UN wants continued effort against W. Timor militias
UN wants continued effort against W. Timor militias
DILI, East Timor (AFP): The UN chief administrator in East
Timor on Sunday hailed efforts by Jakarta to disarm and disband
militias in West Timor, but said the United Nations wanted to see
proof of a sustained effort.
Head of the UN Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET),
Sergio Viera de Mello told the visiting delegation that his
office had heard from non-UN sources that actions were being
taken against the militias in West Timor by the Indonesian armed
forces and police.
"What we would like to be reassured of, is that this is a
sustained effort on the part of the Indonesian authorities that
will truly lead to the disbanding and disarming of militias,
including their command and control structure," he said.
He cited reports of clashes between Indonesian security forces
and militias that led to the return of a gun taken from a New
Zealand private serving in the UN forces who was killed during a
recent militia attack in the border area in East Timor.
De Mello also said that the arrest in Jakarta of former
militia leader Eurico Guterres last month was "one step in the
right direction ... But it is insufficient in terms of removing
the head of the monster."
"Disarming and disbanding (the militias) are useless unless
you disband the command and control center," he said.
After de Mello's briefing, the head of the visiting UN
Security Council delegations, Martin Andjaba said examining how
to get an estimated 130,000 refugees out of the squalid camps in
West Timor was a top priority of the mission's two days in East
Timor.
The refugees were part of the over 250,000 who were forced to
flee East Timor following the violent post-ballot campaign of
destruction and killings by the militias in September last year.
The seven-member UN mission is on the first leg of a six-day
trip to East Timor and Indonesia to assess the territory's
progress towards nationhood, and Jakarta's approach to East
Timorese refugees and anti-independence militia on its western
half of Timor island.
Nobel peace laureate and the transitional cabinet's foreign
minister, Jose Ramos Horta, said he would tell the delegation
that their very presence was increasing pressure on Indonesia to
deal with the refugees.
"The fact that they are here and going to West Timor and
Indonesia that's already a friendly pressure on Indonesia to make
sure the Indonesians live up to their responsibilities," Horta
told journalists before briefing the delegation.
He also advocated praise for Jakarta's efforts to rein in the
militia and deal with the refugees, pointing to the militia as
the main obstacle in bringing them home.
"The Indonesian military do seem to be trying to stop
intimidation but the militias continue to be pervasive in the
camps.
"I hope that the military will be able to stop the militias
from intimidating those who want to return," Horta said.
Andjaba said that East Timorese leaders and UN administrators
here had told them that difficulties still plagued the territory,
14 months after its rejection of Indonesian rule.
Thousands of East Timorese clutching flowers and photos
followed independence leader Xanana Gusmao in a procession
through Dili's still-rubbled streets on Sunday in the largest
ever commemoration of a massacre in the city's Santa Cruz
cemetery nine years ago.
On Nov. 12, 1991 Indonesian soldiers opened fire on protesters
in the cemetery, killing what activists say were more than 200
people, while the Indonesian military put the official figure at
between 50 and 60.
Video footage of the cemetery attack was broadcast around the
world and drew international attention to the brutal oppression
that East Timorese were living under during Indonesia's 24 rule
over their half-island territory.
Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta, now the territory's
foreign minister, said at least 500 people were killed, based on
information from the church, Dili's Bishop Belo, and pro-
independence fighters.