Lead article
October 1999
Western powers stand by in face of Indonesia's genocide in
East Timor
by Kevin Michaels
A history of more than 20 years of genocide against the people of East
Timor has culminated in a frenzy of death and terror wholly sponsored and
organized by the government and military of Indonesia. The world will not
soon forget the horrifying reports of violence broadcast from East Timor's
capital, Dili, in the wake of the Aug. 30 referendum on independence in
which 78.5% of those voting indicated their desire to break free of the
domination Indonesia has imposed since its 1975 invasion. The carnage was
carried out by militias composed of members of the small minority of East
Timorese who favored "autonomy" within Indonesia, as well as
government-sponsored transmigrants from other parts of the archipelago
nation and out-of-uniform members of the Indonesian army and police.
In the days immediately after the massacres of supporters of independence
began, representatives of the National Council of Timorese Resistance
(CNRT), the umbrella group of East Timorese political groups working for
freedom for their country, appealed both to the United Nations and the
countries of the West for immediate action to stop the bloodshed. Those
powers, however, in keeping with their decades-old policy of subordinating
the right to self-determination for East Timor to their respective
strategic interests, refused to act. Hundreds of thousands were forced to
flee their homes either to the mountainous interior of the country or
across the border into what are effectively concentration camps in
Indonesian West Timor. The number of those butchered outright in Dili and
scores of villages across the island will not be known for some time.
The tragedy of this event is that by the time the referendum took place, it
was already too late to prevent the slaughter that the militias had
publicly announced as their intent to carry out in the event of a vote for
independence. During the period that the attention of the world was focused
on the Serbian government's attempt to forcibly expel the Albanian
population of Kosova, the Indonesian military was implementing a plan for a
final solution to its Timor problem.
While culpability for the massacres lies primarily with the Indonesian
government and military, the United Nations' refusal to heed warnings from
observers on the ground that systematic preparations for a massive wave of
anti-independence violence were underway well in advance of the date the
referendum was finally held indicts that institution as well as the Western
governments who claim to have been caught unawares.
The government of the United States bears particular responsibility because
of its history of arming and training the Indonesian military. The U.S.
government facilitated General Suharto's rise to power after he led an
apocalyptic purge of leftist peasants, students and intellectuals in the
aftermath of what may have been a coup attempt on the part of the
Indonesian Communist Party in 1965.
COUNTDOWN TO BLOODSHED
Indonesian acquiescence to a referendum on East Timor's future was a result
of Suharto's forced retirement from office in the spring of 1998 by mass
pressure from students, workers and the middle class. The thaw in
Indonesian society which took place after his departure permitted
unprecedented opposition to the authoritarian society he built to appear.
The political ferment even allowed movement on the question of East Timor,
a topic on which the Suharto regime had been inflexible since it crushed
that country's fleeting period of independence after the collapse of
Portuguese colonialism.
Suharto's successor, B.J. Habibie, seemed to grudgingly admit that holding
on to East Timor was no longer worth the great expense it required and gave
signs that he was willing to consider change. He consented to releasing
Xanana Gusmao, the imprisoned leader of the East Timorese resistance
movement, to supervised confinement in a house in Jakarta. He also relented
to allowing what was termed a "popular consultation" on the future status
of East Timor, subject to approval by the People's Consultative Assembly:
"autonomy" within Indonesia or independence.
An agreement was signed between the Indonesian and Portuguese governments
in May to arrange for the vote. Portugal, East Timor's former colonial
power and the political entity recognized by the United Nations as still
having legal authority over the territory, has long been plagued by a bad
conscience over its failure to permit the decolonization process to take
place after the Carnation Revolution of 1974. While Portugal regularly
consults with the CNRT, it did not formally participate in the signing of
the agreement.
Even before the signing took place, a highly organized effort to undermine
it was underway. Sections of the military, which continues to play a
strongly politicized role in Indonesian society, were sponsoring armed
groups in East Timor to disrupt the process which was to lead up to the
referendum. Militia attacks occurred all through the spring, including a
vicious one on a church in the village of Liquica in April, in which 57
people were killed.
