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.