BY JON LAND
East Timor's recently elected president, Xanana Gusmao, arrived in Canberra on June 17 for his first official state visit to Australia. Accompanied by foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta and other East Timorese representatives, Gusmao stressed that "Australia is the first country that we came to visit and to talk about the future".
At the press conference convened to mark the visit, Prime Minister John Howard declared, "the path ahead will have a lot of difficulties but the friendship and support of the Australian government and the Australian people will be a constant element of East Timor's journey along that path".
Behind the diplomacy and pleasantries, however, lies intense pressure from the Australian government upon East Timor to forgo its international rights concerning the maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea and its sovereignty over vast oil and gas reserves that the Australian government has laid claim to.
Gusmao avoided directly answering questions from journalists regarding the Timor Sea agreement. Asked about the decision by Australia not to abide by rulings of the International Court of Justice in relation to maritime boundaries, he stated that "the two governments will do everything to work to a solution with mutual benefits and respect in each other's sovereignty".
When asked whether the Howard government should apply more pressure on Jakarta to bring to justice members of the Indonesian military responsible for the 1999 violence in East Timor, Gusmao was also evasive. "About Indonesian military, I would like to say that give them the opportunity to prove to the international community their good will in this matter", he replied.
Gusmao's and other East Timorese leaders' unwillingness to push for an international war crimes tribunal to try those responsible for the killings and destruction in East Timor reflects the pressure from Australia, the United States and other Western powers which are keen to restore full military ties with Indonesia.
Within East Timor, the issues of the Timor Sea negotiations and the lack of an international war crimes tribunal have resulted in stepped up lobbying and protest activities by East Timorese non-government organisations and opposition figures.
A June 13 open letter, sent by prominent NGO leaders to all members of East Timor's parliament, called for great transparency and more discussion before the Timor Sea agreement is ratified. This was accompanied by a 300-strong demonstration outside the parliament.
From Green Left Weekly, June 26, 2002.
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