East Timor fears more bloodshed
East Timor fears more bloodshed
DILI, East Timor (JP): East Timor Military Commander Col. Noer
Muis warned on Sunday of possible bloodshed in the province
following the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot, due to the
absence of a strong commitment among the warring factions to a
reconciliation.
"Bloodshed is quite possible before and after the announcement
of the ballot results because neither conflicting factions nor
their supporters are ready to accept a defeat. This phenomenon
can be seen in the continuing clashes between them during the
ongoing campaign period," he told a media gathering on Sunday
evening.
Violence has continued in many areas in the territory. A
string of clashes in Maliana, Bobonaro, Ainaro and Viqueque last
week left at least five people dead and many others injured.
Muis said tension was mounting in Suai, south of the
provincial capital, with the number of local people taking refuge
in churches increasing to around 3,000, from 1,700 on Friday.
"The refugees have complained about the absence of food and
medical supplies," he said.
However, he blamed the proindependence faction for
intimidating the people to take shelter in churches. He said the
move could be aimed at encouraging the United Nations to send a
peacekeeping force.
"Many refugees admitted they had been forced by
proindependence rebels to pour into the churches for unclear
reasons," he said.
In the latest violence, police and UNAMET police observers
unearthed on Sunday a dead body in Lohemia village in Maliana.
Provincial police spokesman Capt. Widodo D.S. told The Jakarta
Post in Dili that the body of Agusto dos Santos Martins was found
on Saturday. He said Agusto was killed in a clash between
proindependence and prointegration supporters in the village on
Aug. 18.
Eight other people are still missing following the clash.
"We are still conducting an intensive investigation into the
killing and seeking the eight other people who were reportedly
tortured to death in the incident," he said.
The body of Agusto was reburied by his relatives in Hose,
Maliana, after an autopsy conducted by a UNAMET physician.
Manuel Malaganhes, a local figure in Maliana, said that Agusto
and his eight colleagues were tortured to death by prointegration
militiamen while on their way from Hose to Lohemia.
"A witness who escaped the murder told me the victims were
forced to get out of a minivan, and then were tortured to death,"
he said, adding that the witness was now under the protection of
UNAMET in Maliana.
Reconciliation
Muis, who replaced Col. Tono Suratman early this month, called
on the two conflicting factions to continue promoting the
ballot's purpose of establishing peace in the territory
regardless of the result of the popular consultation.
More than 450,000 people in and outside East Timor are
expected to go to the polls on Aug. 30 to decide whether they
remain with or break away from Indonesia.
Muis said he was disappointed with the Catholic Church in East
Timor, which he said favored the proindependence faction despite
increasing calls for its neutrality.
"The Catholic Church authorities should maintain their
impartiality and give services to all people," he said.
Earlier in the day, Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo
said the Roman Catholic Church would stay out of politics
whatever the outcome of the direct ballot.
"The Church will not seize power. It has no desire at all to
share earthly power," he said as quoted by Antara.
Belo, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate, told East
Timorese to work for peace and unity in the run-up to the direct
ballot, so that it would bring about a reconciliation between
proindependence and prointegration supporters.
In Jakarta, jailed East Timor proindependence leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao met with his rival faction on Sunday to
prepare the establishment of a reconciliatory body for the period
immediately after the Aug. 30 vote.
Xanana's lawyer, Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid
and Human Rights Association (PBHI), who was also present Sunday,
told The Jakarta Post by phone that the meeting was aimed at
"enhancing the communication between both factions in regard to
the formation of an East Timorese consultative body".
Also present on Sunday were chief of the UN Mission in East
Timor (UNAMET) Ian Martin and pro-Jakarta leaders Lopez da Cruz,
Dominggus Policarpo and Eurico Guterres.
East Timorese leaders agreed on Aug. 11 to establish a 25-
person commission to foster reconciliation and cooperation in the
half-island territory until the results of the UN-run vote are
implemented.
Members of the commission will be nominated by each of the
warring factions and appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan. The consultative body will be inaugurated on Aug. 31.
(33/rms/byg)