Also: ST ­ "PPI-UNTAS relations heating up: UNTAS threatens to deport PPI members who show their cards"

East Timor: 'Protection' Needed for Repentant Militia Chiefs - UNTAET Chief 19 Oct-13:26

Sergio Vieira de Mello, East Timor's UN administrator, Thursday described an offer by militia leaders to tell all about atrocities committed last year in exchange for safety as a "serious and courageous" act and called for their "protection."

"I must give credibility to the letter signed by four militia commanders," Vieira de Mello told Lusa in Dili.

"I consider the letter serious and courageous and I hope the four signers will be duly protected," he added.

Vieira de Mello declined however to say whether he would make any recommendation to the UN on the matter.

The letter, dated Oct. 14 and made public yesterday in Dili, promised full collaboration with investigations into the wave of pro- Indonesian violence during East Timor's 1999 independence plebiscite in exchange for protection from what the authors said were threats against their lives by Indonesian security officials.

In the letter, apparently sent from West Timor, senior militia chiefs Juanico Cesario, Domingos Pereira, Cancio Lopes de Carvalho and Nemencio Lopes de Carvalho, also pledged they would disarm and ease the repatriation of refugees.

Copies of the letter were sent to 35 prominent international personalities, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul II, asking for protection for the four signers and other repentant militia leaders.

 Surya Timor Thursday, 19 October 2000

ST ­ "PPI-UNTAS relations heating up: UNTAS threatens to deport PPI members who show their cards"

KUPANG ­ The lack of harmony between UNTAS and PPI becomes more evident as relations between the two organizations get hotter. On Wed. (18/10), UNTAS Sec. Gen., Filomeno Hornay said he would deport former PPI commanders who have asked for political asylum from the UN Sec. Council. Meanwhile former PPI commanders aren't trembling because of any threat and rather are "singing" about the involvement of former Pres. Habibie, and Generals Wiranto and Damiri in several cases of hr abuses in E. Timor following the referendum. The rift is interesting because up to now the 2 groups have given press statements together and there has been a clear division of duty ­ UNTAS is the political mouthpiece for refugee matters, while PPI has joined with UNTAS but limits itself to keeping PPI members in order.

According to Filomeno, it is proper that former PPI commanders who have asked for political asylum be rewarded with organizational sanctions and should be kicked out of Untas because what they have done is to "sell" the nation's self worth to the UN, so they should also be deported from Indonesia. "E. Timorese sought refuge in W. Timor precisely because they love red white. Now, the commanders of that sector are selling the national and discrediting TNI. It's best that they pick up their feet and leave Indonesian land," stressed Filomeno Hornay. He said that if a fighter like Cancio asks for political asylum outside the country, the mission of his struggle must be questioned. As a fighter for red white, it is not proper that PPI give the UN false data that PPI militia members were trained and given weapons by TNI.

The UNTAS ­ PPI rift was triggered when Cancio and Joanico, outside UNTAS decision-making lines, made a statement about TNI involvement in the training and arming of militia. This was followed by a letter to the UN Sec. Council asking for political asylum and identifying the involvement of some Indonesian officials in cases of hr abuses in E. Timor. Hornay said that Cancio and Joanico along with their followers have lost their guts because they are no longer committed to their earlier struggle. For them there was no other way than to ask the UN Sec. Council to finish the problem. However, if Cancio was a child of the nation and lived in Indo. Territory, he should report to security forces if he experienced terror or there were those threatening his safety. "Not the reverse by directly reporting to the UN Sec. Council and asking for protection." Filomeno is convinced that the UN is not as stupid as Cancio so that there won't be a united response to the statement by Cancio and his friends. The international community, he continued, knows the background of Cancio's struggle is only for his own interests and not a struggle on behalf of the E. Timorese people still in refugee camps. Because Untas has said the statement by Cancio and others is a private statement, UNTAS urges all parties, including the followers of Cancio not to get trapped in this dirty game.

Meanwhile, Cancio and his younger brother, Nemecio, in a meeting with domestic and international reporters yesterday, confirmed that they would not change their direction, rather they turned and curled their lips at UNTAS that doesn't understand the difficult conditions now being faced by former PPI commanders and members. The UNTAS suggestion that terror and threats they face must be reported to security forces rather than to the UN Sec. Council is a crazy idea. "We've guessed that those who are implementing terror and threats to our lives are TNI members.

How can we report to the perpetrators?" said the two brothers. The two said that TNI, that was once very united with PPI, has now reversed and it is as if they was their hands and accuse the militia of being wrong. In fact, the head of TNI's information bureau has admitted that the militia are part of TNI. Cancio has threatened to open all the masks covering the rottenness of TNI and the police if he continues to be threatened and terrorized. "Where did we get our weapons if not from TNI sources…. The razing of E. Timor after the referendum was in accordance with the order of three national leaders [Habibie, Wirantor, Damiri]. Why are we blamed?" He said that part of his honest revelations were immediately broadcast outside the country before he is finished off by certain individuals trying to keep him quiet.

Concerning the police summons so that Cancio and Nemecio be examined as witnesses in the case last 24 Sept. and which has ended in Eurico's arrest, Nemecio said he will continue to ignore the summons.

"I'm suspicious, when I'm examined as a witness, I'll become their target and they'll arrest me. We must be careful and learn from Eurico's arrest," he said. Legally, the police summons was misaddressed. Nemecio is a civil servant working in a justice office in Kupang but was summoned as a refugee with private business living in an Atambua refugee camp. This is a legal basis for him to ignore the summons.

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