By Flora Lewis

Paris - Should there be a world police force? Must it be the United Nations? If not, who? Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and now East Timor - how long and how many dead are too long and too many to wait before intervention without a sovereign invitation?

These questions are part of the evolving idea of ''international community'' and its responsibilities, and there is no accepted answer. Each crisis leaves tracks of shame and guilt, a resolve to do better next time, but the lessons are never clearly applicable. The UN Charter gives the world body the legal duty to impose peace. But the rules make it difficult even if all the major powers do agree, and often they do not. The veto is an absolute block on Security Council action. Even when there is action and no veto, as with UN intervention in Bosnia, the mandate for use of force is so narrow and unrealistic that it makes the UN troops mere hostages unable to impose a cease-fire.

It seems obvious that East Timor is a case which merits foreign intervention. It was never part of Indonesia until Indonesian troops invaded and annexed the former Portuguese colony after it declared independence in 1975. Ill-treatment, famine and disease killed a quarter to a third of the population in subsequent years, provoking a resistance movement sufficiently nonviolent to win the Nobel Peace Prize for two of its leaders.

In the political upheaval and turbulence following the devastating financial crisis of 1997, and with a presidential election coming later this year, President B.J. Habibie offered to resolve the irritating issue with a referendum on autonomy, under UN supervision. Despite widespread warnings of likely violence, the voting went smoothly and nearly 80 percent chose independence. Then hell broke loose. Militia and troops have gone on a rampage of mayhem, destruction and mass deportation. Local reports say the attacks were clearly planned and organized beforehand, although it is not clear whether the military high command in Jakarta ordered the violence or lost control.

Now the Indonesian government is inviting military help. An Australian-led international force of some 6,000 could go in and impose order. There has been great reluctance to invade against Jakarta's opposition. Cutting off all military help is an evident step, but while economic sanctions would doubtless put pressure on the government, the main victims would be the people who are already having to suffer so much from the financial collapse.

This is clearly a case that requires policing, not economic pressure, and it must be put into effect quickly. While the United States may contribute, it is good that Australia is taking the lead this time, with troops probably from New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia and Thailand. It is heartening to see that with Canadian and Australian initiative the United Nations is reacting without too much dither. There is a desire not to repeat too many past mistakes. There might have had to be an intervention without Jakarta's formal request. It might have been possible to persuade China not to veto. Otherwise, it would be another unforeseen, unlegitimated international action, like NATO's in Kosovo, simply on grounds that lives had to be saved.

Is that to become standard international practice? Each case invites the question. If Kosovo, why not East Timor? If East Timor, why not Sierra Leone? If Sierra Leone, why not Sudan? That won't work. There just isn't that well-organized, law-abiding a world to expect authority (but what authority, whose?) to respond wherever there are misdeeds.

The United Nations does not have a standing police force, and it is not about to be given one. Even if it did, the decisions on when and where to use it would come under current Security Council rules. So there is no alternative to reacting case by case to these horrors, gradually expanding the precedents, the weight of arguments against murderous delay, the public acceptance of obligation to people suffering so injustly, even if they are very far away. The answer to the questions is that we must do what we can, regret when we can't do more, and hope that with each intervention we are pushing back the boundaries of modern barbarism.

Auckland - What does one say of those who murder women and children? How does one describe a group that issues death threats against foreign diplomats, journalists and aid workers? ''Terrorists'' is the word I find. And how to classify the actions of an army that sponsors such thugs? ''State terrorism'' would fit. Libya was quarantined by the United Nations for sponsoring terrorism. Serbia was systematically bombed by NATO for carrying out ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Saddam Hussein's Iraq has been hit repeatedly for defying the United Nations.

In my small country, East Timor, illegally invaded and annexed by Indonesia in 1975-1976, the recent terrible violence was conceived at the highest levels of the Indonesian army. More than 200,000 people have been driven from their homes by the military and the so-called militia gangs they sponsor. More than 100,000 East Timorese have been deported to various parts of Indonesia by truck, on foot and by ship to try to reverse the outcome of the self-determination plebiscite organized by the United Nations, in which an overwhelming majority of voters opted for independence.

The large-scale killing, raping, displacement and deportation are a case of ethnic cleansing. The strategy is clear. The Indonesian military is determined to exact a bloody retribution on a people who dared to vote for freedom and defy the army-militia campaign of intimidation and killing that was intended to coerce the population into voting to remain part of Indonesia. Now the military wants to rid East Timor of its stubborn people and create conditions inside the territory in which tens of thousands of displaced civilians may die unless they receive food and medicine in the next few days. This is genocide by any definition.

The day of the plebiscite, Aug. 30, was the most beautiful day in my life, and in the history of my people. There they were, simple villagers, often poor and illiterate, walking down from the mountains to cast their ballots on the future of their nation. Almost 100 percent of registered voters turned out, and almost 80 percent voted against autonomy and thus for freedom from colonial rule. What an admirable diplay of courage! But what a terrible price to pay for freedom!

