East Timor, the media and the truth
East Timor, the media and the trutBy Jefferson Lee October 16 marked the 20th anniversary of the murder by Indonesian soldiers of five Australian journalists in Balibo, East Timor. The same day a new report to the British Parliamentary Human Rights, Committee entitled East Timor: The Balibo Incident in Perspective by James Dunn was launched by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ). Shirley Shackleton, the widow of Greg Shackleton, one of the journalists killed, spoke at an Australia East Timor Association dinner in Sydney amid much media attention, and federal ALP backbenchers called for a new federal inquiry into the "Balibo Five". Also on October 16 Senator Gareth Evans was forced onto the defensive during a press conference ostensibly called to discuss Australia's overseas aid program. On the "Balibo Five" he told the Canberra press gallery that we'll probably never ever know the true circumstances of the deaths, but rejected calls for a new inquiry — the same line as the Indonesian government. The federal government was clearly on the back foot. The Balibo anniversary came only days after the Refugee Review Tribunal had rejected the refugee applications from the most recent East Timorese arrivals on the basis that they were "Portuguese citizens". Canberra indicated it may deport the unsuccessful applicants to Portugal. While Indonesian soldiers launched a crackdown inside East Timor in the build-up to the anniversary of the Dili massacre on November 12, 1991 and the 20th anniversary of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor (December 7, 1975), PM Keating weighed in with the claim that the overwhelming majority of East Timorese accept Indonesian sovereignty. It was in this context that the ABC-TV's flagship foreign affairs program Foreign Correspondent ran an "exclusive" interview with Indonesia's foreign minister Ali Alatas. With this one interview, Evans was rescued from acute embarrassment by his good friend Alatas who was being interviewed by another good friend George Negus. Alatas is widely regarded as perhaps one of the smartest apologists for Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. He is regularly given the task of "damage control" diplomacy with the western media and governments following embarrassing statements by Indonesian military generals on "security" inside East Timor. After the Dili massacre, Alatas was despatched to Japan, Europe, the USA and the UN in a face-saving operation of shuttle diplomacy. This was documented in the Gunn/Lee textbook on East Timor which was reviewed in Green Left Weekly last December. Alatas is widely known for his close working relationship with Evans. Occasionally this team work comes unstuck as shown during the withdrawal of the appointment of General Mantiri as ambassador. The vacant Indonesian ambassadors seat in Canberra today demonstrates that Alatas has yet to fully convince the hardliners in the Jakarta military that the Evans-Keating team and the bureaucrats in Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), AusAID and the Australian Defence Department are the best on offer when it comes to apologists for Jakarta's military role. Negus markets himself as left-of-centre politically, a concerned humanitarian and an ordinary bloke. As such, he has a certain universal appeal. However, his program on the national ABC broadcaster is subject to indirect pressure from Canberra. At the moment, Bougainville and East Timor would top the list of sensitive issues. Intended or not, Negus' interview with Alatas on October 17 fell just short of a shameful apologia for the Suharto regime. Negus semi-bragged about his "exclusive" interview with Alatas. But what were the preconditions? Was Canberra informed beforehand? Did they facilitate the interview? Were questions submitted to Alatas in advance? Given the Indonesian crackdown in Dili, why didn't Negus attempt to get that story and why didn't he mention the current ban on journalists entering East Timor? Early on, Negus referred to repression inside Indonesia and East Timor, citing the lack of press freedom, the banning of newspapers and the jailing of journalists. Alatas replied with a "Third World versus the Western perspective" where "development must be balanced with human rights" and "we put more emphasis on cultural, social and economic rights" line. Even when Alatas conceded to a notion of "universal, human rights and that his government did have shortfalls, Negus covered for him by agreeing that all other countries have shortfalls, even Australia. Here, Negus pushed the Jakarta regime's line that the Australian government must "clean up its own backyard" — referring to the situation of Aborigines — before criticising Indonesia's terror policies in Dili. In reply to a question on foreign policy, Alatas said that East Timor was a minor irritant — "pebble in a shoe" — to Indonesia, and that it would never become major — rock size" — because Indonesia's military control was a fait accompli and the "province" was fully integrated. Negus could have referred to the growing international criticism of Indonesia and argued that if East Timor was such a small problem why not release Xanana Gusmao. He could have raised the ongoing UN talks or the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. However, as with the rest of the interview, Negus seemed either to have not done his homework, or was seeking to protect the Australian government. Alatas maintained that Evans was being influenced by the "Australian media", "outside Timorese" and "certain NGOS" rather than widespread public opinion. Alatas claimed that Evans' half-hearted calls for Indonesia to scale down its military involvement in East Timor were unfounded. He claimed that there were "only" seven to eight Indonesian battalions in East Timor. While Negus did argue that the "roughly 5000 troops" was still a formidable force, he failed to ask Alatas why 1500 crack paratroopers from Kopassus and other elite units are necessary at all if Falintil really are "disbursed", "pocketful" of resistance. Nor did he question the role of the army in its civilian policing of the student underground. Had Negus informed himself on recent developments he would have known that new crack units have arrived in Dili and that troops are being rotated, not withdrawn. The Indonesian military are raping and murdering, rather than "bridge building and civil ethics" as Alatas argued. Negus allowed Alatas' false claim that Indonesia offered both Portugal and the UN the option of a referendum over integration for East Timor in 1986/87 and 1991 to go unchallenged. In fact, Alatas scorned Portugal and the UN for rejecting this offer, and claimed that they are the ones blocking the peace. Indonesia held elections in 1986 and 1991 for East Timor and wanted Portugal and the UN to accept the results as a substitute for a proper UN-supervised plebiscite. Naturally this offer of recognition was rejected. Given that the former Indonesian foreign minister was a "candidate" for the 1986 election and that the vote return was 130% of those enrolled (the Indonesian army voted twice) is it any wonder that the UN and Portugal rejected the "95% vote for Golkar" as anything but fraudulent? The same happened in 1991. We can but speculate on whether Negus was poorly briefed, hadn't done his home work, or deliberately allowed Alatas to muddy the waters in the interests of bilateral diplomacy. Whatever the case, Senator Evans must be smiling. [This article has been edited for length. Jefferson Lee is the co-author with Dr G.C. Gunn of A Critical View of Western Journalism & Scholarship on East Timor, JCA Publishers, Manila, 1994. Copies are available for $25. Send orders to PO Box 703, Leichhardt, 2040.]n
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