Peace remains elusive for East Timor in 1995<\/p>\n
By Yacob Herin and Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): Peace remained as elusive as ever in
\nEast Timor, 19 years after the territory integrated with
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
If the turbulence that has rocked the territory all year long
\nis any indication, peace may be even harder to come by when East
\nTimor marks the 20th anniversary of its integration next July.<\/p>\n
Riots, many with increasingly racial and religious overtones,
\nand other forms of unrests undermined the government's efforts to
\nforge ahead with development in East Timor, still the most
\nbackward of Indonesia's 27 provinces. They also subverted
\nIndonesia's diplomatic efforts to settle the East Timor problem
\nat the United Nations and win world recognition for integration
\nonce and for all.<\/p>\n
The exposure of these unfortunate events by the international
\nmedia were quickly seized by the anti-integration groups and
\ntheir supporters abroad to turn them to their advantage.<\/p>\n
There were one or two bright moments that momentarily gave
\nhope for peace in East Timor. Alas they were short-lived,
\novershadowed by the riots and protests and by the negative
\npublicity campaign that the anti-integration camp is waging
\nthrough the international media.<\/p>\n
The historic meeting between the leaders of the two opposing
\ncamps near the Austrian city of Salzburg in June momentarily
\nraised hopes that the 20 years of enmity and hatred between them
\nwould finally come to an end.<\/p>\n
The presence of Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, the leader
\nof the Roman Catholic Church of East Timor, certainly lent
\ncredence to the All East Timorese Dialog.<\/p>\n
The meeting ended with a statement pledging the participants'
\ncommitment to work towards peace in their homeland. The show of
\nunity was overshadowed when pro-Indonesia delegates to the
\nmeeting later denounced the insertion of a clause of an old
\nUnited Nations resolution in the statement which they claimed was
\ndone without their knowledge.<\/p>\n
The planned inauguration of a huge statue of Jesus Christ on
\nthe coast of Dili, a symbol of peace, has been delayed until
\n1996, pending the availability of President Soeharto who has been
\nkept busy throughout the year.<\/p>\n
Hopes for peace is being revived again as 1995 comes to a
\nclose, with the planned return of four East Timorese and their
\nfamilies after more than 30 years living in exile. The returnees
\ncan lay claim to the title of East Timor heroes for they were
\nsent into exile in Angola and Mozambique by the Portuguese
\ncolonial administration for an anti-colonial uprising. Now they
\nare returning to East Timor and will be accorded red-carpet
\ntreatment during their transit in Jakarta next week.<\/p>\n
These were the few bright spots in East Timor in 1995, which
\nunfortunately were eclipsed by incidents that never seemed to
\ncease and some that have lingered for a long time.<\/p>\n
The worst incident, and one that severely damaged both
\nIndonesia's image and that of the Armed Forces, occurred in
\nJanuary, although it only became public knowledge a month later.<\/p>\n
Six unarmed civilians were slain during a military operation
\nin a remote village in the Liquisa regency. The local military at
\nfirst insisted that the six were killed in a clash with Fretilin
\nmembers, the armed separatist movement.<\/p>\n
Later investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights
\nrefuted the military claim, forcing the military to conduct
\nanother investigation, the result of which determined that there
\nwere \"procedural\" errors in the handling of the affair by the
\npatrol commander.<\/p>\n
The protests and riots in Dili and other cities, which in the
\npast echoed local opposition to Indonesia's rule, this year took
\nmore racial and religious overtones, first targeting non-East
\nTimorese migrants, and later non-Catholics who were mostly
\nMoslems, but also, to a lesser extent, Protestants.<\/p>\n
A riot in Baucau in January targeted South Sulawesi migrants
\nwho run most of the city's trade. The riot followed the stabbing
\nof an East Timorese by his Bugis neighbor.<\/p>\n
The incident should have served as a reminder to officials in
\nDili and in Jakarta of the precarious relations between East
\nTimorese and migrants to the province.<\/p>\n
Even bigger riots erupted later in September in a number of
\nother cities in East Timor, sparked by reports suggesting that a
\nprison official made denigrating remarks about Roman Catholicism,
\nthe dominant religion of the territory.<\/p>\n
The news angered many East Timorese and prompted them to take
\nto the streets and begin attacking government offices and houses
\nof non-East Timorese. A Moslem school and a mosque were also
\nattacked and damaged. Thousands of non-East Timorese, including
\nmany teachers assigned to work in the territory, fled the
\nprovince with their families.<\/p>\n
The year also saw an unprecedented number of East Timorese
\nwanting to leave their homeland, some by crossing the sea to
\nAustralia and some by forcing their way into foreign embassies in
\nJakarta, demanding asylum.<\/p>\n
The British, Japanese and French embassies were all targets of
\n\"invasion\" by young East Timorese during the year. Their petition
\nfor asylum were rejected by the various embassies although they
\nlater gained passage to Portugal from the Portuguese government.
\nThe Indonesian government considered this \"invasion\" of embassies
\n\"a tired old joke\" instigated by opponents of East Timor's
\nintegration abroad.<\/p>\n
The government has also pointed out that the youths were not
\nbeing persecuted and were free to leave the country.<\/p>\n
A new development occurred in early December when the
\nembassies of Japan and Russia were \"invaded\", not solely by East
\nTimorese, but also non-East Timorese students from Java.<\/p>\n
The embassy invasion on Dec. 7 coincides with what anti-
\nIndonesian groups call the 20th anniversary of Indonesia's
\ninvasion of East Timor.<\/p>\n
The protesters at the Japanese and Russian embassies did not
\ndemand asylum. Instead they called for a referendum in East
\nTimor on the question of the territory's integration and the
\nremoval of troops from the area. This marked the first protest in
\nwhich non-East Timorese participated.<\/p>\n
The protesters later agreed to leave the embassies after
\nassurances of a safe passage out by the authorities.<\/p>",
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