UN mission calls on RI to clamp down on militias<\/p>\n
ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): A visiting UN Security
\nCouncil mission has demanded that the Indonesian government crack
\ndown on prointegration militias sheltering in East Nusa Tenggara
\n(NTT) despite claims that significant steps have already been
\ntaken.<\/p>\n
"Intimidation must stop," said Namibian Ambassador to the UN
\nSecurity Council Martin Andjaba, after laying flowers at the site
\nwhere three UN aid workers were murdered by militiamen on Sept.
\n6.<\/p>\n
Andjaba, who led the seven-member mission, also said that an
\nestimated 120,000 East Timorese refugees still in Indonesian
\nterritory had to be allowed to return home "in safety and
\nsecurity".<\/p>\n
"Some of the refugees we met were concerned about the safety
\nand security situation in East Timor.<\/p>\n
"Better information is needed here to be given to the
\nrefugees. When we were in East Timor, it was confirmed and
\nassurances were confirmed to us by the Timorese leaders that
\nthere will be security and safety for refugees when they go back
\nthere," he said.<\/p>\n
The visit was the first to be made by UN officials since
\nhundreds of aid workers left the territory following the killing
\nof the three UN workers and an attack on the mission's
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
The Security Council and other international organizations
\nhave called on Indonesia to disarm and disband the prointegration
\nmilitias.<\/p>\n
In the past two months, security personnel have conducted
\nsweeping operations for illegal weapons. Officials claim that
\nmost illegal arms have been confiscated.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, the deputy Army chief of staff who
\naccompanied the visiting envoys, urged international aid agencies
\nto return to the territory.<\/p>\n
He said the militias had been disbanded and 90 percent of
\ntheir arms impounded.<\/p>\n
"They still have a few weapons, so we continue to disarm
\nthem," Kiki said.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday the delegation visited the Haliwen refugee camp.
\nThe tense envoys were welcomed cheerfully by the refugees in the
\nmakeshift camp.<\/p>\n
The camp, home to 12,000 refugees, was built in a bleak
\nstadium on the outskirts of Atambua, 25 kilometers (15 miles)
\nfrom the border with East Timor.<\/p>\n
West Timor police chief I Made Mangku Pastika conceded that
\nthe camp was also home to former pro-Jakarta militia leaders.<\/p>\n
"What we have here is the ex-militia, they are now living
\namong the refugees," he told journalists. "There are some of them
\nin Haliwen."<\/p>\n
Camp leaders repeated a common message: "We will return when
\nwe can bring back the Red and White (Indonesian) flag," Augustine
\nPinto and Antonio dos Santos told the envoys separately.<\/p>\n
Pinto, who called himself the leader of the Dili branch of the
\nUnion of Timorese Warriors (UNTAS) and a former member of Dili's
\nlocal government under Indonesian rule, said the people in
\nHaliwen were not ready to return.<\/p>\n
"We will only go back if we can be guaranteed that we can live
\npeacefully while remaining loyal to Indonesia," Pinto said as
\nquoted by AFP.<\/p>\n
UNTAS group's former East Timor militias, are blamed for the
\nwave of violence that devastated East Timor and left at least 600
\ndead after it voted for independence from Indonesia over 14
\nmonths ago.<\/p>\n
The delegates arrived in Jakarta later in the day to continue
\ndiscussions with the Indonesian government.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/un-mission-calls-on-ri-to-clamp-down-on-militias-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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