By Colum Lynch
May 6, 1999
United Nations - Indonesia and Portugal signed an agreement yesterday paving the way for East Timor's independence, ending 16 years of UN-brokered talks and setting the stage for a potentially violent vote Aug. 8 on whether the island's 800,000 inhabitants will break with Jakarta.
The accord was hailed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a major turning point in the former Portuguese colony's troubled history. Independence advocates warned that a UN observer mission of several hundred, envisioned for East Timor, would be insufficient to halt the violence that has cost the lives of more than 100 Timorese in the past four months.
An exiled independence advocate, Jose Ramos Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, warned the UN in a letter Monday that failure to disarm anti-independence militias, and to secure the withdrawal of most of the 20,000 Indonesian troops stationed in East Timor before the election, would lead to a ''disaster.''
Faced with stiff opposition to an armed UN presence in East Timor, Annan said that he had to be ''realistic'' about the scope of the UN role. And he conceded that the UN would have no responsibility for guaranteeing security during the election. ''The maintenance of law and order is the responsibility of the Indonesian government,'' he said. ''We are going to press for a secure environment, and the government has assured it will work with us.''
The pact recognizes a Timorese right to self-determination and grants a vote to accept or reject an Indonesian proposal for wide-ranging autonomy. If the Timorese vote to accept, they would be granted the authority over a local government, education and cultural affairs, leaving Indonesia in charge of foreign affairs, national defense, and monetary policy. If the vote is no, the Timorese would be granted independence.
Annan warned Jakarta in a confidential memo, presented yesterday to Alatas and Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaimie Gama and made available to the Globe, that he would not give his blessing to the vote unless it brings ''armed civilian groups under strict control,'' bans rallies by militias, and begins disarming civilians in East Timor. The memo also demands that Indonesia redeploy its forces, grant access to the media, and arrest and prosecute those who ''incite or threaten to use violence.''
The accord was a bittersweet victory for Timorese rebels and proindependence advocates. While many voiced fear that the Indonesia military may seek to disrupt the vote, they praised the accord for providing the first formal recognition by Indonesia of East Timor's right to self-determination since it annexed the former Portuguese colony in 1976. More importantly, they said it would involve the first large international presence in the region.
''For 23 years we have been fighting all alone,'' said Mari Alkatiri, a representative of FRETILIN, the East Timorese rebel group. ''This is the first time that some hundreds of UN observers will be placed in East Timor. Our voice will be heard.''
East Timor was first invaded and occupied by Indonesian troops in 1975, shortly after Portugal withdrew from its former colony. Rights advocates estimate that hundreds of thousands of Timorese have since died at the hands of the Indonesian army.
In January, Indonesia's leader, B. J. Habibie, announced that Jakarta will permit the former Portuguese colony to have independence. Many believe he made the offer in good faith. But there is growing fear that elements within the Indonesian military are seeking to plunge territory into civil war.
In recent months, East Timor has been plagued by violence. Pro-Indonesian militias, armed by the military, have launched a reign of terror on the islands. In one of the most brutal killings, Indonesia troops surrounded the Catholic church in the village of Liquica the early morning on April 6, opening fire on hundreds of churchgoers and refugees seeking sanctuary.
In Washington, the US Senate and House passed resolutions aimed at pressuring the Indonesian government to permit a free and fair election. The Senate Resolution appealed to the Clinton administration to contribute to an international trust fund for the UN mission in East Timor, and appealed to the Pentagon and State Department to step up their pressure on Jakarta to disarm the militias. ''The perpetrators of violence want to sabotage the ballot on East Timor's future,'' said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont.
The House version, sponsored by Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, was stronger, urging the administration to restrict all military transfers to Indonesia until it ends the paramilitaries' reign of terror. ''The threat by the United States to cut off military assistance and arms transfers should serve to get the attention of the Indonesian government,'' Kennedy said.
