Siara Merdeka, 29 April, 1999
Xanana Regrets the Position Adopted by Howard
In a statement issued on his behalf by his lawyer, Hendardi, chair of the
PBHI, Xanana Gusmao, the president of the CNRT said that generally speaking,
nothing new had emerged from the meeting between President Habibie and PM
John Howard. The two men exchanged information about the postponement of the
UN tripartite talks till 5 May and announced that the date of the ballot had
been fixed for 8 August.
'Our client regrets the political position adopted by the Australian Prime
Minister as expressed in his statement in Denpasar which made no reference
to the terrible events in Liquisa and Dili which resulted in a number of
civilian deaths. This is in contrast with the Prime Minister's angry
reaction when he was still in Australia. At that time, reacting to the Dili
tragedy, he said that he wanted to meet President Habibie as soon as possible.
Xanana was hoping that the Australian Prime Minister would pay attention to
these tragedies and would exert pressure on President Habibie and the Army
commander in chief with regard to the serious events in East Timor during
the past weeks. It is necessary to seek clarification about the army's
political standpoint because it has still failed to adopt a position of
neutrality even though it promised to do so.
This is extremely important, said Xanana, because the security situation in
East Timor has failed to improve in spite of the peace accord that was
signed on 21 April. 'On that occasion, the army leadership committed itself
to a position of neutrality.'
But at the same time, Xanana welcomed Australia's commitment to provide
financial assistance and medical staff as part of its involvement in
helping take forward the peaceful settlement of the situation in East Timor.
'Our client also expressed the hope that the tripartite talks leading to the
signing of an agreement would not be further postponed on 5 May.' The
postponement from 24 April till 5 May had given the militias the opportunity
to mobilise their forces and to exert more pressure by means of threats,
terror and other acts of violence against the civilian population, resulting
in yet more people dead and wounded and the destruction of property, all of
which had forced thousands of people to go into hiding.
------
Suara Merdeka also reported the military commander in Dili Colonel Tono
Suratman as saying that the pro-integration militias would soon be disarmed.
'It will happen in a few weeks time,' he said. He gave no further details
although the militias who want to remain with Indonesia are continuing to
take actions against the pro-independence people.
The paper also reported that the East Timor solidarity organisation
Solidamor has issued a statement signed by a number of non-Timorese NGOs
urging the Indonesian government to release Xanana Gusmao before the ballot
on 8 August.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Phone: 0181 771-2904 Fax: 0181 653-0322
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Campaigning to expose human rights violations in
Indonesia, East Timor, West Papua and Aceh
25 years - and still going strong
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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