A misguided threat

A misguided threat

Here is why the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, according to the chairman of the selection committee: It rewards those who "have peace rooted in their hearts and who work to overcome the evil principle in man".

Here is what the 1996 winner, East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos Horta, threatened this week: "More than 100 computer wizards are targeting the entire computer network of the Indonesian government, Army, banking and finance institutions to create chaos" if the result of an independence vote on August 30 is "unfair" -- that is, not to his liking.

Few would deny that Mr. Horta is a brave man, or that East Timor has suffered through colonial neglect and military occupation, none of it designed to benefit those who live there.

As an election to determine whether it gains autonomy or independence draws near, violent militiamen with links to the Indonesian Army have been attacking residents who want to break free.

So it is no surprise that Mr. Horta is angry and frustrated. He fears Indonesian officials will sabotage the vote and keep control of East Timor by duplicitous means. But Mr. Horta's threat is neither in keeping with the spirit of the prize he values so highly, nor with an international effort to bring preelection calm to a territory in desperate need of law and order. Rather, it could encourage those who oppose the vote by force.

In addition, the appeal to computer hackers is yet another example of using extralegal means whenever one's own version of justice seems at risk. Mr. Horta's motives are understandable, but his call to action is not among the reasons why peace prizes are awarded.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong