Spare us more indignity<\/p>\n
Thanks to the leadership of President B.J. Habibie and
\nIndonesian Military Commander (TNI) Gen. Wiranto, we Indonesians
\nas a nation have suffered one international indignity after
\nanother these past two weeks.<\/p>\n
The decision to accept on Sunday a United Nations peacekeeping
\nforce into East Timor -- diplomatically worded as an invitation
\n-- came in the face of strong international pressure. Then on
\nWednesday, the Security Council unanimously voted to establish a
\nmultinational force and gave it a full mandate to restore peace.
\nThis means the use of military force if necessary. Rubbing salt
\ninto the wound, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ignored
\nIndonesia's objections and named Australia to head the force.<\/p>\n
Prior to this chain of events, Indonesia was widely condemned,
\nbullied, and threatened with economic sanctions. The
\nInternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank said they would
\nreconsider their multibillion dollar programs in Indonesia.
\nIndonesia became an international pariah for its handling, or
\nmore appropriately mishandling, of East Timor.<\/p>\n
There are yet more indignities to come, at least for the
\nnarrow-minded nationalists in this country. The sight of foreign
\nsoldiers landing in East Timor, and of the Indonesian Military
\nmaking way for them to take charge of security in East Timor
\ncould well be the final humiliation. Then there is the prospect
\nof an international tribunal for Indonesian leaders on charges of
\ncrimes against humanity. The United Nations High Commissioner for
\nHuman Rights has already started work in this direction.<\/p>\n
Since Indonesia became an independent and sovereign nation in
\n1945, it has never suffered such an international blow to its
\ndignity. Our two previous leaders, Sukarno and Soeharto, although
\nthey were often targets of international criticism, were adept at
\nsteering away from this kind of humiliation. If this were the
\n1960s, Sukarno would probably have told the United Nations to go
\nto hell, as he did in 1964 with U.S. aid, and when he severed
\nlinks altogether with the United Nations a few years earlier.<\/p>\n
As much as the government and military have tried to shift the
\nfocus of attention away from what is happening in East Timor by
\nblaming others for the violence -- Australia, Portugal, New
\nZealand, the United Nations and the United States have been
\ntargeted -- there is no denying the fact that they have brought
\nthis on themselves. But the entire nation suffers as a result.<\/p>\n
No matter how they explain it, or what excuses they come up
\nwith for the situation in East Timor, the bottom line is
\nIndonesia is responsible for everything that has happened there.
\nThe killings, the forced evacuation of people from their homes,
\nand the destruction resulting from the scorched-earth campaign
\ntook place when the territory was under Indonesia's charge. When
\nIndonesia signed the deal with the United Nations in May, it not
\nonly agreed to take responsibility for East Timor's security, it
\ninsisted on the mandate, claiming that the territory remained
\nunder its sovereignty until East Timorese voted otherwise. That
\nmeans that Indonesia is responsible for the lives and property of
\nall East Timorese, and not just for the minority who support
\nintegration with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Events of the past week or so showed that we, or rather our
\ngovernment, failed the East Timorese, the international community
\nand the Indonesian people. The international outrage was
\nunderstandable, for no self-respecting nation could remain silent
\nin the face of this humanitarian catastrophe. Australia may have
\nbeen the harshest critic of all, and some people in this country
\nmay be offended by this attitude, but this in no way could wipe
\nout the sins that we have committed in East Timor.<\/p>\n
We have lost East Timor, and nothing we do now can deny East
\nTimorese their well-deserved independence. There is no sense in
\ngetting upset about the prospect of seeing foreign soldiers
\narriving in East Timor. Indonesia has no business to remain in
\nEast Timor. The result of the Aug. 30 ballot clearly shows that
\nIndonesia never had any legitimate claim over East Timor.<\/p>\n
If the arrival this weekend of the multinational force is to
\nbe the greatest humiliation of all, pray that this will be the
\nlast one. By now, we hope our leaders have truly learned their
\nlessons well: that as a self-respecting nation and member of the
\ninternational community we must respect universal humanitarian
\nvalues and live up to our responsibilities.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/spare-us-more-indignity-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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