Ambivalence over E. Timor

Reactions by top politicians to last week's arrest of East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres underscored Indonesia's policy ambivalence toward East Timor. While officially Indonesia recognizes, or rather grudgingly accepts East Timor's vote for independence last year, the government continues to nurture or support pro-Indonesia militias who still dream of a unification or an integration with Indonesia.

No less than Amien Rais, the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and Akbar Tandjung, the speaker of the House of Representatives, have asked the police to go easy on Eurico, whom both called a "true national fighter". A day earlier, Eurico in a widely publicized media conference claimed that all his struggles for East Timor's integration with Indonesia were conducted for the red and white national flag.

What he did not tell the public, and what Amien and Akbar chose to neglect, was that the militias were responsible for many of the human rights atrocities which besmirched Indonesia's reputation even if they claimed to have fought for a national cause.

Because of their reprehensible actions, Indonesia earned international condemnations on two occasions these past 12 months. First, for the campaign of terror and violence by the militias after they lost the Aug. 30, 1999 United Nations- sponsored ballot to the proindependence camp. That campaign, in which the Indonesian Military did little to prevent, forced almost the entire East Timor population to flee and saw the virtual destruction of the territory. The second international condemnation came last month following the deaths of three UN relief workers in Atambua -- a refugee town near the East Timor border -- by a mob instigated by the militias.

It is incomprehensible that a person who has caused so much damage to Indonesia's international credibility and image can still be regarded as a national fighter. But this policy ambivalence toward the East Timorese militias explains the government's reluctance, or unwillingness, to clamp down on the militias, even when it has the legal powers to do so. Until last month, the militias were about the only groups of people in the country outside the military and the police who could freely carry firearms in the open. Other people would have been arrested immediately for illegal possession of firearms.

This ambivalence also explains why not a single militia member or their friends in the Indonesian Army have been tried in court in connection with last year's mayhem. Nearly one year since the investigation was launched, the government has yet to name a single suspect in the case. Even Guterres, who has been questioned by investigators, is under arrest for a recent and minor charge.

This policy ambivalence is not without its costs to the entire nation. The killing of the UN workers in Atambua could have been prevented had the government put the militias under control. The repatriation of the more than 100,000 East Timorese refugees would have moved faster were it not for the constant disruptions caused by the militias. Allowing the militias to roam freely with their weapons was a sure recipe for disaster.

If Indonesia is not careful, this ambivalence can cause even more damage to its international reputation. Indonesia's inability to clamp down on the militias and to distance itself from the prointegration cause raises suspicions that certain quarters in Indonesia still entertain the idea of annexing East Timor again some day. Remarks by Akbar Tandjung and Amien Rais, calling Guterres a national fighter, are not helping to dispel lingering suspicions of Jakarta's territorial ambitions.

With East Timor independence recognized internationally, the government's tolerance toward the militias, whatever service they have done for the country, must have its limits if Indonesia and East Timor were to get along as neighbors. We do not want to be accused of providing shelter to East Timorese in exile to fight their prointegration battle in the same way we do not want to see Acehnese in exile fighting their separatist battles from neighboring Malaysia or Irian Jaya separatist fighters launching their campaign from within the Papua New Guinean border.

It is time Indonesia takes a clearer stand with regard to the East Timor militias. They should be encouraged to return to their homeland and fight whatever cause they have democratically and peacefully from within, or if they chose to become Indonesians, they should pledge their allegiance to the country, start playing by the rules, and most of all, start protecting the honor of the national flag.