Subject: CSM-A free E. Timor won't be easy
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 09:15:24 -0500
From: Donald L Ferry <wolfbat359@mindspring.com>MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1999 WORLD
QUEST FOR PEACE: INDONESIA'S RELUCTANT PROVINCE
A free E. Timor won't be easy
A vote on the half-island may spur independence, but threat of instability, weak
economy remains.
Sander Thoenes Special to The Christian Science Monitor
MAUBUISSE, EAST TIMOR
Gathering rocks from a stream, dozens of young men and children are animated as they
talk about the grand Roman Catholic church they are helping to build in town. They discuss
the likelihood of a bumper coffee harvest coming off this steep mountain slope next month.
But something else on their minds also concerns their future, and they are wary of
speaking out about it.
The villagers are well aware that Indonesia, which invaded East Timor in 1975, has bent
to international pressure and agreed to ask them to vote on an offer of autonomy. If they
reject it, as many expect they will, Indonesia has said it will simply annul the 1976
annexation of East Timor and thereby grant it independence.
SEEKING SAFETY: Indonesian migrants leave their adopted home of East Timor, fearing
more unrest. With offer of an East Timor vote, Indonesia may give up the province, 23
years after annexing it. (REUTERS)
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"People don't want to take sides openly," says Amilcar, the head of the
Aituto village, near Maubuisse. After 24 years of military occupation and guerrilla
warfare, "they are still traumatized. They know from bitter experience that if they
take sides there could be conflict." The coffee plants around him are only 10 years
old, replanted after the Indonesian Army set the old plants on fire to chase out rebels
hiding on the slopes. Villages suspected of harboring rebels were leveled.
"But we will choose independence," Amilcar adds. "We lost more than we
gained [from Indonesian occupation]. Our plantations have been burned, our forests
torched. Now our land is not so fertile anymore."
The choice itself may be an easy one for most of the 800,000 East Timorese. But the
reality of moving toward independence is far less easy.
It's been 10 months since President B.J. Habibie took over the sprawling archipelago
nation when his predecessor Suharto stepped down after 32 years of rule. At first, Mr.
Habibie offered East Timor an "autonomy with special status," with no promise of
a referendum on independence. But in late January, still struggling with the country's
economic crisis, Habibie surprised many with an offer of independence if Indonesia's
parliament agreed.
Struggles past and present
Human rights organizations estimate that some 200,000 people died in warfare and
induced famine after the 1975 invasion, a price far higher than could be compensated by
whatever roads, schools, and hospitals Indonesia has built since then to win their hearts
and minds.
A recent exodus of thousands of non-Timorese doctors, teachers, and traders, frightened
by the prospect of isolation from the motherland and by sporadic conflicts between
Timorese groups, has underscored East Timor's heavy dependence on outside resources.
The hospital in the province's capital, Dili, has not a single surgeon left, only half
of the doctors and specialists it used to have, and a fraction of the medicine it needs.
Some 2,950 of the 3,660 state high school teachers have asked for a transfer.
Half of the shops have closed down and supplies are falling as fewer ships bring goods
from Indonesia. Taxi drivers fear they will have to quit if their cars break down, because
the repair-shop owners have left as well.
East Timorese accuse Indonesia's military of scaring migrants into leaving, and raising
fears of civil war by arming paramilitary groups who favor integration into Indonesia.
This reporter saw five truckloads of Timorese paramilitaries, darkly tanned and very
distinct from most Indonesians, under the command of three men. The commanders resembled
Javanese, with their trademark stocky military posture and Army crew cuts. Even
pro-Indonesian Timorese say the gangs were armed by ABRI, the Indonesian military.
"ABRI is behind all the terror here," says Rui Lourenco da Cost, a human
rights activist. "There is an economic embargo against East Timor by the Indonesian
government, just to show that East Timor will be in big trouble if it breaks away."
Orchestrated hardship
Diplomats, too, believe at least some of the current hardship in East Timor was
orchestrated by the hard-liners in the Indonesian government, part of an effort to
persuade foreign countries, liberals in Jakarta, and the East Timorese themselves that
autonomy would be better than independence.
Many non-Timorese migrants say, however, that they would leave even if East Timor
managed to make a peaceful transition to independence. They risk losing citizenship,
civil-servant pay, and, for traders, privileged access to credit and licenses that help
keep Timorese marginalized in their own economy.
They may be hard to replace. Julio, who like many in this country uses only one name,
says he is the only Timorese to compete with textile hawkers from South Sulawesi in the
market of Dili. Although some 40 percent of his competitors have left town in recent
weeks, his sales are down 50 percent from last year, and supplies from Java have dried up.
"Other Timorese could come in and fill the void, but I'm not sure they would want
to," he says.
The hardship brought on by the exodus of non-Timorese has sobered some Timorese.
"The people want freedom as soon as possible," said Sister Santina, a Carmelite
nun in Maubuisse. "But that may not be prudent. To do it all at once is not so
easy."
Many proponents of independence, however, are confident that an off-shore oil and gas
field, large coffee plantations, marble mines, and foreign aid will easily fill that void.
But the Timor Gap oil and gas field, shared with Australia, remains a dream until
significant reserves are found. Even then it is separated from the Timor island by a deep
trough, making East Timor less than attractive as a support base or processing site.
The coffee plantations have been run into the ground by a monopoly company tied to
Indonesian generals, who also dominated the coffee trade and discouraged farming by
offering low prices. Small farmers rely on coffee forests on the infertile mountain
slopes, limiting scope for expansion beyond this year's expected harvest of 8,000 to
10,000 tons.
The military has plundered and destroyed many coffee plantations, marble deposits, and
forests of teak and sandalwood. The coffee monopoly, Batara Indra, also controlled hotels,
construction, shops, and shipping. The company has collapsed, and few Timorese, save for a
former guerrilla who started a marble workshop, have taken its place.
Politically, East Timor is far from secure as well. It is divided by tribes, languages,
and old rivalries that were fueled by the occupation. Although armed by the Indonesian
military, paramilitary groups do command support from a minority, mostly those who
collaborated with Indonesia's government.
The United Nations is considering sending observers, possibly even peacekeeping troops,
to ensure a democratic referendum on autonomy. Australia has boosted its troop presence in
northern Australia, Timor's closest international neighbor, in case violence escalates.
But pro-integration groups last week met with the leader of the pro-independence
movement, Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, and vowed to lay down their arms and
negotiate a peace agreement that could lead to a transitional government encompassing most
Timorese factions.
"There are differences but they can be overcome," says Fernando Cavaterra,
member of a Timorese party that once favored integration with Indonesia but last year
opted for independence instead and teamed up with Fretilin, the rebel movement led by Mr.
Gusmao. "As long as no one else stokes the fire, if ABRI leaves there will be no more
war here."
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