East Timor: independence now!
By Jon Land
The announcement by the Habibie regime on January 27 that it is prepared to "relinquish" East Timor as part of Indonesia marks a new turn in the struggle for independence. For the first time in the history of the 23-year long illegal occupation, the Indonesian government has indicated that it is willing to allow East Timor to become an independent nation.
Foreign affairs minister Ali Alatas and information minister Yunus Yosfiah told reporters that cabinet had decided that if the offer of autonomy was rejected by the East Timorese, one "option" would be for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to "consider whether East Timor can honourably be relinquished from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia".
The MPR would make such a consideration after the June elections. There was no mention of how the East Timorese people would be able to give their opinion on the autonomy proposal.
The East Timorese resistance responded coolly to the announcement. National Council of Timorese Resistance vice-president Jose Ramos Horta said: "I believe it is no more than a smokescreen, a diplomatic stunt. Their aim is to win the good favour of the international community, while at the same time they create terror in East Timor."
Speaking on SBS news on January 28, Horta added: "The world is not going to be fooled for too long. If they do not deliver on their promises in the next few weeks and months — starting with troop withdrawal — it is going to be impossible to avoid sanctions by the United States Congress and by the European Union. Indonesia can ill afford continuing to joke, to play tricks, with the international community."
The change by the Habibie regime was announced on the eve of negotiations at the United Nations between Indonesia and Portugal on the future status of East Timor. Alatas had earlier stated that he expected these talks to be completed by April.
Alatas qualified the move by stating that autonomy was still the preferred outcome: "The cabinets decision was only an option, a choice ... we will continue the negotiations regarding our proposal, because the Indonesian government remains convinced that this settlement [autonomy] proposal is the most realistic, fair and practical and with the best prospects of peaceful settlement of the East Timor issue."
The foreign minister repeated claims that civil war and ongoing divisions would occur if a period of autonomy was followed by a referendum on independence. He also asserted: "If this were to happen, they would live freely 10 years at our expense because they don't have any resources of their own; we would be giving them everything, and then they would say, "Goodbye and thank you very much'."
Ironically, here Alatas concedes that a referendum would result in an overwhelming vote for independence.
This "offer" to allow the East Timorese the right to independence reflects pressure from a number of quarters. There is increasing international support for an act of self-determination. Within East Timor itself, the independence movement has become stronger over the last 12 months, despite heightened repression.
Perhaps most significantly, the announcement points to growing divisions within the Habibie cabinet on how to proceed in dealing with East Timor. These divisions have been further complicated by recent changes to the electoral laws, which will reduce the representation of the military in parliament and allow a record number of parties to contest the election.
Alatas, who has been the staunchest and most articulate defender of Indonesia's claims over East Timor, is due to retire soon. It is conceivable that whoever replaces him as foreign minister will adopt a more conciliatory approach. During the election, student mobilisations are likely to raise the issue of East Timor more forcefully as part of the push to have the military removed from any role in civilian affairs.
Responses by western governments to the announcement have been generally cautious, though supportive. The UN welcomed the move, but was "seeking clarification".
Solidarity organisations have demanded that more substantial steps take place, such as the immediate withdrawal of Indonesian troops, the placement of international peace monitors throughout East Timor and the immediate release of resistance leader Xanana Gusmao and all East Timorese political prisoners.
The situation within East Timor has deteriorated in recent months, because of the formation and arming of new paramilitary groups by the Indonesian military.
Involving several thousand, these militias have been conducting a reign terror, particularly in remote villages in the south-west and south-east, most notably at Maubara, Alas, Turiscai, Cailaco and Cassa. More than 3000 refugees have fled to Dili and larger regional centres to escape kidnappings, torture and killings.
The East Timor Human Rights Centre issued an urgent appeal on January 27 following militia attacks throughout the Zumalai subdistrict. On January 25, it is believed, four people were killed in the village of Galitas and a further six kidnapped (five of them aged under 17). On the previous day, 27-year-old Fernando Cardoso was brutally murdered, and allegedly had his limbs removed and was buried by the side of a road with his head exposed.
Speaking at a meeting of the Australia East Timor Association (NSW) on January 27, convener Andrew McNaughtan said that a "horrendous nightmare" is going on in East Timor and that the Australian government is not doing enough to pressure the Habibie regime to halt it.
He was also scathing of the media, which had tended to treat incidents of human rights abuses as isolated cases, rather than reporting them as part of a widespread campaign of terror which has been taking place for many months.