ASIET News Updates - Jan 15, 1999 ================================= * Australia policy shift on Timor receives mixed response * East Timor stance praised, attacked * Scared Dili refugees refuse to return home ----------------------------------------------------------------- Australia policy shift on Timor receives mixed response ======================================================= Agence France Presse - January 12, 1999 Sydney -- The Australian government announced Tuesday it will press Indonesia to grant East Timor an act of self-determination in a policy shift which East Timorese activists immediately said does not go far enough. In what Foreign Minister Alexander Downer described as an historic policy shift, Canberra will support a measure of autonomy for the former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia following its 1975 invasion, but remnains opposed to independence. East Timorese activists in Australia welcomed the move as a positive step, but said the people of East Timor must be allowed to decide in a referendum if they want limited autonomy or fully-fledged independence. Human rights activist and former Fretilin jungle fighter Jose Gusmao described the policy of supporting self-determination but opposing independence as "a contradiction in terms." Canberra's new position on East Timor follows an internal review of East Timor policy ordered by Downer to take account of the changing political structure of Indonesia where President Suharto was ousted last year. Downer said the policy had received a mixed response from the Indonesian government. "We do want to do what we can to encourage the Indonesian government to come to a successful conclusion in negotiations with a whole range of different parties in East Timor," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. "In the end some sort of act which is going to bring a sense of ownership of the process to the people of East Timor I think is going to be an important conclusion to the process, be that in 10 years time or whatever the period might be." He said there were a variety of competing views on the issue but Canberra believed that a completely independent East Timor would have the potential to fracture Indonesia itself. "And this is a very delicate time now for Indonesia, so we don't want to encourage the fracturing of the Indonesian state." Australian Coalition for a Free East Timor spokesman Andy Alcock said the international community could suspect Australia would assist Indonesia to conduct a bogus act of self determination similar to what occurred in West Papua (now Irian Jaya) in 1969. "Its opposition to independence for East Timor at the same time as it says it is lobbying Indonesia for an act of self determination advertises to the world that the present Australian government is not very committed to democracy, peace and justice in the South-East Asian region either." East Timor stance praised, attacked =================================== Canberra Times - January 13, 1999 Lincoln Wright -- Risking possible friction with Jakarta, the Labor Party has backed a policy of funding an autonomous or independent East Timor using Indonesia's share of the oil and gas revenue from the Timor Gap. Oil analysts have forecast that the annual revenue from the Gap's Bayu-Undan oil and gas field could reach $100 million a year after 2002, revenue Labor sources said could finance an independent East Timor government. Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Laurie Brereton, raised the stakes yesterday on the Howard's Government's historic announcement that it would support greater autonomy and an act of self-determination for East Timor. After an isolated and controversial 20-year recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the Federal Government had made a significant adjustment to its East Timor policy. The official line on East Timor was now to support a substantial period of autonomy for the troubled province, followed by an act of self-determination that would help to reconcile the conflicting parties. But Mr Downer made it clear that the Australian Government would still prefer that East Timor remained part of Indonesia. He did not specify exactly what "autonomy" would entail, nor explain what method the East Timorese could use to determine their future, but he mentioned 10 years as a possible period of autonomy before a referendum. Unlike the Labor Party, Mr Downer has not called yet for a referendum, and made it clear the Government for now still recognised Indonesia's sovereignty over the province, and independence would be a second-best outcome. Labor's policy is for Indonesia to hold an internationally monitored referendum. A more controversial position is that Labor seems to be strengthening the momentum for formal independence by pushing for the transfer of Indonesia's oil and gas revenue from the Timor Gap to East Timorese groups. This would provide crucial funding and collateral for international loans to a fragile and newly formed East Timor government. Labor sources said yesterday that a Labor government would rewrite the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty if East Timor became independent. However, Mr Downer said a referendum entailed the risk