Witnesses claim Interfet shoots two East Timorese
JAKARTA (JP): International Force for East Timor (Interfet) troops shot dead on Saturday two East Timorese residents of Atabae subdistrict, Bobonaro regency, 197 km west of Dili, Antara reported.
Two witnesses, Andre Paulino and Fransisco Soares, told reporters at the Atambua media center on Saturday night that Interfet troops, accompanied by 20 armored vehicles, shot the two civilians, Americo Mahulobo and Osorio Barros, as they were on their way to the forest to look for sago.
"Armindo, who had just walked out of his home, was the first to be shot, while Osorio was shot when he wanted to pick up Armindo's body," Paulino said.
Minutes after the shooting, local residents rushed out of their homes but dared not get close to the two victims because the bodies were surrounded by Interfet soldiers.
Andre and Fransisco said they escaped from the Interfet troops' attack at the hamlet of Aidabasalalang, Hatas village, by walking along Cailako river and crossing Nunura river before reaching Silawan, a village in the Belu district, West Timor regency, East Nusa Tenggara.
They said some 2,400 residents of Atabae had moved to Belu to evade Interfet troops, who are searching for prointegration fighters.
In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, the Forum for Unity, Peace and Justice (FPDK) condemned clash on Saturday between prointegration militias and Interfet troops in Bobonaro regency, East Timor, which killed three militiamen and two civilians and injured scores of others.
FPDK chairman in South Sulawesi, Gilhermino Araujo Lopez, said, "The shootings show how much Interfet has violated the principle of human rights. They're supposed to be peacemakers."
"The incident would not have happened if they had used persuasive ways to deal with the militias," Lopez said on Sunday.
The forum doubted that the militias were fighting Interfet during the incident.
"We received reports that Interfet has been conducting harsh raids to disarm the people. That is why the militias fought back. Even many civilians were captured," Lopez said.
The forum also urged Interfet to stop overreacting in dealing with disputes and "stop shooting first, asking questions later".
The Indonesian Military is also having to maximize its protection of East Timor refugees sheltering in East Nusa Tenggara and has urged the people not to return to the disputed land until the situation is normal, he said.
FPDK secretary-general, Alfredo dos Santos, asked, "Why bother going back to East Timor only to be harassed and accused of being militias by Interfet?"
In a related development, an official at the refugee center, J.B. Suparanto, said on Saturday that thousands of East Timorese refugees were thinking of returning to their homeland where they could plant crops during the coming rainy season.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has sent 2,000 refugees back home, while another 4,500 others were on the waiting list.
East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) vice governor Johanis Pake Pani said the NTT administration has let the East Timorese decide whether to return to their homeland or stay in the province.
"I hope that warring parties in East Timor will not disturb the refugees returning from NTT," Pani said as quoted by Antara.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program said in a press statement in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday that for the past two months, the East Timorese have needed US$5.64 million in food aid and an additional operational and transportation fund of about $8 million.
The Rome-based organization said it sent 350,000 plastic packs of biscuits for the East Timorese refugees.
"Biscuits are the most practical food to deliver by airplanes in such a food crisis," it said. (27/edt/imn)