The reason Indonesian President B.J. Habibie made the dramatic turnabout in East Timor policy in January was to rid Indonesia of a wasteful colonial war that had become a major diplomatic embarrassment and economic burden. But the powerful army does not agree with the president, even though he is commander in chief of the armed forces under the constitution. The military refuses to accept the loss of East Timor and is bent on continuing the madness there. There is no civil war in East Timor. Most of the militia members are not East Timorese. Well over half have been recruited by military special forces and intelligence agents from West Timor and other areas of Indonesia where unemployment and criminality are high.

For many months, I warned the United Nations and world leaders about this impending tragedy. In letters and opinion articles for the media, I tried to expose the strategy of the Indonesian army. No one really paid much attention. Now people are shocked by the overwhelming nature of the evidence from East Timor and the traumatic television pictures of human suffering and material destruction.

Before arriving in Auckland on Saturday to attend the annual meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, President Bill Clinton said in a written statement: ''It is now clear that the Indonesian military is aiding and abetting the militia violence. This is simply unacceptable. The actions of the Indonesian military in East Timor stand in stark contrast to the commitments they have given to the international community. The Indonesian government and military must reverse this course, do everything possible to stop the violence and allow an international force to make possible the restoration of security.''

Mr. Clinton has agreed to meet me in Auckland this Monday to discuss the Timor crisis. What can the world do to stop this genocide? An armed intervention, with or without Jakarta's agreement, is the only answer, preceded by immediate emergency airdrops of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies to refugees most at risk. This operation should be mounted from Darwin using Australian and U.S. transport aircraft, if necessary with protection from jet fighters. At the same time, a total arms embargo against Indonesia must be applied. Britain, as the largest supplier of weapons to Indonesia, bears an enormous responsibility now to join such an embargo, which the United States is leading.

But this is not enough. All bilateral and multilateral loans and economic assistance to Indonesia must be frozen, including those from the IMF, the World Bank and commercial banks. The only exception should be humanitarian and development aid channeled directly to the people of Indonesia through nongovernmental organizations.

I urge the citizens of the world to act on their consciences in the face of this crime against humanity and the people of East Timor. I appeal to all to boycott tourism in Indonesia. After all, army generals and the military itself have controlling interests in most of the hotel chains in Bali, the country's most popular international tourist destination. And Indonesian-made goods should be boycotted.

A war crimes tribunal for East Timor must be set up immediately to prosecute those responsible for the carnage, including military commanders, special forces officers, senior police and militia leaders. There will be no shortage of credible witnesses among the hundreds of UN staff, international observers, journalists and East Timorese who have recently escaped from the territory. We will not be able to bring back the dead, but at least we owe them justice.

Under the long authoritarian rule of former President Suharto, Indonesia was a solid economic and political bastion, seemingly immune to international influence and domestic challenge. Its patrons in the West did their best to outdo each other to court favors from the cunning dictator of a resource-rich country with a rapidly growing economy. Meanwhile, the East Timorese were diplomatically isolated and their struggle for freedom was largely overlooked. Despite the much greater size and power of President Suharto's Indonesia, the East Timorese continued their independence struggle with extraordinary resilience and bravery. The international community has been slow to recognize the legitimacy of that struggle. It must not fail East Timor now.

Will Indonesia accept the overwhelming international demand for a UN peacekeeping force to enter East Timor to help protect the people there and ensure that their vote for independence is upheld? Despite military pressure, Mr. Habibie's government should take another couragous step and do so. I can only hope that the forces of reason prevail in Jakarta and that the current storm will soon pass. But at what price for my people!

Last month I traveled to Indonesia. With Xanana Gusmí£o, the recently released leader of East Timor's independence movement, and several other prominent East Timorese, I met Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas. We were impressed and encouraged by our meeting. Subsequently, both Mr. Alatas and President Habibie declared that they accepted the result of the UN-organized vote in East Timor and called on others to do so. We also met the Indonesian armed forces commander and defense minister, General Wiranto. If we had any doubts about the army's leading role in instigating the violence in East Timor, that meeting dispelled them. He told us bluntly, almost boasting: ''I can disarm the militias in two days.''

Why hasn't he done so? After all, Indonesia pledged to maintain security and protect all East Timorese under an agreement it signed with the United Nations and Portugal, the former colonial ruler of East Timor, on May 5 in New York. The Indonesian people, too, have a responsibility to uphold justice for East Timor. If they are really moving toward democracy, they cannot deny the East Timorese their share of peace and freedom. There cannot be the pretense of democracy in Indonesia and genocide in East Timor.

Indonesians cannot go on displaying their parochial nationalism and pretend to be offended by calls from the West and elsewhere for foreign peacekeepers under a UN mandate to enter East Timor, when they do not condemn their army's slaughter of the East Timorese. They should recognize that the military, which is also killing and abusing civilians in Aceh and Irian Jaya, has severely damaged the country's interests and badly tarnished its international reputation. The Indonesian army must leave East Timor now. But even after all this senseless violence, it can rest assured that when it does so, East Timorese will be mature and responsible enough to show respect to the departing soldiers. Even after we part ways, East Timor and Indonesia will always be neighbors. We will need to bury the past and rebuild our lives.

The writer is a 1996 co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and vice president of the National Council of the Timorese Resistance, which represents East Timor's independence movement.