of civil war, and the Government's preference was still for East Timor to remain part of Indonesia, albeit with more autonomy, but if there was a vote for independence, so be it. "If you just thought the solution to the East Timor issue was to hold a referendum tomorrow, all I can say is I think it would cause more bloodshed than solution," he said. Defending his Government's decision to support East Timor remaining within Indonesia, Mr Downer played down concern about the economic benefits of the Timor Gap Treaty, and openly doubted "how much anybody will get from the Timor Gap". Ministerial sources, as well, said there was a concern that a referendum in the current political climate of military repression would not reflect East Timorese opinion. Mr Downer's move, which some see as a response to the Labor's Party's changing policy on East Timor, has been greeted positively by East Timor activist and Nobel prize winner Jose Ramos Horta. Indonesia reacted bitterly yesterday to the Government's decision, as a damaging new rift emerged between the two countries. An Indonesian Government spokesman said it could have an adverse impact on international negotiations under way aimed at finding a solution to the East Timor problem. Scared Dili refugees refuse to return home ========================================== Sydney Morning Herald - January 12, 1999 Louise Williams, Jakarta -- The Indonesian military will today begin sending more than 100 refugees camped in the East Timorese capital of Dili, who fled ongoing security operations around their villages, back to their homes. But hundreds more say they will not move because they remain fearful of civilian militia units recently armed by the military to join the campaign against pro-independence guerillas. Refugees have been arriving in Dili over the past few weeks, saying they have fled a terror campaign by new groups of armed civilians, formed by the military to boost efforts to crush pro- independence guerillas from the Falantil movement. The Dili office of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnasham) said more than 100 people would be repatriated to the central mountain area of Cailaco tomorrow where military representatives would hold a ceremony with the local people, promising the safety of the returnees. But a Komnasham representative, Mr Florentino Sarmento, said he doubted the agreement would hold in the current tense environment. "A general makes a promise of safety, but the reality on the ground is that people attack each other, so it doesn't work," he said. About 300 people from the northern coastal district of Liquica said yesterday that they would not return home and would remain camped at the home of a former East Timorese governor, Mr Mario Carrascalao. "There are many people being armed by the military and setting up posts throughout the province, and the people are scared," said Mr Manuel Carrascalao, the ex-governor's brother. The policy of arming civilians to boost the military's efforts has attracted vehement criticism from human rights groups. Under former president Soeharto many of the worst human rights abuses in East Timor were committed by civilian militia groups aligned with the military. The Armed Forces Commander, General Wiranto, recently announced that tens of thousands of young men would be recruited for new militia units across the country, to assist the military in maintaining security in the face of increasing lawlessness, rioting and looting. When Mr Soeharto resigned in May last year, the militia units in East Timor were disarmed and new hopes emerged for a peaceful settlement to the 23-year-old conflict in the former Portuguese colony. However, the re-arming of the militia began as early as November last year and, despite a much publicised withdrawal of combat troops, military reinforcements were secretly landed under the cover of night. Mr Sarmento said hundreds of new militia members had been recruited, mostly armed with long knives and other local weapons such as slingshots. "The military has deliberately created a scenario of war between the militia and the people, to justify their presence in East Timor," he said. One refugee, Mr Slavia de Santos, said: "I ran away because these people [militia] threatened me and told me not to come back - I am too scared to go home." Contacted by telephone, Mr de Santos said eight people had been injured by members of the militia gangs near his village. Despite hopes for a peace settlement under the Habibie Government, the conflict in East Timor appears to have intensified, with more attacks by Fretilin on Indonesian soldiers and police and the formation of the militia and continued operations by Indonesian troops. ********************************************************** Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) PO Box 458, Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Phone: 61-(0)2-96901230 Fax : 61-(0)2-96901381 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW : http://www.peg.apc.org/~asiet/ Free Xanana Gusmao, Budiman Sujatmiko and Dita Sari! Free all political prisoners in Indonesia and East Timor! ********************************************************** Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
