JAKARTA (UCAN) -- The bishop of Amboina, eastern Indonesia, has expressed concern over reports that martial law will be declared in Maluku.

There are too many human rights violations occurring in the present civilian state of emergency, Sacred Heart Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Amboina told UCA News May 1. Martial law would only make people suffer more, he added.

According to him, a state of emergency, whether civilian or military, would fail and only endanger people if used by groups "without moral commitment."

Neither military nor civilian states of emergency can solve the problem, he said, adding, "Peace in Maluku can be achieved only through justice."

The government and military, he said, must deal with the current problem, which is the lack of justice for all people regardless their background.

On April 29, Admiral Widodo, Indonesian military chief, was reported as saying that the government is considering implementing martial law in Maluku in place of the 23-month-old civilian state of emergency.

The announcement came a day after masked men attacked the predominantly Christian Soya village, killing 12 people, among them two children.

According to Widodo, President Megawati Sukarnoputri is in favor of martial law if conditions deteriorated.

However, Bishop Mandagi said that he prefers dialogue to restore justice and peace there. Last December and February, Christian and Muslim leaders signed the Malino I and Malino II peace accords to end the conflicts in Poso, a district in Central Sulawesi province, and Maluku.

Peace treaties are a good thing if everyone has the moral responsibility to uphold it, he said. Unfortunately, the government has failed to do so because it has allowed violators of peace treaties to go scot-free, he added.

Jihad fighters in military uniform were involved in every violent incident in the provincial capital Ambon, he claimed. Ironically, they were not caught.

Security forces should have captured Jaffar Umar Talib, the jihad leader from the Al Sunnah wal Jemaah forum based in Java. Talib is still out on the loose in Ambon and provoking Muslims to be anti-government and anti-Christian, Bishop Mandagi said.

Talib has since been arrested by authorities on May 4, according to reports.

If the violence continues unabated, the bishop said he will "ask for international help." It appears that the government and security forces "cannot fulfill their job for humanity anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, Thamrin Ely, delegation chief for the Malino II peace meeting, told UCA News in Jakarta that he is against the declaration of martial law. The peace treaty is doing just fine, he said.

The chairman of the Islamic Scholar Organization said martial law would only "scare" locals. He also expressed concern about human rights violations.

Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina has also rejected calls for martial law. "I don't see any need for a military emergency," he told reporters in Ambon.

According to the governor, the jihad fighters, whose presence in Maluku is apparently supported by many Muslim residents in the former Spice Islands, were closely linked with the deadly attack in Soya village.

Two days before the attack, he said, Talib, also Laskar Jihad chairman, addressed an illegal rally at Al-Fatah Mosque.

During that rally, he and his followers denounced security forces for failing to prevent the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) supporters from raising the RMS flag.

He called for a "people's war" as well as a "holy war" against the separatist movement, who are mostly Christians originally from Maluku.

No concrete evidence has linked Laskar Jihad to the massacre, but several witnesses claimed that the group was responsible, a Church source said.

On April 29, Army Chief of Staff General Endriartono Sutarto told media that the military is in Maluku to help maintain peace and order in the restive province.

"If the public wants (the Indonesian military) to take firm measures in handling the Maluku conflict, there must be adequate legal and political grounds to do so," he said.

END