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Reining in military is only way to foster democracy
in East Timor
How's this for a familiar tale: A knot of about 1 million people,
culturally, religiously and geographically isolated from their
central government, wants self-rule. The government, which has
always treated the minority with contempt, responds by encouraging
local thugs to engage in a massacre.
The Kosovo-style meltdown is taking place in Indonesia's island
province of East Timor this week, spilling thousands of refugees. It
follows a vote for independence that the United Nations had backed
and, ironically, the government had approved.
In results announced Saturday, about 79% of the residents of the
former Portuguese, Catholic colony rejected continued domination by
mostly Muslim Indonesia, which annexed East Timor in 1975 and
repressed it violently.
Kosovo-style, armed, U.S. intervention is not required in East
Timor, where the United Nations Security Council and neighboring
Australia are already involved. But the USA can do more than murmur
disapproval.
The U.S. is a decades-old, Cold War supporter of Indonesia's
military and political elites and a banker for billions in aid.
Withholding these ties would pressure military leaders to do what's
essential: rein in their thugs, many of whom are soldiers, and admit
an Australia-led force to restore peace and order immediately.
The backlash against East Timor is a serious regression for the
world's fourth most populous country, which forms a resource-rich
archipelago alongside the world's most important shipping routes.
Politicians began last year to end 40 years of authoritarian rule.
They held limited elections, got the military to step back from some
of its decades-old, legal powers to run government, and allowed the
Timor vote.
The trouble is that the military officers fear secession. They've
long been accustomed to using an iron fist to hold together the
often recalcitrant, multi-ethnic nation of 213 million poor people
spread across 6,000 islands. They draw unreasonable parallels
between East Timor, which was never a legitimate part of the
country, and several other areas with secessionist aims. Seeing red,
they've stepped right over Indonesia's politicians to intervene.
Knowing that could happen, the U.N. was naïve to go forward
with an East Timor vote that didn't provide international
peacekeepers.
But that damage is done. If Indonesia's politicians are now to
return the nation to stability, they'll have to act fast,
reasserting power over the military in order to protect the East
Timorese until independence is complete.
The U.S. wants strategically placed Indonesia to evolve as a
stable democracy. That won't happen if the military isn't taught --
by Indonesian politicians and the international community -- to stay
away from civilians who exercise their democratic will.
OPPOSING VIEW:
Foreign bullying won't help
By Mahendra Siregar
It is important to review the events of the past eight months
before jumping to conclusions about East Timor. It was the
Indonesian government that offered the people of East Timor a chance
to determine their own future. The decision was consistent with
other efforts to transform the country's political system from
authoritarian to democratic.
On May 5, Indonesia and Portugal signed an agreement to ask the
people of East Timor to choose between remaining integrated with
Indonesia, with broad autonomy, or separating from the country
through independence. The balloting was to be conducted under United
Nations auspices, but the agreement stated that Indonesia would be
responsible for security in the region prior to and after the
voting.
Contrary to media speculation that the balloting would be bloody
and chaotic, the elections last week were peaceful. For the 210
million Indonesians who had gone to the polls for peaceful and
democratic elections just two months earlier, the nonviolent voting
by 430,000 in East Timor was no surprise.
However, as happens in many other elections, there were reports
of voting irregularities by some members of the election committee.
Despite strong protests, the United Nations' officials did not take
the complaints seriously. This attitude provoked some people in East
Timor to take matters into their own hands, which in turn led to
widespread violence.
As a result, the Indonesian government has implemented martial
law and increased the number of police and military personnel. A
team from the United Nations Security Council has also arrived in
Jakarta to discuss the situation and study other possible options.
As for those who advocate financial and economic sanctions
against us: That is not only unhelpful, but it could make the
situation even worse, by provoking a backlash among Indonesians and
the East Timorese.
The situation in East Timor is complex, and the solution requires
international support and cooperation. However, it is the people of
East Timor themselves who in the end will determine their fate. And
the last thing they need are the intrusions of narrow-minded people
who still believe in the merits of an outdated, bullying foreign
policy.
Mahendra Siregar is first secretary to the Indonesian Embassy
in Washington,
D.C. | 