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.