arzal, do you think there is any future in continuing relationship between both groups?

RD: Yes. That bridging relationship has to be persistently pursued. However, there is also an important point that has to be considered by both groups. The bond between the groups must be maintained. For example, currently Ustad Adnan Arzal is in trouble because of the armed forces within his group, the alleged terrorist group with links to Jemaah Islamiyah, had a clash with security forces on January 22, 2007. He went through a very difficult legal predicament because he had to deal with the law. He was held responsible, and had to be accountable to the country. In spite of this, the relationship between the two groups should not be abandoned or destroyed.

Similarly, when I had to face some legal predicament, well, I had to deal with the law. But this should not destroy my relationship with him or with any others. This commitment should be deeply held in everyone’s heart. We’re for reconciliation. But the supremacy of the law must be respected. This is an important point. Reconciliation does not mean all faults were ignored.

AW: Aside from the religious figures, are there any other public figures from government or others that has to step in and play a more active role?

RD: First and foremost, the government has to give reconciliation a chance and not stifling it. And reconciliation is very much related to rehabilitation. Their job is to rehabilitate facilities for people, for example homes, education facilities, religious facilities, public facilities, etc. That’s what they had to do.

So, the government needs to facilitate that. Moreover, the rebuilding projects should not be executed under government’s absolute power. Rather, the projects need to be executed in a reconciliative fashion. What I mean by reconciliative rebuilding project is this: When rebuilding a torn-down church building in a village with Christians and Muslims, let’s work together [Indonesian idiom: “gotong royong”] to rebuild the building. We can use the fund from the government. Similarly, when there is a torn-down mosque building, Christians and Muslims need to work together in “gotong royong” to rebuild it. Same goes for homes, and other buildings. As a result, people will interact with each other and learn valuable lessons from interacting with each other, whether during work, break time, meal time, coffee time, etc. So, reconciliation has to happen in all aspects of life, not just conversationally, but also in working together. That’s what rehabilitative rebuilding is. And we all need to give it our attention.

AW: Perhaps you could also talk about the Poso Crisis Center? What is Poso Crisis Center’s strategy to aid in the reconciliation process?

RD: Yes, as I have mentioned earlier, the meeting with Ustad Adnan Arzal was one of the things done by the Crisis Center. We do lobbying. Crisis Center aims to motivate all groups and itself to have a determination in all aspects of life according to their respective profession to reconstruct a peaceful living coexistence in Poso.

Aside from that, Crisis Center also tried to press the government to handle and aid the civil war victims – from physical facilities up to their psychological needs such as dealing with their trauma.

AW: What about the effort to reveal the facts?

RD: Absolutely, that is what we have been advocating for until now. We have petitioned the government about the need of an independent fact-finding team to reveal and divulge facts about Poso conflict since 1998. However, until today there was no response from the government whatsoever.

We suspect that this is due to the fact there are so many security force and government officials themselves involved in the atrocities. Regardless, that should not deter us. We have exhibited a good will in petitioning this to the government, and thus respecting their authority.

But since the petition has not met with a response, eventually we need to form our own investigative team. Surely we need seek support from others, be that national or international entities. We would need specific knowledge and skill sets including forensics and investigation techniques. Because of that, we are seeking collaboration with everyone.

AW: Back to the conflict in Poso, the Muslim-Christian civil war was principally unnecessary. How does lack of education and information plays a part in this conflict?

RD: Really what happened was that most people involved in this conflict were being provoked. Actually, the conflict has nothing to do whatsoever with the lives of these people. The crux of the issue is the elite’s issue, the struggle of power in government office, specifically Poso regent’s office (Bupati Poso).

Now, why are these people susceptible to being provoked? First, perhaps the religious institutions have to do self-introspection. Personally as a reverend, I must evaluate myself. What have I taught so far to my congregation and people? Why are they still prone to be provoked?

