PPI chief to consult Dili over repatriation
PPI chief to consult Dili over repatriation
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Militiamen of the Prointegration Forces (PPI) in Indonesia may
be heading home soon, as their former chief will meet the East
Timor government to discuss repatriation and the legal charges
some may face for involvement in the 1999 violence.
Former PPI militiaman Ansesco Sessas said on Friday the
meeting between former PPI chief Joao da Silva Tavares and the
East Timor government would start tomorrow in the border town of
Batugade, East Timor.
"We will discuss the legal procedures for former militiamen to
come home to East Timor," Ansesco was quoted as saying by Antara
at the West Timor border town of Atambua.
"This meeting increases chances for a repatriation of all the
families of the former militiamen," he said.
He said the former militiamen had been living in frustration
and fear since they fled East Timor following its independence
from Indonesia in a United Nations-backed ballot in 1999.
"They're too afraid to come home even if they've committed no
crime," Ansesco said.
He added that the militia delegation would meet with East
Timor Chief Justice Longuinhos Monteiro in Batugade.
Monteiro, he said, would explain to them the legal procedures
for militiamen who might had been involved in crimes or human
rights violations.
According to Ansesco, the East Timor Constitution does not
recognize the death penalty. "It is important that the former
militiamen know East Timor's legal system if they decide to come
home."
Another former militiaman Afonso de Deus Rodriques said former
militiamen were hoping the militia delegation would soon explain
to others the results of the planned meeting with the East Timor
government.
The deadline for repatriation is August 31, after which the
East Timor government will no longer handle the matter.
Tavares has said he and his followers had initially wanted to
stay in Indonesia. They changed their minds after the Indonesian
government stopped paying attention to PPI members.
Since January, the government and the UN ceased providing
humanitarian aid to the thousands of East Timorese refugees in
Atambua.
The government claimed it no longer had any money to support
the refugees, which it had been doing since late 1999.
It said it expected refugees to return to the now safe East
Timor and overcome the fear of being treated as second class
citizens in their homeland or join the government's resettlement
program.