Spare us more indignity

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.