Call in the UN now<\/p>\n
Violence in East Timor began escalating before independence
\nleader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao called, from his detention
\nhouse in Jakarta, on his supporters on Monday to take up arms
\nagainst the Indonesian government and pro-Indonesian forces in
\nEast Timor. Both prointegration and proindependence forces have
\nbeen bolstering their positions, including their weaponry, since
\nPresident B.J. Habibie announced in January the government was
\nprepared to grant East Timor independence.<\/p>\n
Both groups are seeking to gain the upper hand ahead of the
\nUN-sponsored ballot in East Timor, scheduled for July, to
\ndetermine whether the province will remain part of Indonesia or
\nbecome an independent state. With so much at stake, the campaign
\nto gain superiority in the province at times has become savage.
\nThe violence which erupted in the town of Liquisa this past week
\nwas only one of many bloody clashes between the two camps over
\nthe past few months.<\/p>\n
Fears of East Timor plunging into bloody civil war -- the
\nreason given by the Indonesian government for its reluctance to
\nwithdraw from the territory -- are becoming all too real. East
\nTimorese are becoming more and more polarized -- those who
\nsupport integration and those who wish for independence. There is
\nhardly any middle ground left.<\/p>\n
Even the Indonesian government's offer of wide-ranging
\nautonomy for the province is looking more and more like a
\nformality. Most people, particularly the two warring groups,
\nalready are looking ahead to what will happen after the July
\nballot. That means not only strengthening their ranks by
\nrecruiting more supporters, but also acquiring weapons from any
\nand all sources. Even the Indonesian government appears to have
\nresigned itself to losing the ballot. This was clearly
\ndemonstrated by President Habibie's statement that he would like
\nto see the separation process from East Timor completed by the
\nend of the year.<\/p>\n
While there are signs that East Timor is heading toward civil
\nwar, what is even more disturbing is that there are hardly any
\nmoderate forces left to arrest the process. The Liquisa violence
\nand Xanana's call for armed insurrection came a few days after
\nDili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio
\ndo Nascimento announced plans to mediate between the
\nproindependence and prointegration camps. If anyone in East Timor
\nstill commands the respect of the people, it is the leaders of
\nthe Roman Catholic Church. Now that these respected church
\nleaders are being ignored, we have every reason to worry that
\ncivil war could indeed erupt in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Until his call for armed insurrection on Monday, Xanana Gusmao
\nhad managed to project himself as a moderate leader willing to
\npursue peaceful solutions in the province, and not the guerrilla
\nleader he once was. He even managed to use his immense influence
\nto restrain his supporters. After Monday, he no longer can be
\ncounted on to check his followers.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government, which had no legitimacy in East
\nTimor in the first place, is fast losing the faith of the East
\nTimorese in its ability to maintain peace and order there,
\nespecially amid allegations the military has been arming
\nprointegration forces. Given these suspicions, and without the
\nfull support of the people there, it is difficult to envisage the
\nmilitary playing an objective peacekeeping role in the province.<\/p>\n
All this points to the need for some kind of United Nations
\npresence in East Timor now, rather than later, if only to arrest
\nthe violence. Despite conflicting claims about the death toll in
\nLiquisa -- proindependence forces say 40 died while the
\nIndonesian military says five perished -- the incident calls for
\nimmediate action. A UN peacekeeping force would not only keep the
\ntwo conflicting parties apart, it could also begin the process of
\ndisarming them, a prerequisite to the UN-sponsored ballot.<\/p>\n
Mere statements of concern and calls for restraint made from a
\ndistance by the United Nations, the United States, Australia and
\nJapan likely will fall on deaf ears, particularly in light of the
\nfact that similar appeals from respected local church leaders
\nalready have been ignored. The presence of the United Nations in
\nthe province is the only hope left to stop the violence and
\nprevent a full-scale civil war from erupting in East Timor.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/call-in-the-un-now-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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