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INDONESIA-EXECUTE (UPDATED) Sep-25-2006 (690 words) With photos posted Aug. 14 and Sept. 22. xxxi
Three Catholic men executed in Indonesia, triggering riots
By Catholic News Service
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNS) -- The three Catholic men convicted of murdering 200 Muslims during sectarian riots in Central Sulawesi province in 2000 were executed by firing squad Sept. 22, triggering rioting in other provinces.
Father Jimmy Tumbelaka, spiritual counsel for Fabianus Tibo, 60, Dominggus da Silva, 39, and Marinus Riwu, 48, said Sept. 22 the three "were executed early this morning at about 1:50 a.m." The priest spoke to UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, by phone from Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province.
For the execution, he said, the men were handcuffed and tied to chairs. Da Silva and Tibo allowed themselves to be blindfolded, but Riwu refused, added Father Tumbelaka, parish priest for Poso, the town where the 2000 riots occurred.
Father Tumbelaka recounted that the men were taken out of solitary confinement in Palu's Petobo jail at 11:30 p.m. Media reported the execution was carried out amid tight security on the outskirts of Palu.
Da Silva's body was buried at the public cemetery in Palu but was exhumed and buried in his native village of Waidoko at the request of his family. Tibo and Riwu were buried in Beteleme, according to their wishes.
Father Tumbelaka said police and prosecutors rejected the men's last request, that their bodies be taken to St. Mary Church in Palu for a Mass to be said by Bishop Joseph Suwatan of Manado.
"That is really inhuman. It is against human rights," he said. But "we will hold a requiem Mass" led by the bishop "even without their bodies," he added.
Media reported from Palu that the Mass was celebrated at 11 a.m. Three empty coffins were placed in front of the altar at St. Mary Church.
The Vatican expressed its "deep disappointment" at the executions, saying an act of clemency would have helped the process of reconciliation in Indonesia.
"This is very sad and painful news. Every time a death penalty is carried out marks a defeat for humanity," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters.
In a written statement issued Sept. 23, the Vatican noted that several papal appeals had been made to the Indonesian government to spare the lives of the three condemned men.
It said the appeals had been made on humanitarian grounds, inspired by the church's teaching on the death penalty, but also keeping in mind the "particular nature of this painful case."
The statement said harmonious relations between religions, a long tradition in Indonesia, would continue to distinguish the country.
After the funeral, no disturbances were reported in Palu, where police security was tight.
However, in Atambua, a predominantly Catholic area in West Timor, an estimated 9,000 people protested the execution. The mob burned the prosecutor's and district court offices and stoned and damaged 50 other sites, including shops, houses, a market, government offices and a prison. About 200 prisoners escaped as a result.
Bishop Anton Pain Ratu of Atambua and several Catholic priests tried unsuccessfully to divert the mob to Immaculate Conception Cathedral in a bid to calm the rioters. They were able, however, to lead the mob to the town square. There, in the presence of security officers, the prelate urged the mob not to commit acts of anarchy.
Supporters of the executed men say they were framed by the masterminds of the Christian-Muslim clashes in and around Poso from December 1998 to December 2001. Hundreds of people died in the violence, with estimates ranging as high as 2,000. No Muslims have been prosecuted for their role in the violence.
Father Frans Rao, the vicar general of the Maumere Diocese, said that for years efforts have been made to have the death sentences of the three men commuted, but the authorities ignored these requests.
"We should stay calm and keep praying for the three condemned men so that they will be resolute in their last minutes," he said at an interfaith service.
Hasan Chalik from the Muslim community also spoke: "Our effort to abolish (the) death penalty in this country must continue. It will never stop."
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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