Subject: AFP: August ballot date for East Timor
criticised as dangerously late
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 08:47:04 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>August ballot date for East
Timor criticised as dangerously late
DILI, East Timor, April 27 (AFP) - Community leaders in East Timor warned Tuesday that
August was too late for a referendum on autonomy and would give pro-Indonesia miltias
months to carry out their campaign of intimidation.
Indonesian President B.J. Habibie announced the August 8 date earlier in the day at a
summit with Australian Premier John Howard in the resort island of Bali. The vote had
originially been pencilled in for July.
Habibie also said he had approved a draft agreement on the voting mechanism for East
Timor's 800,000 people so that a final autonomy package could be signed at the United
Nations on May 5.
But a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Roman Catholic diocese of Dili
said the referendum should be brought forward for security reasons.
"If East Timorese have to wait until August 8 for the polling then the people
might have all been killed by then," the member, who asked to remain anonymous, told
AFP.
"The people are dying and under constant threat from militias who have every day
intimidated and forced people to agree to join with Indonesia," he added.
Hendardi (EDS: one name), a lawyers for jailed East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao
and head the Indonesian Association for Legal Aid and Human Rights, agreed the vote was
too late.
"This date further reinforces our impression that there are efforts to delay the
voting so that Indonesia's politics of mobilizing the masses can be put to use to give
rise to the impression that people in East Timor want autonomy," Hendardi said by
telephone from Jakarta.
He said pro-Indonesian groups in East Timor, including the Kamra military auxiliary
force, were stepping up pressure to force the local population to accept the autonomy
scheme.
"They (the militias) have been forcing people to sign forms saying they approve of
the integration (with Indonesia). In Dili, the militia, including the Kamra, have been
going door-to-door yesterday evening," Hendardi said.
"What is more important is that efforts should be made by all to bring an
immediate halt to the climate of violence in East Timor and to reduce to the minimun the
tension between the two groups in East Timor," Hendardi said.
Pro-Indonesian miltias have stepped up a reign of terror against independence activists
this month, carrying out several massacres which have left scores dead.
The chairman of the Dili-based Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, Aniceto
Guterres, said the setting of the date was "a fait-accompli" by Habibie.
"We have no choice, this is a schedule set unilaterally by Habibie. If you ask me
it is much too early," said Guterres.
He reasoned that what East Timor needed was not just a final solution but also peace
for East Timor, adding that peace could only come through reconciliation -- a long time
process.
"Democracy is one thing, but the people should be free of pressure and adequately
informed of the option. People should also be prepared to accept the other's victory and
their own defeat," Guterres said.
Guterres also mentioned the many reports of pro-Indonesian groups actively forcing
people to sign up documents saying they accepted autonomy.
"This afternoon, I have just received reports from women civil servants at the
mayor's office who said that they had been asked to sign a document saying they accepted
autonomy," he said.
"The autonomy deal itself has yet to be signed and nobody here has an inkling of
what it contains, but people are already asked to sign these documents," Guterres
said.
Emanuel de Freites, an elderly East Timorese resident, felt dismayed at the late poll
date which he felt would jeopardize the lives of more Timorese.
"Sooner is better for all of us. Both opposing groups are too suspicious of each
other and that creates too much tension in our lives," he said.
The ballot was decided after Jakarta in January said it was prepared to let go of East
Timor, which it invaded in 1975 and annexed the following year, if the people there
rejected the autonomy offer.
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