Ex-militia members set up organization<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang<\/p>\n
Former members of the pro-Jakarta militias that rampaged through
\nEast Timor in 1999 are forming an organization to protect the
\nrights and privileges they feel the government they fought for is
\nnow denying them.<\/p>\n
The organization will be chaired by Eurico Gueterres, a
\nmilitia leader found guilty of atrocities in East Timor, now
\nTimor Leste, before and after the 1999 independence referendum in
\nthe former Indonesian territory. The group's secretary-general
\nwill be Joanico Cesario, a former militia leader in Baucau, East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Eurico, whose appeal of a five-year jail sentence for his
\nactivities in East Timor is waiting to be heard by the Supreme
\nCourt, said the organization was established to assist former
\nmilitia members who had been largely abandoned by Jakarta since
\nTimor Leste gained independence from Indonesia in 1999.<\/p>\n
He said many former pro-Jakarta militia members were still
\nliving in decrepit camps along the Indonesian border with Timor
\nLeste, forgotten by the government they fought for.<\/p>\n
"They fought to keep Indonesia intact, risking their lives,
\nbut the Indonesian government has ignored their sacrifices," said
\nEurico.<\/p>\n
He said the government treated former members of the
\nseparatist Free Aceh Movement better than those who fought for
\nIndonesia in East Timor, giving the former rebels amnesty and
\nmoney to help ease their return to society.<\/p>\n
"It is ironic," said Eurico, the former commander of the Red
\nWhite Iron militia.<\/p>\n
He said a formal announcement would soon be made on the
\nestablishment of the organization, claiming that the group had
\nalready set up offices in several regencies and cities in East
\nNusa Tenggara and had thousands of members.<\/p>\n
The pro-Jakarta militias, which the United Nations has said
\nwere recruited and directed by the Indonesian Military, went on
\nan arson and killing spree before and after the East Timorese
\nvoted for independence in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999.<\/p>\n
They reportedly killed about 1,400 independence supporters and
\nlaid waste to much of the infrastructure in the half-island,
\nwhich was a Portuguese colony before Indonesia annexed and
\ninvaded it in the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n
Members of the pro-Jakarta militias were denied citizenship by
\nthe Timor Leste government and many former militia members are
\nnow living along the border between Timor Leste and Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ex-militia-members-set-up-organization-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}