To be free, E. Timor needs Indonesia

By Soegio Sosrosoemarto

JAKARTA (JP): If I were East Timorese, I would wholeheartedly support the struggle of East Timorese to be free, and that can be achieved only by East Timor becoming an integral part of the archipelago called Indonesia. For Indonesia is a nation born out of the universal ideal of freedom from colonial bondage, and not based on single racial, single religious or single cultural concepts. It is this force of universal idealism which has worked as a centripetal force bringing together far flung islands and people into one nation.

Only the vagary of colonialism in the past has made this eastern part of the island called East Timor an infamous symbol of Portuguese presence in the "remote" corner of the world for hundreds of years. It was made possible only because our illiterate and guileless ancestors were unknowing victims of colonialism, regarded as mere human chattels by the white masters and by vernal and corrupt local henchmen. The easternmost tip of the island had become a model of utter neglect of colonialism, so much so that Polish-born English writer and adventurer Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), described East Timor in his book The Victory as a "god-forsaken spot".

An independent East Timor (with original indigenous name or newly imported one) would be an artificial, even grotesque, creation, designed only to cater to the anachronistic dream of some local quasi "westernized" elite. They seem to still cherish the preservation of "Lusitanian" culture in this former Portuguese colonial chunk of land. Being artificial, an independent East Timor would most likely be short-lived. Like a severed household lizard's tail: it wiggles for a while and then stops moving.

Human memory indeed is short. Many of those who are now loudly demanding a referendum to be held in East Timor belong to an armed political group who, in the mid 1970s (on Nov. 28, 1975 to be exact), unilaterally declared independence for East Timor, blatantly ignoring the other political groupings.

Apparently afraid of the prospect of losing in a democratically held act of free choice, they tried to seize power, leaving, had they succeeded, the other political groupings with a stark choice: either disbanding themselves of facing elimination. By no stretch of the imagination could one expect this political grouping to be a democratic vehicle in an independent country. In power, they would most likely not tolerate any opposing political factions and would use force to achieve their political goals.

One can certainly understand why a lot of young East Timorese join the clamor for a referendum. They seem to take for granted what they see as their land of birth. In the 1970s, they were too young -- some not even born yet -- to be able to make comparisons between Indonesia's 27th province and Timor Leste under colonial rule. Jobless, uprooted from their native soil and living in unfriendly jungles of concrete, they are deeply frustrated young people, ready to believe that an independent East Timor under the current "proindependence" leaders would be a panacea for all ills.

Indeed, human rights violations, violence, and other great mistakes have been committed in East Timor by the Indonesian "newcomers", who in many instances, because of overreaction and perhaps also zealotry, have indeed shown an utter lack of sensitivity and respect for local values and customs. All those wrongs must be corrected and injustices redressed, and not repeated.

Failure to do this will lend credit to the propaganda cleverly concocted and effectively disseminated by "interested parties", mostly operating abroad, that there have been large-scale and systematic measures of "Islamization" or "Javanization" in East Timor.

Recent spates of bloody clashes between proindependence and pro-Indonesia supporters in East Timor should make all of us think long and hard about the wisdom of holding a referendum in East Timor, as demanded by proindependence elements.

These clashes could be a foretaste of possible future violence, certainly bloodier and on a larger scale than the conflict in the 1970s, if the results of a referendum are not satisfactory to both sides.

Pro-Indonesia groups have suddenly sprung up everywhere in East Timor recently, following the government announcement on the "two options". Earlier, the government decided to reduce the number of Armed Forces there. It would be absurd to insist that rebels have the right to carry guns legally because they are fighting for a political goal, while private citizens should be forbidden to arm themselves.

The arming of East Timorese private citizens, dubbed "militia", is obviously an act of prepared self-defense for emergencies, since as often as not they are the object of the rebels' attacks and terrorism. These so-called "militia" would likely be willing to dispose of their weapons as soon as proindependence rebels stop attacking them. Unfortunately, the recent reported call of the leader of the proindependence group for his followers in East Timor to declare war on the Indonesian government and the Armed Forces have made the situation worse.

One of the ways to find a peaceful solution to the East Timor problem is to give proindependence elements in East Timor the opportunity to found a political party of their own, followed by the disarming of their supporters. This new political party, whose goal is independence for East Timor, along with other political parties already in existence, would take part in regional and local elections to choose their representatives.

There would be two options for them in their quest for independence: Voting, qualified or not, in the regional council on a bill which would declare independence for East Timor, or voting on a bill demanding a referendum or popular sounding on independence. All the proceedings should take place under the United Nations aegis. This special election would be held separately from the general election scheduled for June.

No one doubts that the road to a peaceful solution of the East Timor problem is long, hard, and arduous. And no one knows exactly how the two opposing groups can be reconciled. Could a United Nations presence in East Timor help the warring sides find a peaceful solution acceptable to all parties concerned? Yes, it could probably help, but only for a short time. Observe, for example, what has happened in a number of other countries where UN peacekeepers or observers are stationed.

The underlying main cause of recurrent violence between contending parties is the parties' failure to agree on a national consensus on the future system of government, and its concomitant failure to merge their "military" wings into one national army.

As to the prospect of a peaceful solution to conflicts in East Timor, much depends on whether independence supporters are willing and prepared to form a a genuine political party committed to democracy and the non-use of force in seeking solutions to the problems in East Timor.

One of the main prerequisites for this transformation is whether they are sincerely ready and willing to disband and disarm their "military" wing. Looking into their past records one doubts if they are ready for that, but let us hope they will be.

Bearing in mind the possible obstacles and difficulties mentioned above, we can only hope that foreign "instant experts" who from afar dabble in the problems of former colonial territories and who usually are more inclined to listen to the favored party, would come to their senses and seek a more realistic and viable peace formula for East Timor.

Finally, taking the cue from peace efforts in the Middle East, our government leaders who have played an active and constructive role in efforts to find a peaceful solution for the 27th province of Indonesia should now gird themselves with courage to face a possible new "problem": an offer of an award by the Nobel Peace Prize committee.

The Nobel committee's goals are indeed noble, but in this particular case, the committee would demonstrate, to our deep regret, a flagrant lack of objectivity. Therefore, a Nobel Peace Prize, shared or not with someone else (one name comes to mind), should be politely turned down. Indeed, this decision does need courage, because the hundreds of thousands of dollars which go with the award would be for many a temptation too strong to resist.

Soegio Sosrosoemarto was Indonesia's charge d'affairs in Namibia from 1992 to 1995. The opinions expressed here are entirely his own.