Peace remains elusive for East Timor in 1995

Peace remains elusive for East Timor in 1995

By Yacob Herin and Endy M. Bayuni

DILI, East Timor (JP): Peace remained as elusive as ever in East Timor, 19 years after the territory integrated with Indonesia.

If the turbulence that has rocked the territory all year long is any indication, peace may be even harder to come by when East Timor marks the 20th anniversary of its integration next July.

Riots, many with increasingly racial and religious overtones, and other forms of unrests undermined the government's efforts to forge ahead with development in East Timor, still the most backward of Indonesia's 27 provinces. They also subverted Indonesia's diplomatic efforts to settle the East Timor problem at the United Nations and win world recognition for integration once and for all.

The exposure of these unfortunate events by the international media were quickly seized by the anti-integration groups and their supporters abroad to turn them to their advantage.

There were one or two bright moments that momentarily gave hope for peace in East Timor. Alas they were short-lived, overshadowed by the riots and protests and by the negative publicity campaign that the anti-integration camp is waging through the international media.

The historic meeting between the leaders of the two opposing camps near the Austrian city of Salzburg in June momentarily raised hopes that the 20 years of enmity and hatred between them would finally come to an end.

The presence of Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church of East Timor, certainly lent credence to the All East Timorese Dialog.

The meeting ended with a statement pledging the participants' commitment to work towards peace in their homeland. The show of unity was overshadowed when pro-Indonesia delegates to the meeting later denounced the insertion of a clause of an old United Nations resolution in the statement which they claimed was done without their knowledge.

The planned inauguration of a huge statue of Jesus Christ on the coast of Dili, a symbol of peace, has been delayed until 1996, pending the availability of President Soeharto who has been kept busy throughout the year.

Hopes for peace is being revived again as 1995 comes to a close, with the planned return of four East Timorese and their families after more than 30 years living in exile. The returnees can lay claim to the title of East Timor heroes for they were sent into exile in Angola and Mozambique by the Portuguese colonial administration for an anti-colonial uprising. Now they are returning to East Timor and will be accorded red-carpet treatment during their transit in Jakarta next week.

These were the few bright spots in East Timor in 1995, which unfortunately were eclipsed by incidents that never seemed to cease and some that have lingered for a long time.

The worst incident, and one that severely damaged both Indonesia's image and that of the Armed Forces, occurred in January, although it only became public knowledge a month later.

Six unarmed civilians were slain during a military operation in a remote village in the Liquisa regency. The local military at first insisted that the six were killed in a clash with Fretilin members, the armed separatist movement.

Later investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights refuted the military claim, forcing the military to conduct another investigation, the result of which determined that there were "procedural" errors in the handling of the affair by the patrol commander.

The protests and riots in Dili and other cities, which in the past echoed local opposition to Indonesia's rule, this year took more racial and religious overtones, first targeting non-East Timorese migrants, and later non-Catholics who were mostly Moslems, but also, to a lesser extent, Protestants.

A riot in Baucau in January targeted South Sulawesi migrants who run most of the city's trade. The riot followed the stabbing of an East Timorese by his Bugis neighbor.

The incident should have served as a reminder to officials in Dili and in Jakarta of the precarious relations between East Timorese and migrants to the province.

Even bigger riots erupted later in September in a number of other cities in East Timor, sparked by reports suggesting that a prison official made denigrating remarks about Roman Catholicism, the dominant religion of the territory.

The news angered many East Timorese and prompted them to take to the streets and begin attacking government offices and houses of non-East Timorese. A Moslem school and a mosque were also attacked and damaged. Thousands of non-East Timorese, including many teachers assigned to work in the territory, fled the province with their families.

The year also saw an unprecedented number of East Timorese wanting to leave their homeland, some by crossing the sea to Australia and some by forcing their way into foreign embassies in Jakarta, demanding asylum.

The British, Japanese and French embassies were all targets of "invasion" by young East Timorese during the year. Their petition for asylum were rejected by the various embassies although they later gained passage to Portugal from the Portuguese government. The Indonesian government considered this "invasion" of embassies "a tired old joke" instigated by opponents of East Timor's integration abroad.

The government has also pointed out that the youths were not being persecuted and were free to leave the country.

A new development occurred in early December when the embassies of Japan and Russia were "invaded", not solely by East Timorese, but also non-East Timorese students from Java.

The embassy invasion on Dec. 7 coincides with what anti- Indonesian groups call the 20th anniversary of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

The protesters at the Japanese and Russian embassies did not demand asylum. Instead they called for a referendum in East Timor on the question of the territory's integration and the removal of troops from the area. This marked the first protest in which non-East Timorese participated.

The protesters later agreed to leave the embassies after assurances of a safe passage out by the authorities.