A shared concern
A shared concern
Of late, concern has been expressed by a number of foreign officials who feel that their complaints to authorities in Jakarta on alleged human rights abuses in East Timor have fallen on deaf ears. They claim that many Indonesian officials seem to be indifferent or have even ignored their pleas for improvement.
On the other hand, we can also detect a growing feeling of uneasiness among certain Army officers, who feel that they have been unfairly treated or are being blamed for each and every adverse turn of events in East Timor. Analysts have gone so far as to forewarn that if the current trend continues, some officers could well become reluctant to be assigned to posts in East Timor in the future.
In this context it is also important to note the suggestion made the other day by the Deputy Chairman of the National Committee on Human Rights, Marzuki Darusman, that the current policy on East Timor should be reviewed. Perhaps it could be argued that the fact that incidents continue to occur almost 20 years after East Timor's integration into Indonesia is an indication that something is not quite right.
Marzuki noted that the government is showing signs of growing fatigue at having to deal with East Timor. Any sign of a problem seems to be viewed as an addition to an accumulating burden, which induces a feeling of weariness. As a consequence, the government is showing a lack of innovative and creative capability in outlining policies to resolve the East Timor problem.
All these aspects of the East Timor matter are interesting and worth examining in the light of the current official probes being made into the events at Liquisa. Both the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the National Commission on Human Rights are conducting investigations into what happened there and why.
We believe, however, that it is a mistake to perceive all this discussion as being shots fired in the dark towards ABRI with the intent of tarnishing its image. Nor should any of this be seen as an attempt to put the blame fully on ABRI for whatever has happened or is happening in this province. This is something we believe we must underline because apparently some military officers have misinterpreted some of this discussion to mean that they are now being selected as a target for an orchestrated campaign relating to the so-called "East Timor debacle".
We believe that most of the comments and criticism aired on East Timor are positive in nature and are part of sincere efforts to help ease and improve the situation in this nation's 27th province. In other words, those comments are honest reflections of a sense of belonging, and of the conviction that East Timor is truly a part of the nation. They also reflect the feeling that whatever happens there, which could have an impact on all of us, should be shared and resolved by all of us.
Moreover, the fact that the current leadership of ABRI is fully aware of the situation and is quick to respond to whatever may occur in East Timor -- for example the Liquisa incident -- is proof of the Armed Forces concern for the well-being of the province and all of the people in it. This very fact also refutes accusations that ABRI is indifferent and has become disinterested in international criticism.
However, we must admit that in the past some of our officials showed an overly emotional stance towards criticism on East Timor, and thus were prone to cast a suspicious glance at anyone trying to scrutinize affairs in this province, as if all eyes were doing nothing more than looking for mistakes.
Times, however, have changed and it might be wise for us to keep a more open mind in dealing with the problem.
East Timor may be an irritating pebble in our shoe. Nevertheless the problem should not be taken lightly if that pebble continues to encumber us in our steps for too long a period. As we have repeatedly mentioned in this column before, we should not be embarrassed to review our past policies, or to do some soul searching, in our endeavors to find whatever is the best solution to our problems in East Timor.