Next and more obvious in daily life, the people who are easily provoked are those with narrow perspectives, lack of education, and economic scarcity. Although perhaps there could be some affluent people among those who are provoked, I think these affluent people tend to be the provokers. The overwhelming majority of the provoked people are those who are already suffering at the bottom rung of the ladder. They were very easily provoked. In the Poso atrocities, what happened were not just burnings and killings, but also looting and plundering. It is apparent that economic scarcity ties directly to these people. Therefore, simultaneous reconciliation needs to happen in terms of rehabilitating people’s education and economic outcome.

AW: What is your dream about the future of Poso – from the standpoint of reconciliation, education, and economics?

RD: There is an old proverb saying that a donkey would not fall into the same hole twice. My hope is simple: do not let these atrocities and civil war happens again. If these things do not recur, naturally Poso will rise from the ashes. The most important thing is that these conflicts would cease to happen in the future, because then all problems could be resolved easily. Education can be improved. Economy can be facilitated. All aspects of live can be improved.

Again, let us be impervious to provocation. When people stir and arouse us to do negative things, refuse it! That is my solemn wish for Poso people. I hope Poso conflicts would be a valuable lesson for others as well. As for Poso people, we have a saying: winners turn to charcoal, losers ashes. There is absolutely no benefit at all to the people. The only ones who benefit from all these are the provocators and the arms and firearms traders.

AW: In terms of education and economics, do you have a dream or vision for Poso? In 10 or 20 years from now, what kind of Poso do you yearn for?

RD: Yes, that is an apt word to describe it… a dream or vision. There has to be more Poso people to get educated, continuing their education not only in certain select fields but in all fields, according to the needs in Poso. For example, education and training related to technology, farming, business, trading, and law. It has to happen concurrently. Someone with technical skill has to understand law and business in order to fully utilize his or her skills. My dream is that Poso people could really improve the quality of their education and broadening their perspectives. Thus, we all have to take part of giving them support. Whatever they have – their treasures, fields and lands – should not be sold off in haste, but rather be utilized and managed prudently. In life, there has to be priorities. Do not be given to lavish squandering for a time, but prioritize on children’s education. That is the principles they have to follow and we all need to give support for them.

This means, the potential has to be dug out of themselves. Dependency on other’s lending hand and charity is not edifying and counter educational. It reduces the people to a spoiled beggar. But, whatever is found on them – however small its potential is – has to be developed. They need to be taught how to cultivate and manage wisely. And when they reaped their hard earned results, they need to be taught now to prioritize how to use these fruits of their work.

So, this is the most important thing. I hope Poso will turn into a society that has knowledge, faith, and culture at the same time. The importance of culture is not to be underestimated. The culture of openness and dialog across religious groups, ethics, moral, and respect towards each other.

AW: As a closing question, could you comment or advise us on the mental barriers that we need to break out of so that we could develop an openness to relate to different groups, especially in the context of Christians and Muslims or followers of other religions?

RD: What we need to snap out of is, first and foremost, our egoism. We need to realize that we cannot live alone, as we need others as well. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and we complete each other. Without social interaction, no matter how talented or well-to-do we are, we would be plagued by frustration and eventually reduced to madness.

Indonesia has so many people who are both prosperous and have good command of scientific knowledge. But in spite of their wealth, they live a pitiful restricted life. I concluded that these people actually need to be helped and reminded that life necessitates social interaction. Our sanity is restored when we can exchange our feelings and thoughts freely with others. So, we need to break away from our egoism.

I will be a bit theological here: this is the very reason why God created human since the beginning not as lone individual but with a partner. That is why social interrelationships need to always flow.

AW: This concludes our interview. We really would like to than you to have made yourself available to us. It is truly an honor.

RD: Thank you for all your sympathies, all the kindness and especially the spirit of brotherhood from all of you. Even though this is the first time we met, it felt like we are old friends. That is what I felt. We could laugh, have dialogs, debates, and even more remarkable, we could pray together. It is such an extraordinary thing for me.

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