A report has surfaced that shortly after this massacre, Dennis Blair, a U.S
admiral, met with General Wiranto, the commander of the Indonesian
military, ostensibly to tell him to reign in the militias. Instead, Blair
in effect promised Wiranto future U.S. military training of Indonesian
troops.
Targets of the increasing militia harassment included international
humanitarian aid groups and the United Nations Assistance Mission to East
Timor (UNAMET), the body charged with the preparation for and supervision
of the referendum.
The interference became so intense that the date of the vote was pushed
back twice. That UNAMET had to rely on the Indonesian police and army, the
forces ultimately responsible for the rising tide of violence, to provide
security for the organizing of the referendum exposes the basic absurdity
of the arrangement. The UN and the West did not exhibit the will to ensure
that the referendum would take place in a secure environment and thus are
complicit in its horrible outcome.
VOTE ENDS IN TERROR
The vote itself and the counting of ballots took place with a minimum of
disturbances. It was the announcement of the outcome however-an
overwhelming majority voted for complete independence-which provided the
signal for the nightmare to begin. Gangs armed with machetes and homemade
firearms exploded into unbelievable violence as the Indonesian police and
army stood idly by. Anyone deemed to be a supporter of independence, no
matter what age, was considered a target. No one was safe, including the
clergy in this predominantly Catholic country. Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo,
who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with independence leader Jose Ramos
Horta, fled to Portugal.
The inadequate UNAMET force was confined to its compound in Dili, in which
as many East Timorese as could make it over the barbed wire sought refuge.
The violence became so fierce that eventually UNAMET vacated the island
completely, a move which marked a humiliating end to the referendum process.
While the few remaining journalists transmitted stories of the genocide to
the outside world, the Indonesian government claimed it needed time and the
imposition of martial law to gain control of the situation. The fact that
East Timor was already one of the most heavily militarized places in Asia
seemed to be lost. Journalist Allan Nairn's eyewitness reports of militias
operating directly out of Indonesian military facilities exposes this
patently false claim of the Indonesian government.
Just as the Indonesian government protested that it was powerless, the
governments of the West sat on their hands as well. Australia, long a
silent partner in the Indonesian occupation in the sense that it formally
recognized the latter's claim to the territory, stated it was ready to
intervene but declined to take unilateral action. The U.S. and Britain made
the token effort of interrupting military relations but likewise refused to
go further. The plea of Falintil, the small armed East Timorese resistance
force, for immediate assistance went unheeded. It was only at the Asian
Pacific Economic Council meeting in Auckland, New Zealand-during which the
murderous terror still raged-that President Clinton convinced Indonesia to
permit an outside force in to restore order.
Incredibly, the first token air drop of food to the refugees facing
starvation in the countryside did not take place until Sept. 17. The first
elements of the Australian-led peacekeeping force began arriving on Sept.
20.
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
This horrific genocide has revealed that the "New Order"-Suharto's name for
the bloody regime he constructed-lives on after his departure. Nothing less
than the course of Indonesia's unfinished transition to democracy is now at
stake. The small numbers of courageous Indonesian students and independent
labor unionists who denounced the genocide-far outnumbered by the larger
demonstrations of narrow nationalists-are now confronted with a military
which has been humiliated by what it considers a foreign incursion into its
territory.
How it and Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia's first
president, who is set to become leader of the government later this year
will deal with the ongoing movements for freedom in Aceh and Irian Jaya
remains to be seen. Megawati has consistently opposed self-determination
for East Timor and criticized Habibie's decision to allow the referendum to
take place. It is possible that her nationalism will dovetail with the
interests of the leaders of the now-chastened military and result in a
less, not more, democratic Indonesia for its millions of peasants and
workers still attempting to emerge from Suharto's authoritarian legacy.
This situation represents a grave challenge to a country with a long and
distinguished history of anti-colonial and popular struggles.
The carnage in East Timor however, did reveal that millions the world over
stand in solidarity with the Timorese people. From Australian dockworkers
and students to activists in the U.S., Britain and Canada, to virtually the
entire population of Portugal; all showed their support for a free and
independent East Timor. Hopefully it is not too early to say that with the
resilience of the people of East Timor and the solidarity of their friends
abroad, the free country that existed for such a brief time in 1975 can now
be born anew.
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