E. Timor accedes to demands by former militia commander
E. Timor accedes to demands by former militia commander
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
East Timorese leaders acceded on Friday to demands by former
prointegration militia commander Joao da Silva Tavares and
thousands of his followers, paving the way for them to return to
the newly declared state of East Timor.
Kupang military commander Colonel Muswarno Moesanip said on
Saturday that the agreement had been reached in a reconciliation
meeting between a high-powered East Timorese delegation and
Tavares plus dozens of refugee leaders in Atambua, West Timor on
Friday.
"All the demands of Joao Tavares and those of his followers
were granted by East Timorese leaders," Muswarno said.
He said the delegation also convinced Tavares and other
refugees that East Timor was already safe, as clearly reflected
in the lack of incident during the celebration of East Timor's
independence on May 20, which was also attended by UN Secretary-
General Kofi Annan and Indonesian President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.
"They also agreed that East Timor police would guarantee the
safety of returning refugees from the moment they entered East
Timor territory to the time they reached evacuation centers and
their respective homes," Muswarno said.
Tavares and thousands of his followers had demanded earlier
that East Timor authorities guarantee their security once they
entered East Timor territory.
They also demanded that returning militia members and refugees
be placed in containment centers for adjustment before they were
returned to their respective villages, and that they would not be
treated as second-class citizens.
According to Muswarno, the East Timorese delegation agreed to
all of Tavares' demands in the meeting, which he described as
cordial and friendly.
Refugee leaders attending the meeting included Tavares (as
coordinator), Pedro Gonzalves, Armindo dos Reis, Fransisco Soares
Pareira, Jose Ximenes, Inacio de Jesus Hornai, Agustino Pinto,
Fransisco Sansilha, Antonio dos Santos, Filomeno Brito and
Franscisco da Costa.
From the East Timor side, there were Antonio Cardoso and Jacob
Fernandez of Fretilin, Pedro Gomez of ASDT, police officer Julio
da Costa Hornai and Attorney General Longuinhos Monteiro.
Also present at the meeting were Aniceto Guterres and Isabel
Guterres of the Truth and Justice Commission, UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative Manuel Carceres
da Costa and representative of the UN Supporting Mission in East
Timor Tim Hudner.
Tavares and thousands of his followers had planned to return
to East Timor, Indonesia's former 27th province, which declared
independence on May 20, 2002, in the second week of June, but
delayed it until early July, citing the absence of an agreement
between his group and the East Timor authorities.
If his plan reaches fruition, Tavares will become the most
senior leader of the much-feared pro-Indonesia militias to have
returned to East Timor. Lower-profile militia leaders have
already returned to the former Portuguese colony.
Tavares was the commander of prointegration militias that went
on a bloody rampage after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly
to break away from Indonesia in a UN-organized referendum in
1999.
The rampage killed dozens of proindependence East Timorese,
destroyed up to 80 percent of the territory's infrastructure and
drove close to 250,000 people into makeshift refugee camps in
West Timor and other parts of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
East Timorese authorities and international agencies have been
urging refugees still living in West Timor, who now total 30,000
to 40,000, to return to East Timor.
Indonesian authorities had said earlier that government-
sponsored repatriations would stop on August 31, and that East
Timor refugees still in West Timor beyond that deadline would be
treated as Indonesian citizens and would have to be ready to be
relocated to other parts of Indonesia.