[well, the situation has certainly deteriorated in east timor. clearer by the day too that there is no independance of the militia from the army, but rather that the indonesian army is itself highly factionalised, with certain generals having a vested interest in holding on to the lucrative coffee plantations in the southern end of east timor. no doubt, there is an increasing problem with food, as much as with terror and violence. below, some reports. - Angela]
>>>
from the iww list and doing the rounds:
John's Message from East Timor
(Please redistribute widely)
There are the makings of a bloodbath here. Many have fled. Many have died. I can see smoke of fires of homes set ablaze in the distance. I have heard gunfire in the distance. The Indonesian military and its creation the militias have refused to accept the democratically expressed wish of the East Timorese to move towards independence.
I have seen East Timorese defy militia and military violence to go vote on August 30 and I have seen their fearful faces. Several days ago, the women hosting us in Becora (just outside Dili) received an early morning phone call and woke us at 4:30 am to tell us we had to move out of where were staying for our own safety. I have since heard reports of many houses burned and people killed in that neighborhood. Another Dili neighborhood I spent time in, Balide, next to the U.N.'s East Timor headquarters is ablaze. Timor Aid, the organization which provided assistance to the parliamentary delegation I worked with to monitor the ballot has been looted of its rice and ransacked. There have also been many reports of people being forced onto vehicles and taken to West Timor, perhaps to bolster an argument for East Timor's partition or worse.
There have been many calls for U.N. or other peacekeepers. These may arrive too late. More guns aren't necessarily what East Timor needs. What is very clear is that the military could shut down the violence relatively quickly. The military is in control. It is they that can stop the killing.
The U.S. and other governments still have tremendous leverage with Indonesia. They must use it all. Statements of serious "consequences." I saw President Clinton's mealy-mouthed statement and it doesn't go nearly far enough. The global community - governments, others, you - must be clear about what these consequences are to let the Indonesian military know that continued violence in East Timor is unacceptable. Please contact President Clinton and members of Congress now. Urge them to immediately a) suspend all military shipments to Indonesia, including spare parts and ammunition b) suspend all non-humanitarian bi-lateral aid and loans to Indonesia c) work to suspend all multi-lateral loans and aid, including form the IMF and World Bank. Sept. 5, 1999
Dili, East Timor
> >> http://www.theage.com.au/special/asiaonline/index.htm
UN finds high-level army terror role
By CRAIG SKEHAN SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT JAKARTA, SUNDAY
Leaked documents prepared by the United Nations mission in East Timor detail a high-level conspiracy between Indonesian police and military officers to use anti-independence militia in an orchestrated terror campaign.
The UN said there had been ``a deliberate strategy to force UNAMET to withdraw from certain regions back to Dili''.
The documents, obtained by The Age, found that in some cases during the past few days there had been ``joint operations'', including the burning of houses and attacks on civilians and UN personnel, including UN civilian police.
``Civpol strongly believe ... that the militias acted with precise instructions as to their targets and the types of actions to conduct,'' one of the leaked reports says.
In the western towns of Aileu, Ainaro, Maliana, Liquica and Same there were accounts of specific abuses, including a threat to burn down a UN compound by a militia leader who said he was acting on instructions from the local major.
In the town of Liquica, Indonesian police and military personnel were not only assisting the militias in an attack, but also themselves shooting at UN vehicles and passengers.
An American member of Civpol was seriously wounded.
The UN has suggested in the internal documents that Indonesian military officers may have been linked to the killing of two local UN staff in Maliana. Five other UN staff in the area are missing, feared dead.
In Maliana, gunshots and screams could be heard from the UNAMET house under attack, but local police did not intervene.
The former district military commander, Colonel Sighian, had been seen in Maliana, despite having been transferred out of town some weeks ago after international complaints about his activities.
``The reappearance coincided with reports, which could not be confirmed, of recent distribution of weapons to the militias,'' the documents say.
On 31August about 7.15pm, Civpol heard a gun battle starting in Maliana, with hundreds of shots fired from M-16 and M-14 assault rifles. This followed information a few days earlier that an Indonesian soldier was seen distributing automatic weapons to militiamen.
That night there was heavy shooting around the UN Civpol compound. ``It is thought that this shooting was aimed at preventing the staff from leaving their locations and observing the militia activities in the town.''
In some cases over the past three days police and military figures gave priority to evacuating their own families, the report said.
In Aileu, Ainaro and Same there was evidence that militias ``with the acquiescence or complicity of the (army and police) were carrying out a campaign of terror, targeting pro-independence areas and burning houses''.
The leaked documents stated: ``In several instances, Polri (Indonesian police) and TNI (the Indonesian military) were identified to be carrying out joint armed actions with the militia. This was notably the case in Liquica where the UNAMET convoy was sprayed with manufactured gunfire by a joint operation of militia, Polri and TNI.
``After studying the reports of the above incidents UNAMET concludes that the operations' modalities demonstrate an intention to create an impression of a conflict between East Timorese, with the Indonesian authorities hopelessly caught between two warring factions,'' the UN documents state.
``All the evidence available to UNAMET suggests that what in fact happened was the implementation of an unprovoked attack strategy put into action by the authorities.''
>>>
6000 Timorese herded away http://www.theage.com.au/daily/990906/news/news25.html
By PAULA DORAN, exclusive to The Age Online
At least 6000 East Timorese refugees who were sheltering at the residence of the territory's Bishop Carlos Belo are missing, herded away by pro-Indonesia gangs who stepped up their attacks against independence supporters in Dili today.
Age correspondent Lindsay Murdoch said the whereabouts of Bishop Belo was unknown, and foreign nationals feared the worst for the bishop and the missing refugees.
"We believe the militia are demanding the refugees be taken away by trucks," Murdoch said. There are grave fears for their safety. The bishop is said to be injured...but that's not confirmed."
Murdoch was forced to flee the foreign media base at Hotel Tourismo yesterday, along with the few remaining foreign journalists, when they were warned of a militia attack on the building. "We had word last night that the militia were going to attack the hotel last night...we fled under gun fire."
The journalists are now at the UN compound, which Murdoch said was also crammed with terrified refugees. "Shots are continuing to ring out on the perimeter,'' said Murdoch. "Last night they lobbed a grenade over the fence. Outside here we don't know the extent of the bloodshed. But certainly a lot of very, very dark deeds have been committed by the Indonesian military and their proxy militia."
Murdoch said Indonesian police had done nothing to try to stop the bloodbath. "They're allowing the bloodshed to continue ... on one estimate 50,000 people have been displaced in the last 24 hours.
"The Indonesians could stop the bloodshed in five minutes if they had
the will do so ... but they haven't, which is an absolute disgrace," he
said.
>>>