Seven East Timorese students injured in Maliana clash<\/p>\n
By Ridwan Max Sijabat and Lorenco Vicente Martins<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): At least seven students were injured
\nand two houses burned down on Wednesday in a clash between groups
\nfor and against independence in Maliana, Bobonaro, some 150
\nkilometers south of here.<\/p>\n
Ernesto Ate, 24, had his arm severed in the violence, and
\nMario dos Reis, 21, and Jose Candido Marques, 22, suffered
\nserious injuries to their legs from arrows shot at them. Simon
\nLopez, 20, Filomeno Govia, 21, and Edi Leonito, 24, had slightly
\ninjured backs from stone-throwing that occurred.<\/p>\n
The victims were now receiving treatment at Maliana General
\nHospital.<\/p>\n
Antonio Cordoso, who witnessed the clash, told The Jakarta
\nPost by phone that the incident occurred when some 150 members of
\nthe pro-Indonesia militia joined a ballot campaign in Maliana and
\nattacked the offices of proindependence groups of Home Affairs
\nFront (FPI), Council for Solidarity of East Timorese Students and
\nYouths (DSMPTT) and the Center for Information and Broadcasting
\n(PPI).<\/p>\n
\"Some of the assailants pelted stones at the offices, while
\nothers brandished knives, sticks and arrows and entered the
\nbuildings, attacking students and youths inside,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said prointegration supporters burned down two houses
\nbelonging to proindependence supporters an hour after the clash.<\/p>\n
He also said some attackers were members of the prointegration
\nDadarus Red and White Militia. He claimed a number of troops
\nstood by and did nothing to stop the violence.<\/p>\n
A staff member at the Independent Ballot Monitoring Committee
\n(KIPER) called on police and authorities to investigate the
\nalleged attack as it was a violation of the code of conduct for
\nthe campaigning of the self-determination vote scheduled for Aug.
\n30.<\/p>\n
\"According to the campaign schedule, the prointegration groups
\nshould campaign on Wednesday in Kokolako, Bobonaro, Atabae and
\nLolotoi, not in Maliana,\" said a staff member requesting
\nanonymity.<\/p>\n
He alleged prointegration supporters prevented staff members
\nof the three organizations in the attacked buildings from
\nreporting the incident to the local police.<\/p>\n
Let. Col. Burhanuddin Siagian, chief of Bobonaro Military
\nSubdistrict, denied the attack. Instead, he claimed it was the
\nproindependence militia who launched the attack first.<\/p>\n
\"The prointegration supporters countered the attack by pelting
\nstones at the buildings,\" he said, adding the clash stopped after
\ndozens of security personnel fired warning shots.<\/p>\n
Separately, the prointegration force known as \"Alive or Dead,
\nIntegration\" (Mahidi) handed over on Wednesday 54 guns, including
\n35 homemade ones, to the Ainaro Police before delegations of the
\nPeace and Stability Committee and the United Nations Mission in
\nEast Timor (UNAMET).<\/p>\n
Mahidi commander Canicio de Carvallo led the weapon
\nsubmission.<\/p>\n
The White and Red Blood and Aitarak prointegration militias in
\nErmera and Dili are scheduled to hand over their firearms to the
\nsecurity authorities on Thursday (today).<\/p>\n
Leaflets<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, leaflets circulated in Dili lambasting Dili Bishop
\nFelipe Ximenes Belo for issuing a pastoral letter which asked the
\nEast Timorese to cast votes according to their conscience in the
\nupcoming popular consultation.<\/p>\n
Signed by the East Timorese Intellectual Forum, a name not
\nheard of before, the leaflets accused the Catholic Church in East
\nTimor of failing to act neutral over the upcoming balloting.<\/p>\n
Belo, who is away for a visit in Baucau, could not be reached
\nfor comment.<\/p>\n
The leaflet also warned Indonesians of \"Western occupation\" of
\nthe world, accusing unnamed developed countries of instigating
\nthe uproar over human rights and environmental abuses to weaken
\nthe third world, including Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The group charged the upcoming vote would be manipulated by
\nthe West and the United States through UNAMET to prepare
\nindependence for the territory, where they would later set up
\nmilitary bases.<\/p>\n
\"With independence, the East Timorese will lose their
\nexistence,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Reuters reported Amnesty International accused
\nIndonesia on Wednesday of failing to honor commitments to stamp
\nout violence by its supporters in the run-up to the vote on the
\npolitical future of East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"The consistent failure of the Indonesian authorities to
\nguarantee safety and security for all East Timorese ... poses a
\ndangerous precedent for the future of the troubled territory,\"
\nthe rights group was reported as saying in Lisbon.<\/p>\n
In a special report ahead of the Aug. 30 ballot, Amnesty
\nInternational said serious violations, including killings and
\nintimidation, continued and were \"undermining\" the whole voting
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
The people of East Timor will vote in a United Nations-
\nsupervised ballot on whether to accept an offer of sweeping
\nautonomy or opt for full independence from Indonesia.<\/p>",
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