KIM COMERFORD and NICK EVERETT, from Brisbane ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor), recently travelled to East Timor. Over 10 days they were able to observe the impact of the 20-year occupation of this nation by the Indonesian regime and the continuing resistance by the East Timorese people. Following is their account for Green Left Weekly.
"Luta means struggle", exclaimed an East Timorese youth, pointing to the Fretilin emblem on his hat. This youth, and his friends, had taken enormous risks to provide evidence of the overwhelming rejection of Indonesia's annexation and continued repression of their country. "Any support for integration is a lie", he exclaimed. "We demand a referendum."
This meeting captured the sentiment of a whole new generation emerging in the struggle for the liberation of their country. From the capital of Dili, to the towns of Baucau and Los Palos and in the many coastal and mountain villages we visited, the determination to achieve independence was clearly evident.
A massive military presence was visible from the moment we crossed the border into East Timor. The occupying forces are estimated by East Timorese sources as 35 battalions, or 35,000 regular Kostrad and elite command Kopassus troops. This equates to more than one Indonesian soldier for 20 East Timorese.
The build-up of military forces continues. On March 25, we witnessed the arrival by sea of two more battalions of troops on their way to a temporary military camp at Heran, 10 kilometres east of Dili. Their arrival coincided with the conclusion of intra-Timorese talks in Austria. While these talks discussed the excessive levels of the Indonesian military presence, the regime was preparing for the possibility of more demonstrations.
The Indonesian government has two mechanisms for disguising the size of its military presence. Many military personnel perform their role in civilian clothes, providing a facade of integration into civilian life.
In addition, large numbers of military personnel are assigned to internal security tasks within the police force. These tasks involve demonstration control, usually in civilian clothes. In January 1995, the Dili special force police were given responsibility for internal security along with increases to staff levels in the form of transfers from the military, a policy that is now in place throughout the territory. We were frequently followed, visited and questioned by police responsible for internal security.
The military appeared more concentrated on the eastern side of the territory, with large numbers of troop carriers on the roads in and out of Los Palos and helicopters flying overhead. Indonesian troops are engaged in combat operations here against an estimated 500 East Timorese in the guerilla force called Falintil. These operations, which have continued since 1975, have made roads between Viqueque and Los Palos off limits to visitors. "There are no questions asked in this area; they just shoot", explained an activist in Los Palos.
A strong military presence was also apparent at Baucau, the headquarters of the troops garrisoned in East Timor and the site of the main Indonesian military air base. This site was formerly East Timor's international airport and was taken over for military purposes during the invasion in 1975.
Also visible was the legacy of 20 years of military operations. The scars of napalm, burning and bombing attacks could be seen in the injuries and trauma sustained by people in villages across the territory and mountain ranges, and farming land devoid of vegetation.
Marginalisation
In recent years the regime has sought to overwhelm the East Timorese people with waves of transmigrants. Indonesian transmigrants, 500 of whom arrived in East Timor by boat last month, now number well over 100,000. These transmigrants, often economic refugees from Java and Sulawesi, are given special treatment. They receive jobs denied to East Timorese school leavers and run most of the businesses in the towns and villages.
Many East Timorese, both school leavers and graduates, described the difficulty they found gaining employment. Banks and government departments were almost exclusively staffed by Indonesians, while East Timorese were given only the most menial tasks. Businesses, cafes, restaurants, buses, taxis and shops all employed predominantly Indonesians.
Transmigrants' homes, property and businesses have often been the focus of attack by frustrated East Timorese. Settlements we observed, constructed for transmigrants, were surrounded by huge fences and barbed wire. Clearly two societies exist in East Timor, with East Timorese being largely excluded from the formal economy and living a subsistence existence.
Indonesia often boasts of the developmental assistance it has provided East Timor. Our visit to Ermera gave us a first-hand impression of Indonesian "development". This mountain village is vital to the Indonesian-controlled coffee plantation industry. The PT Batara Indra Group and its subsidiaries, with close connections to the Indonesian army, control the coffee industry, including a 9000-hectare plantation at Ermera, the main department store in Dili and sandalwood oil production.
East Timorese work long hours in plantations to provide coffee for Indonesia's domestic market. While Indonesian plantation owners profit from this labour and prime agricultural land, East Timorese receive little reward and face long periods of unemployment between harvests.
Resistance
In Dili there is a climate of defiance. Walls of desolate and burnt-out buildings carried the words "Xanana my Hero", symbols of resistance such as clenched fists, and the names of clandestine organisations such as "Gamis" (poor boy), "RENETIL" and "Nhakreteckt".
