Subject: GU: E Timor's day-old peace deal shatters
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 10:41:05 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo:
East Timor's day-old peace deal shatters
Militias ignore pact as talks on autonomy begin in New York
By John Aglionby in Dili Friday April 23, 1999
Terrorism and murder continued unabated in East Timor yesterday, leaving in tatters the
peace agreement signed by the leaders of the territory's opposing factions in a grand
ceremony only the day before.
Human rights workers confirmed reports that eight people had been killed in three
separate incidents by paramilitaries loyal to Indonesia, while groups opposed to
independence said nine of their members had been kidnapped by guerrillas.
Few of the paramilitaries patrolling the streets of the capital Dili for the past two
weeks were visible yesterday but they maintained checkpoints on several roads out of the
town, turning back foreign journalists and anyone they suspected of being a
pro-independence activist.
Trucks full of soldiers and riot police roared around the town in greater numbers than
usual and as darkness fell shots were heard in several neighbourhoods in what is becoming
a nightly exercise of intimidation by the military and their militias. Non-governmental
organisations continued to receive threatening phone calls.
In one attack yesterday, a militia burnt or destroyed nine houses and killed two people
in the Cailako district, 25 miles west of Dili. Five other people were killed as they were
preparing to go out to tend their crops. And an eighth person died when paramilitaries
clashed with pro-independence supporters near Dili airport.
A European man who had spent the past few days in East Timor's interior said the
paramilitaries were ignoring the peace agreement and continuing to recruit.
'I also saw them parading up and down roads in several villages in the morning,
afternoon and evening,' he said. 'It was clear they were not preparing for peace.'
Many people believe the death toll in East Timor is much higher than that being
reported.
'We have heard about these attacks today because they are in and around Dili,' Joao da
Silva, a student leader, said. 'We have no idea what is going on in the more remote
areas.'
He said he was not surprised the peace deal, which was brokered and witnessed by the
commander of Indonesia's armed forces, General Wiranto, had failed to hold for even 24
hours. 'It was imposed from above by the army. What we need is an agreement that comes
from the hearts of the people.'
Gen Wiranto hurriedly drew up the pact in the wake of international condemnation after
army-backed paramilitaries perpetrated two massacres in 12 days.
It will never be known how many people died in the attacks because the security forces
prevented independent investigations before clearing away the evidence.
Members of Indonesia's human rights commission were allowed to visit Liquica only
yesterday, more than two weeks after at least 25 people were killed as they sought refuge
in a church.
'I am very dissatisfied with what I saw,' one commissioner, Koespararno Irsan, said.
'The army had removed everything and repaired all the damage.'
The East Timor Student Solidarity Movement yesterday sent more than 500 volunteers to
remote communities to monitor the security situation. 'The aim is also to engage the
people in dialogue because we will never achieve a peaceful resolution of the crisis
without talking to each other,' Mr Da Silva said.
All East Timorese around the world are due to vote in a UN-sponsored ballot in July on
whether to accept wide-ranging autonomy from Jakarta. If they reject it, the Indonesian
president, BJ Habibie, has promised to give independence to the former Portuguese colony,
which was invaded by Jakarta in 1975.
Indonesia's foreign minister, Ali Alatas, met the Portuguese foreign minister, Jamie
Gama, in New York yesterday for two days of talks to settle the terms of the autonomy
package. If the proposal is agreed, UN monitors are expected to open a permanent office in
East Timor at the beginning of next month.
A team of UN staff arrived in East Timor yesterday but their leader and head of the UN
Development Programme in Indonesia, Ravi Rajin, said their visit was unconnected with the
talks in New York. 'We are here on a humanitarian mission, nothing more.'
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