Crackdown in East Timor
By Jon Land, Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific
Submitted to Green Left Weekly
The capital of East Timor, Dili, was hit by a wave of protest and
rioting on December 3 – 4, culminating in at least two deaths and scores
more injured after police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse
angry crowds of East Timorese students and youth. The police crackdown
marks an alarming turn by the East Timorese government in dealing with
broad discontent over its failure to deal with a range of social and
economic problems.
According to Avelino da Silva, Secretary General of the Socialist Party
of Timor, the actions of the police and the government represent a
disturbing attack on human rights and democracy.
``It is a very tense and serious situation in East Timor at the moment …
the government is manipulating the situation as a means to silence all
political opposition’’ he told Green Left Weekly.
There is widespread anger over the continuing high level of
unemployment, rising poverty and the lack of infrastructure to meet
basic needs. Added to this are the increasing allegations of corruption
and lack of transparency in the government.
In a highly critical speech at the November 28 Independence Day
commemorations, President Xanana Gusmao castigated the government for
being “dazzled with power”. He continued: “The notion that the
legitimacy to govern Timor Leste only belongs to some, not only reveals
arrogance but also a lack of political maturity and a complete lack of
understanding of the difficulties our country is facing.”
Gusmao called on the government to dismiss the Minister for Internal
Affairs, Rogerio Lobato, who is responsible for police, for
“incompetence and neglect”.
Da Silva told Green Left that the immediate trigger to the students and
youth taking to the streets was the attempt by police to arrest a
student at the November 28 High School on December 3.
``The police turned up to arrest a student they claim was involved in a
stabbing incident. The teacher would not allow the police to take the
student, so they beat the teacher, provoking a confrontation with the
students’’, da Silva said.
Students then engaged in running street battles with the police,
resulting in two police scooters being burnt and several injuries
amongst both police and students. Green Left received unconfirmed
reports of at least one shooting of a student.
The following day, high school and university students gathered to meet
with representatives from parliament to express their concerns over the
police actions of the previous day. Two people were shot dead as police
fired into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators. Many more were injured when
police attacked the demonstration of around 500 people with battons and
tear gas as it approached the police headquarters.
Several eyewitness’s and media reports noted that shots were fired from
police lines by men not in police uniforms and that as many as four
people were shot dead.
Da Silva and Gusmao intervened to try and prevent further shootings and
calm the crowd that had turned to stoning the parliament and government
vehicles. Others attacked symbols of wealth and Westerrn influence, such
as the ANZ bank and the patronisingly named ``Hello Mister’’
supermarket.
The home of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and some of his relatives were
also torched.
The police shootings in Dili came on the heels of similar confrontations
in East Timor’s second largest city, Baucau. On November 25, police
killed a man taking part in a 3000-strong demonstration heading towards
the Baucau police headquarters.
The role and composition of the East Timorese police force is a major
source of contention. There is considerable anger over the significant
number of police who have links with the former Indonesian regime,
including police commisioner Paulo Martins. Many East Timorese are angry
that former Falintil resistance fighters – many of whom are unemployed
and without skills or qualifications – do not constitute a larger
component of the police force.
On December 5, Alkatiri announced that two inquiries would be instituted
to find out what was the cause of the riots. Both he and other
government representatives have claimed that ``political’’ forces had
used the students and youth to create a confrontation.
Chief of the United Nations mission in East Timor, Kamalesh Sharma, has
added weight to the claim of political manipulation of the protest,
stating that the riots were a ``planned attack against selective
targets’’.
In an interview with Lusa news service Bishop Ximenese Belo said that
``behind these actions are groups interested in knocking down some
government members’’ but noted that the confrontation ``is the result of
great dissatisfaction among the population, which took the opportunity
to let everything out, all the rage over the lack of norms and
regulations in employment, society, politics and the economy’’.
At least 80 people have been detained by police and taken to police
headquarters and a special detention centre on the outskirts of Dili.
Prime Minister John Howard announced on December 5 that Australia would
be providing more aid to the East Timorese police force.
Da Silva believes the government’s inquiries into the riots is “just a
cover for the police’’. He warned that this is an “attack on democratic
rights, supported by the media’’ and called for an international
campaign from progressive and solidarity organisations “to defend human
rights and democracy’’.
``We have heard of beatings by people when arrested … there are also
ongoing rumours that members of opposition political parties will be
detained’’, he added. ``The situation now is much like it was under the
Suharto regime … it is similar to 1996 when the dictatorship launched an
attack on the pro-democracy movement in Indonesia and arrested the
leaders of the PRD [People’s Democratic Party]’’.
These latest developments in East Timor highlight the nation’s chronic
underdevelopment. Yet, this hasn’t stopped the Howard government from
attempting to steal much needed income from oil and gas reserves in the
Timor Sea. By ignoring international covenants, Canberra is trying to
covet tens of billions of dollars in royalties through the Timor Sea
Agreement, royalties that East Timor desperately needs.
As if to add insult to injury, the Howard government is currently trying
to force 1,600 East Timorese refugees who have established their lives
in Australia back to East Timor.
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