East Timorese, Indonesian people face common problem

East Timorese, Indonesian people face common problem

By Krisna Suryanata and Keith Mattson

JAKARTA (JP): A two-week long human tragedy has been unfolding
in East Timor. The estimated death toll following the Aug. 30
plebiscite is already in the hundreds and rising, and the terror
and forced exodus of residents is all too familiar after Rwanda,
Bosnia and Kosovo.

The international community was temporarily held in check as
helpless bystanders before Indonesia finally agreed last week to
accept the United Nations multinational forces scheduled for
imminent arrival in the territory.

But the most conspicuous bystanders of all are the Indonesian
people, who only three months ago participated in the first open
elections since 1955. It is unconscionable that the people who
overthrew Soeharto, demanded free elections, and voted to replace
Habibie's government have not rallied to support the overwhelming
choice of the people of East Timor. Instead, there are daily
demonstrations in Jakarta against the United Nations.
Increasingly, the crisis in East Timor has been portrayed in
Jakarta as foreign intervention in Indonesian internal affairs.

The trouble with the East Timor issue in Indonesian public
discourse is that it is caught in the midst of the current
presidential politics. Many of Habibie's opponents blame him for
the "hasty" decision in allowing the referendum to take place.
The overwhelming result in favor of independence may also come as
a shock to a public kept ignorant for many years about the
appalling humanitarian situation in East Timor.

Indonesians should note that the post-ballot violence in East
Timor bears an eerie resemblance to the bloody massacre that
occurred following the ascent of Soeharto's New Order government
in 1965. Between 500,000 to 3 million people were estimated to
have died in the countryside of Java and Bali. They were victims
of local militias that acted with the blessing of the Indonesian
military, if only through its inaction. A similar pattern took
place in May 1998 when security forces stood by as mobs of
looters attacked shops and homes belonging to Chinese
Indonesians.

One year ago, reports that ethnic Chinese women were
systematically raped during the riots generated an outpouring of
rage from around the world. It also brought together a number of
broad-based groups in Indonesia demanding justice, a movement
that many had hoped would begin a difficult healing process.

Military officers, however, derailed this positive development
by challenging the validity of the rape accounts and appealing to
xenophobic sentiments. To the dismay of many, public discourse
shifted from demanding a thorough investigation into defending
the nation's image. Public debates on human rights in Indonesia
face a tremendous challenge from a false sense of patriotism that
can be mobilized when foreign pressure intensifies.

The most effective force thus lies with the Indonesian
electorate. Indonesian pro-reform leaders should learn from
Indonesia's past, and understand that East Timor is not an
isolated problem. This same manipulation of pitting civilians
against each other can happen elsewhere in the nation, as was
demonstrated time and time again throughout the past 34 years.
Stopping the horror in East Timor and respecting the wish of East
Timorese is integral to the goal of the national reform movement.
Only the people of Indonesia can effectively put pressure on
their government to allow international peacekeepers to begin
restoring order immediately.

A working democracy requires the electorate's constant
vigilance. Once democracy is compromised in one part of a nation,
it quickly erodes the foundation for democracy throughout the
entire nation. This should be even more threatening to Indonesia
than the widespread belief that if East Timor secedes, so too
will Aceh, Irian Jaya, and other traditional hot spots of
political discontent. Worst of all, if they don't act now the
people of Indonesia may find it impossible to live with their own
consciences in the years to come.