Militia Violence Is Jeopardising the Vote
June 22 , 1999
Indonesia has rejected accusations by the UN and Amnesty International that the high level of violence in East Timor is continuing with impunity.
Government spokesman, Sulaiman Abdulmanan, of the Foreign Ministry, insisted Jakarta was working hard to bring peace and security to East Timor ahead of an August ballot on autonomy in the war-torn province. Mr Abdulmanan told the BBC that 5,500 civilian police were being sent to East Timor to restore law and order. He denied Indonesia's security forces were involved in trying to disrupt the ballot or that they were complicit in allowing the violence to escalate. The minister said: "We are still sticking to our plan of holding the ballot on 8 August as we agreed with the UN."
Intimidation
A report by the human rights organisation Amnesty International published on Monday said: "The ongoing high level of human rights violations and atmosphere of almost total impunity in East Timor could prevent the vote taking place."
The UN has also expressed doubts over the holding of the referendum on autonomy because of violence and intimidation by armed militias. The UN's envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said discussions were being held about a possible delay to the ballot because of the continuing violence. Mr Marker raised his concerns after talks with jailed Timorese guerrilla leader Jose Xanana Gusmao and President BJ Habibie in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Mr Marker will visit East Timor on Wednesday before reporting back to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who will have the last word on whether the vote can go ahead on 8 August.
Amnesty Report
Based on a visit to East Timor in May, the Amnesty report accused the Indonesian authorities of involvement in a well-organised campaign of intimidation against pro-independence groups in East Timor. It said Indonesia was failing to fulfil key obligations under the UN-brokered agreement which provided for the referendum. The ballot will give East Timorese a choice between autonomy within the Indonesian state and full independence.
According to Amnesty, at least 34 people have been killed by militias and Indonesian security forces since the start of May.
Both the UN and Amnesty say anti-independence militias are waging a terror campaign to intimidate civilians ahead of the vote. The Indonesian government has denied previous allegations that it supports the militias. Amnesty's UN representative, Florence Martin, who was part of the delegation which visited the province, said the security situation was ''appalling''. ''Human rights violations occurred daily and in all impunity. At the time we were there, there was absolutely no indication of any human rights violation being taken up by the authorities," she added.
UN Police
As speculation grows that the UN will postpone balloting by several weeks, the first contingent of 41 UN police officers has arrived in the East Timorese capital Dili. Over the next few weeks, a total of 272 unarmed UN police will arrive in the territory. Their role, however, will be a very limited one.
The first contingent flew from Darwin, where the UN set up a staging post and supply centre in July to train police and volunteers to oversee the election. They included 15 from Australia, 10 from New Zealand, seven from Britain, six from Spain, and three from Ireland.
Rival armed factions signed an agreement on Friday to surrender their weapons and keep the peace ahead of the vote.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it a year later.
