Subject: ST: Timor villagers warned: Death if you
vote for independence
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 12:21:24 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Straits Times [Singapore] July 24 1999
Timor villagers warned: Death if you vote for independence
By MARIANNE KEARNEY IN DILI
ARMED militiamen in Maubisse, 70 km south of here, are patrolling the streets and
threatening villagers with death if they vote for independence.
A local priest said militiamen in the coffee-growing mountains of the region,
reportedly a stronghold of the pro-independence Falintil group, moved from house to house
every night threatening to wipe out whole families if the villagers do not choose
integration.
The priest said the 700-strong mostly-armed militia from the Mahidi or the Live or Die
for Integration group, appeared to be backed by the local military.
He said Mahidi's third highest commander in Maubisse was also a member of the local
army command, most of its members were locals and probably about half had been forced at
gunpoint to join the militia.
Nine pro-independence supporters fled the area for the forest this week and at least
two villagers fled to Dili following death threats the week before.
In violation of security agreements between the Indonesian police and the UN Mission in
East Timor or Unamet, the priest said the police had not disarmed or arrested any of the
militia routinely patrolling the streets, nor investigated any complaints about
intimidation of residents.
He said the militia arrived in town yesterday morning and toured his parish buildings
without any response from the police.
In this town where three people were killed by militia in April, the locals says it is
hard to know whether people feel safe enough to choose freely in the referendum.
"It's difficult for people here to feel safe because there are two or three
militia posts in every desa around here," said one local resident, referring to small
villages.
However, enthusiasm for registration is still high -- in five days almost 1,000 people
have arrived to receive identity cards from the local church.
The Unamet registration booth has had a long queue of people lining for hours everyday
since it opened last Friday.
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