Send in the marines<\/p>\n
The government has finally decided to do what it should have
\ndone months and months ago: Disarm the gun-totting pro-Indonesia
\nmilitias who have been terrorizing and killing not only East
\nTimorese refugees but also international humanitarian workers.
\nThe decision announced on Monday came just three days after the
\nUnited Nations Security Council condemned the deaths of three UN
\nworkers in the West Timor town of Atambua last week.<\/p>\n
The fact that it only took three minutes for the 15-member
\nSecurity Council to unanimously endorse the resolution against
\nIndonesia on Friday shows how little international sympathy and
\nsupport the country enjoys over the Atambua killing.<\/p>\n
Resolution No. 1319\/2000 reads in part that Indonesia must
\n\"take immediate additional steps to disarm and disband the
\nmilitia immediately, restore law and order in the affected areas
\nin West Timor, ensure safety and security in the refugee camps
\nand for humanitarian workers, and prevent cross-border incursions
\ninto East Timor.\"<\/p>\n
That international trust in Indonesia is very low is also
\nreflected by the Council's decision to dispatch a mission to
\nIndonesia to ensure compliance with the resolution, and to ask
\nSecretary General Kofi Annan to report back in a week's time.<\/p>\n
The promise to disarm the militias has raised the question of
\nwhat took the government so long to realize the dangers that
\nthese amateur soldiers pose, not only for the people who live and
\nwork in West Timor but for the entire nation. The international
\ncondemnation and the ensuing Security Council resolution are
\nclearly a humiliation that Indonesia could have done without at a
\ntime like this when it needs all the international support it can
\nget to survive the economic and political crises in hand.<\/p>\n
Just when we thought the nation was starting to put the East
\nTimor nightmare behind it, Indonesia now has to start all over
\nagain to win back the goodwill of the international community.
\nThe incident has unnecessarily created additional work for our
\ndiplomats abroad when they could be devoting their time and
\nresources to other campaigns, like securing support for the
\ncountry's efforts to rebuild the economy or keeping the nation
\nunited against the forces of disintegration.<\/p>\n
As a responsible member of the United Nations, Indonesia must
\ncomply with Resolution No. 1319\/2000. Even without international
\nprompting, however, Indonesia should have disarmed the militias
\nthe moment it became clear in September last year that the
\ngovernment had lost the 24-year campaign to annex East Timor.
\nLooking back, the Indonesian Military should never have armed the
\nmilitias in the first place. While we cannot change the past, we
\ncan and should amend the errors of the past.<\/p>\n
The East Timorese militias were essentially the creation of
\nthe Indonesian Army as part of its campaign to control the
\nterritory during the annexation. The militias were notoriously
\nsavage and trained to kill anyone opposing the annexation. They
\nput their indoctrination and training into practice to such a
\ndevastating degree that they drove away almost the entire
\npopulation of East Timor and razed towns and villages to the
\nground after losing the vote to pro-independence supporters in a
\nUN-sponsored ballot in August 1999.<\/p>\n
Since then, these gangs of thugs have taken their campaign
\ninto the refugee centers scattered through West Timor. They have
\nterrorized and prevented those who wish to return to East Timor,
\nand their campaign often turned on the UN aid workers who were
\nhelping to repatriate the refugees. What is most appalling about
\nall this is that these militias have acted with impunity in the
\nsame way that they got away with the murders of last year.<\/p>\n
The local police are clearly not prepared to deal with the
\nArmy-created militias who are far better equipped. Although fully
\nin charge of the security affairs in West Timor, the police
\ncannot move against them without the consent of the powerful
\nArmy.<\/p>\n
The Army, as the chief sponsor of the militias, has continued
\nto display a lack of political will to disarm and disband their
\npuppet soldiers. One can still recall the chilling response from
\nmilitary leaders when they were criticized for failing to stop
\nthe militias' brutal attacks against unarmed East Timorese
\ncivilians last year: These militias were their comrades-in-arms
\nbecause they had fought together in the East Timor military
\ncampaign. Army soldiers were reluctant to take action because of
\n\"psychological barriers\" even as the militias were committing
\nthose atrocities.<\/p>\n
Given such a state of affairs, it is doubtful whether the
\ngovernment's latest promise to disarm the militias could really
\nbe carried out effectively, or whether it was just another act of
\nlip service to please the world community without any real
\nintention to see it through. We certainly have not seen any
\nclearly laid out programs on how the disarmament process would be
\nconducted, or how soon the process would be completed.<\/p>\n
There is one solution that could be seen as a way to break the
\nimpasse of the militia problem in West Timor: Send in the
\nmarines. Since they have less emotional attachment to these
\nmilitias and are better equipped than the police, members of the
\nMarines Corps, which is part of the Indonesian Navy, are likely
\nto do the job much more effectively and more professionally than
\nany other force available in the country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/send-in-the-marines-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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