Subject: SMH: Frontier town becomes the UN's acid
test
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 11:15:47 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Sydney Morning Herald 27/07/99
EAST TIMOR
Frontier town becomes the UN's acid test
By MARK DODD
Unlike many towns in East Timor, Maliana has good public amenities. Electricity is
reliable, the roads are sealed and new brick footpaths, a rarity in many parts of Jakarta
let alone East Timor, line the main streets.
But a large stone jammed in the plywood wall inside the front office of the United
Nations compound suggests not all is well in this picturesque town nestled at the base of
rugged mountains close to East Timor's south-west border.
It is a fact that of all East Timor's 13 districts south-west Maliana has the
reputation of being among the most troublesome for the UN mission here.
Halfway through his eight-year term, Maliana's bupati (mayor), Guilherme dos Santos, a
self-confessed "loud mouth", is less than enthusiastic about the UN referendum
on self-determination. He is at odds with the UN on the requirements for enrolment in the
UN-organised referendum on self-determination for East Timor scheduled for either August
21 or 22.
At a mass rally in Balibo on July 17 he said that a government-issued KTP (identity)
card should be all that the UN requires for East Timorese to take part in the Popular
Consultation (referendum) scheduled for August.
UN rules require two sets of documentation, one for identity and another to prove
voting eligibility. A KTP is useful for identity, but a birth or marriage certificate is
also required as proof of eligibility. KTP cards can be forged and are easily obtained on
the black market, Indonesian experts say.
Dos Santos warned that if the UN rejected his advice he would call on his supporters to
boycott the vote. On Sunday a 30-strong militia mob approached two voter registration
centres in Balibo town, demanding to register with only the KTP identity document.
UN polling staff turned them away and the mob responded with a threat to return and
destroy both centres. Police reinforcements were called and the mob went away. Luckily
there was no violence on this occasion.
Voter intimidation in Maliana is rife, training by pro-Jakarta militias is a
twice-daily event while UN staff here have to deal with the additional problem of a large
refugee population - victims of earlier militia violence.
Whether the UN vote goes ahead on time may well be determined by the success of the UN
and local police, responsible for security, in achieving a free and fair environment for
voting in Maliana.
Compounding threats of militia violence and intimidation is a demand from local
authorities that about 11,000 pro-autonomy refugees living in Atambua in West Timor (Nusa
Tenggara Timur) be allowed to register to vote in Maliana.
Delicate negotiations are still continuing over UN concerns about the status of an
estimated 9,200 "refugees" they claim fled East Timor in successive waves from
1940, 1950, 1960 and 1975. If the Atambua refugees are allowed into Maliana, it would
boost the district's eligible voter population by 20 per cent from an estimated 45,502
voters.
Dos Santos has only recently and grudgingly accepted a proposal for the
pro-independence group CNRT to establish an office in town and has demanded that no CNRT
staff from Dili be based in Maliana. He said he could not be held responsible for the
safety of a local pro-independence leader, Manuel Margenez, who now wants to return from
exile. Margenez's house was burnt down in April, but he says he now wants to return for
the referendum campaign.
On June 29, a mob of pro-Jakarta militia and their supporters attacked the UN compound,
injuring several staff and creating an embarrassing international incident for Indonesia,
its image already tarnished over a flood of evidence of military support for the militias.
A UN investigation of the incident revealed collusion at the highest level between
senior local government officials in Maliana, the military and the militias.
All militia activity in Maliana is controlled by four sergeants, three serving members
of the Indonesian military and one retiree. "They regulate all militia activity and
training including all the nasty stuff," one UN official says.
A UN report into the attack identifies the local army intelligence chief as one of the
main organisers. Lieutenant Satrisno, 44, a native of Surabaya, is chief of army
intelligence in Maliana, having previously served as military commander in nearby Cailaco
from 1990-94. Denying any involvement in the June 29 incident, Satrisno jokingly defends
his innocence: "If I was involved, everyone would have been killed." He had been
threatened with a transfer, but one month on continues to work in Maliana.
The company commander of the local Dadurus (Typhoon) militia is Paulos Feireira who
recently warned: "If we lose autonomy there will be an uprising. It will be like 1975
again."
Maliana is also a name that appears frequently under the headings "Terror and
Intimidation" on files compiled by the respected Dili-based Yayasan-Hak [Foundation
for Legal and Human Rights]. In its latest report, released yesterday, Yayasan Hak claims
that on June 10 in Oeleu village near Maliana, army personnel from Kodim 1636 (District
Military Command), accompanied by members of the local Dadurus Merah Putih militia,
approached several homes with the lists of people who were ordered to vote for autonomy in
the upcoming ballot.
"Security remains a critical issue upon which the whole consultation process
hinges. Intimidation and terrorising of the population continue to occur across many
areas," the report said.
Violence in Maliana is not confined to only the militia and their army allies.
Pro-independence Falintil guerillas, led by Commander Deka, a Southern Company commander,
are also active in the district and are blamed for at least one recent attack against the
military.
On May 16, say UN officials, Falintil fighters killed four TNI (military) personnel in
an ambush in Lolotoe, a sub-district in Maliana. The bodies of the victims were mutilated
and their eyes were gouged. Deka has admitted the attack to the UN.
"It cuts both ways here. There is no love lost between the two sides in Maliana. I
think both sides are scared of each other and the problem is if they are scared they could
do something stupid," says one Maliana-based Western security expert.
Maliana is also the headquarters for the commander-in-chief of all East Timor's
militias, 69-year old Joao Tavares, who served as bupati from 1976 to 1986. Tavares is
known to disapprove of the hardline tactics employed by some of the more fanatical
pro-Jakarta militias, but independence, if it comes to East Timor, would spell an end to
his considerable power and prestige throughout the district so he remains a staunch
supporter of autonomy.
Underlining the complex network of East Timor's intertwined clans, the rebel Falintil
leader in nearby Atsabe is a nephew of Tavares, but from a rival family.
A militia source in Maliana says 400 assault rifles are being held at the Tavares
compound in Maliana, ready for use if the autonomy proposal is rejected.
Meanwhile, electoral staff are continuing to enrol voters for the UN-supervised ballot
on self-determination scheduled in less than five weeks, despite a high level of tension
and security concerns in the town. After initially dithering, government officials and
pro-autonomy groups active in Maliana are now encouraging locals to get out and register.
Dos Santos says he is in no hurry to register and will probably apply on the last day.
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