Spare us more indignity

Thanks to the leadership of President B.J. Habibie and Indonesian Military Commander (TNI) Gen. Wiranto, we Indonesians as a nation have suffered one international indignity after another these past two weeks.

The decision to accept on Sunday a United Nations peacekeeping force into East Timor -- diplomatically worded as an invitation -- came in the face of strong international pressure. Then on Wednesday, the Security Council unanimously voted to establish a multinational force and gave it a full mandate to restore peace. This means the use of military force if necessary. Rubbing salt into the wound, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ignored Indonesia's objections and named Australia to head the force.

Prior to this chain of events, Indonesia was widely condemned, bullied, and threatened with economic sanctions. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said they would reconsider their multibillion dollar programs in Indonesia. Indonesia became an international pariah for its handling, or more appropriately mishandling, of East Timor.

There are yet more indignities to come, at least for the narrow-minded nationalists in this country. The sight of foreign soldiers landing in East Timor, and of the Indonesian Military making way for them to take charge of security in East Timor could well be the final humiliation. Then there is the prospect of an international tribunal for Indonesian leaders on charges of crimes against humanity. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has already started work in this direction.

Since Indonesia became an independent and sovereign nation in 1945, it has never suffered such an international blow to its dignity. Our two previous leaders, Sukarno and Soeharto, although they were often targets of international criticism, were adept at steering away from this kind of humiliation. If this were the 1960s, Sukarno would probably have told the United Nations to go to hell, as he did in 1964 with U.S. aid, and when he severed links altogether with the United Nations a few years earlier.

As much as the government and military have tried to shift the focus of attention away from what is happening in East Timor by blaming others for the violence -- Australia, Portugal, New Zealand, the United Nations and the United States have been targeted -- there is no denying the fact that they have brought this on themselves. But the entire nation suffers as a result.

No matter how they explain it, or what excuses they come up with for the situation in East Timor, the bottom line is Indonesia is responsible for everything that has happened there. The killings, the forced evacuation of people from their homes, and the destruction resulting from the scorched-earth campaign took place when the territory was under Indonesia's charge. When Indonesia signed the deal with the United Nations in May, it not only agreed to take responsibility for East Timor's security, it insisted on the mandate, claiming that the territory remained under its sovereignty until East Timorese voted otherwise. That means that Indonesia is responsible for the lives and property of all East Timorese, and not just for the minority who support integration with Indonesia.

Events of the past week or so showed that we, or rather our government, failed the East Timorese, the international community and the Indonesian people. The international outrage was understandable, for no self-respecting nation could remain silent in the face of this humanitarian catastrophe. Australia may have been the harshest critic of all, and some people in this country may be offended by this attitude, but this in no way could wipe out the sins that we have committed in East Timor.

We have lost East Timor, and nothing we do now can deny East Timorese their well-deserved independence. There is no sense in getting upset about the prospect of seeing foreign soldiers arriving in East Timor. Indonesia has no business to remain in East Timor. The result of the Aug. 30 ballot clearly shows that Indonesia never had any legitimate claim over East Timor.

If the arrival this weekend of the multinational force is to be the greatest humiliation of all, pray that this will be the last one. By now, we hope our leaders have truly learned their lessons well: that as a self-respecting nation and member of the international community we must respect universal humanitarian values and live up to our responsibilities.