Local daily a victim of E. Timor conflict

By Ati Nurbaiti

DILI, East Timor (JP): Trucks jam-packed with men wearing red and white bandannas passed a hotel here at noon on Saturday, some of them waving to a reporter on the hotel terrace.

"Hey, where are you going?' asked the reporter, waving back.

"Back home!" cried the men. Suddenly without warning, men jumped down from their trucks, in front of the reporter's office, adjacent to the hotel, brandishing an assortment of rifles and poles.

The reporter was rigid, realizing what was in store. Seconds later, he scurried indoors, warning colleagues against taking pictures up close.

The crowd entered the Suara Timor Timur (STT) office, the first and only local paper primarily catering to the province's population of 800,000.

The sound of shattered glass and angry cries filled the air, together with gunfire warning journalists from venturing closer.

More glass was broken and by the time the men left, computers, printing equipment, furniture, papers and files had been vandalized.

Police came too late, but said they had managed to stop the old building from being set on fire.

Two office boys were found hiding under a table in the dark room. It was a holiday and other employees escaped the terror.

The reporter who had waved to the men reflected that however familiar he was to them and to local authorities, his safety was not guaranteed. The press have been reporting on activities of prointegration militia groups, and clearly the groups were not happy.

Managing editor Aderito Hugo da Costa was not entirely shocked. Reporters and management appeared disgusted by the incident as, only a few days earlier, an influential figure had given his word that both foreign and local journalists would not be harmed in any chaos.

"This is the third attack," Hugo said.

In 1994, a journalist was beaten up and fled East Timor in fear of his life. In 1995, the office was attacked and a car was set on fire. This time, the office was destroyed. A number of journalists, including Hugo, have received death threats. Some employees have left the province.

Threats and mounting pressure have become daily fare for the newspaper's staff, ever since the daily began operating in 1993. Imagine running the only newspaper in the middle of warring groups all wanting their own say, none of whom will settle for the Letter to the Editors column.

The newspaper incessantly tells the community that not all their activities and views can be published all the time.

A print run of 7,500 papers, priced at Rp 1,000 each (US 11 cents) is sold out daily.

Since the attack on the newspaper office, Roberto, a telephone operator, has had to be satisfied with reading the tabloids while STT is temporarily closed.

"I like STT, I've been buying and reading it for years. It also has news from the villages, and I know what's happening in places where my relatives are," he said.

The paper has been labeled antigovernment and identified as the "town's wild disturbance group" for its allegedly proindependence viewpoint. On countless occasions, recommendations to close the paper based on these charges have been made by local authorities and local legislators, Hugo said.

Recommendations to shut down the paper have not materialized because "the political elite would say without a local paper (reporting on East Timor by) the foreign press would prevail, and besides questions would arise as to what was happening if the only paper was closed," Hugo said.

Suara Timor Timur was first published as a weekly in 1986 by the Tatoli Naroman Foundation. Financial constraints almost led to its collapse. But management assistance from the Kompas national daily helped the tabloid-size paper grow, from a circulation of 2,000 to 7,500 -- until last Saturday.

"After this, we predict that sympathy and support could lead to a much higher circulation, this is an extraordinary promotion," Hugo said. He was in the shirt he wore on Saturday -- threats and ongoing unrest forced him to book a room at the hotel.

While at times pressure can lead to pride in the importance of the profession, Hugo says writers in the province write few analytical pieces, valuing their lives more than the journalism.

"The pressure hampers the growth of creativity."

In 1993, the paper became a daily in the wake of the trial of independence fighter Alexandre Jose "Xanana" Gusmao. Hostile response to the paper began as stories appeared during the trial, in which Xanana lashed out against the authorities.

The East Timor public was astounded. Though the paper only reported on the trial's proceeding, its stories were considered blasphemous, mainly by those in power. A story on a diarrhea epidemic in Ermera regency in 1995, in which many died, drew ire, with authorities saying the daily was tarnishing the international image of East Timor.

Cover-up

The publication of STT challenged the "culture of lies, of always covering up things," Hugo said.

Under the "politics of integration", it was normal for the public to accept statements uncritically from the lowest to the highest authorities. "When a person is shot, we are accustomed to believe that he is still alive."

Torture and murders were discussed only in private.

The reform movement, Hugo says, "has brought on even bigger problems". Demands for a referendum increased and coverage largely focused on the activities of proindependence groups, while prointegration groups lay low.

In the past six months, the paper has increasingly been labeled one-sided.

Representative of the National Commission on Human Rights in East Timor Florentino Sarmento, says statements by proindependence leaders which are considered misleading, bewilder prointegration groups "who have hardly any access to coverage".

This in part may explain the current attacks against the media.

A number of observers also say STT is one-sided favoring proindependence. Hugo denies the suggestion, saying "we give opportunities to all sides, because we don't want further division when there are already sharp differences".

Management from Suara Timor Timur say the daily will hit the streets again in early May, with financial support from the Asia Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

For the time being, reporters hang about the office, while a few are involved with other papers, including the foreign media.

Hugo says such activities are condoned, not only because the average salary is Rp 300,000 per month, but because "Affiliation with other media brings a little bit of respect from others", adding clout to the precarious existence of journalists in this province.