The young people are prepared to risk their lives in the struggle for independence. The youth are a major target for the military and security forces, and many youth face daily harassment, beatings, torture and interrogation.
On March 15, an activist informed us that a Dili youth had been arrested for suspected involvement in clandestine activities. There are many prisons in Dili. The Red Cross was able to help confirm where this youth was detained, but information on his condition was not released.
Throughout the country, East Timorese youth showed their rejection of Indonesia's annexation. One young man in a busy Dili street shouted to us, "Viva Timor Leste" and then disappeared on his push bike. In Baucau, high schools students cried out to us, "Twenty years too long", and all over East Timor children and youth greeted us with symbols of struggle and resistance.
The walls of the Baucau church still carry bullet holes from the January 2, 1995, massacre by Indonesian troops. In response to the killing of an East Timorese named Armanda Ximenes by an Indonesian migrant, 1000 unarmed protesters demonstrated at this church. Troops opened fire on the crowd, killing 25 people according to an East Timorese activist we met in this city. A nearby market, predominantly Indonesian shops, and other targets had been burnt to the ground by East Timorese youths in retaliation.
On March 16, the day before we arrived in Los Palos, a demonstration was held at the market to protest against military intimidation of the church parish. The parish priest led discussions in the confrontation, taking a stand against the military.
While this action in Los Palos ended peacefully, troops in Ermera took harsh action against two boys who had made contact with Falintil. Both were shot dead on March 18 without legal proceedings.
The key role of youth in the resistance was highlighted by meetings with high school and university students who provided a picture of the clandestine network amongst youth. These organisations obtain funds, medicines and supplies for other sections of the resistance and are often responsible for getting information into and out of East Timor.
Dili University, in particular, has been a focus for continued harassment by security forces and some students have been killed in military raids.
Indonesian allies
A meeting in Dili with a youth activist who had recently returned from Jakarta provided evidence of growing links between Jakarta's East Timorese community and Indonesian activists in SPRIM (Indonesian People's Solidarity with the Maubere) and SMID (Student Solidarity for Democracy in Indonesia).
Since the Santa Cruz massacre in November 1991, a large number of East Timorese youths have become exiles in Jakarta, while others have moved there to study. In collaboration with SPRIM and SMID, they organised the recent occupations in foreign embassies in Jakarta, assisting 170 East Timorese to flee to Portugal and Australia.
These actions were timed to coincide with the APEC summit and the anniversaries of the Santa Cruz massacre and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, causing maximum embarrassment to the regime.
While in Jakarta, this activist had intended to flee through the Australian embassy, but was asked by Xanana Gusmao to return to East Timor. He regularly travels between Dili and the Falintil guerillas, assisting the work of the clandestine movement.
The embassy protests are having a profound impact on the morale of the clandestine movement. "In these actions, our people showed an enormous will to fight Suharto", exclaimed one activist.
"The East Timor community in Jakarta is emerging as a catalyst in the Indonesians' struggle for dignity and human rights", he explained. "More and more, Indonesian workers are beginning to organise, and to see the links with our struggle."
We met numerous people claiming links to the East Timorese who had participated in the embassy protests: brothers, sisters, parents and uncles. Many more had received news of these protests and support actions in other countries via short wave radio or Portuguese television broadcasts, demonstrating the strength of international solidarity.
A meeting with a number of youths in Dili, however, was the clearest demonstration of the vibrancy, strength and determination of the youth movement. Many had lost family in the invasion, in the massacre at Santa Cruz and in the continued armed resistance.
They described electric shock torture, beatings and long periods of detention without trial for their persistent demonstrations in the presence of foreign journalists in Dili. One youth had recently been released after six months in Becora prison, where he had sustained severe head injuries for his participation in a demonstration outside the Makota Hotel last April.
The most recent demonstration had been outside the Balide Seminary on February 3. SGI (special force police) captured and tortured 25 of the 300 East Timorese present at the demonstration. One of these, with whom we spoke, was still sick from electric shock torture he had received.
Discussions with these activists also focused on Australia's foreign policy. "We know of the Timor Gap Treaty and the security pact. We know the new prime minister, John Howard, will probably be the same kind of friend to Suharto as Mr Paul Keating. But East Timorese know Australian people support our struggle", said one of these youth activists.
"When we hear of Australian demonstrations and protests, it gives us strength, and news of this kind of solidarity always increases our determination."