Indonesia criticized at home for handling of row with RP
Indonesia criticized at home for handling of row with RP
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government is receiving
criticism from its own people for the way it has handled the row
with the Philippines over Manila's plan to host a conference on
East Timor later this month.
Scholar George Yunus Aditjondro, legislator Aberson Marle
Sihaloho and human rights campaigner H.J.C. Princen all agreed
that it was wrong for Indonesia to have put pressure on the
Philippines to try to cancel the East Timor conference.
By intervening in the Philippine's affairs, Indonesia has
adopted a double standard, said George of the Satyawacana
Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java.
"Indonesia and the other ASEAN countries have always refuted
intervention by Western countries on human rights issues, but by
putting pressures on the Philippines, Indonesia is doing just
that," he said.
President Soeharto has praised his Philippine counterpart,
Fidel Ramos, for barring some foreigners from taking part in the
conference, scheduled for May 30 to June 3. Indonesia has
maintained that the conference is providing a platform for people
opposed to East Timor's integration to attack Indonesia.
Ramos has maintained that the Philippine constitution prevents
him from barring the conference from taking place but agreed to
limit the impact of the meeting.
George called Ramos' decision "tragic" and said Indonesia
should not have gone as far as asking the Philippines to bar the
conference, organized by private groups.
George, who has written a number of papers about East Timor,
whose validity has been questioned by the government, said the
government's action showed that Indonesia still has something to
hide when it comes to East Timor. "Why else would it be afraid of
the conference?"
He said Indonesia is acting like the big brother to the
Philippines and the latter appears to have accepted that role.
George said he is one of several Indonesians who have been
invited to address the conference, but said that the chances of
him going to Manila are now very small.
George is an honorary member of the International
Platform of Juries for East Timor (IPJET) and the
Parliamentarians for East Timor (PET), two of the organizations
that are sponsoring the conference in Manila.
Publicity
Indonesia's behavior has given the conference undue media
publicity, he said.
Princen, who is chairman of the Institute for the Defense of
Human Rights, said Ramos appears to have "caught the Indonesian
disease" of barring certain individuals from entering and leaving
the country.
The Manila conference could provide confidence-building
measures that Indonesia and Portugal have been promoting as part
of their efforts to resolve the East timor issue, Princen said.
Princen, who said he had been invited to the conference, said
he plans to check with the Philippine embassy today to see
whether or not his name has been included on Ramos' list of
banned foreigners.
Legislator Aberson of the Indonesian Democratic Party
questioned the reason why the government wants so badly to have
the conference called off, while all this time it had been saying
there is no trouble with East Timor.
Aberson said the practice of trying to prevent people from
talking about East Timor abroad is "an expensive diplomacy" and
questioned whether the effort is really worth it. (mun/prs/09)