Subject: SMH: Armed militias in E.Timor
"frightened and confused"
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 18:28:35 -0500
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo:
Sydney Morning Herald 10/03/99
*Armed militia "frightened and confused"
By PETER COLE-ADAMS
Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr John McCarthy, has portrayed the armed militias
campaigning against independence for East Timor as militarily inexperienced, confused and
frightened about the future.
Mr McCarthy, who visited East Timor last week, said yesterday that the security
situation was probably under control, but there was still a lot of tension, particularly
in the three regencies neighbouring West Timor where the anti-independence groups were
strongest.
"The pro-integration forces are not very professional," he said in Canberra.
"[They] have not been around for long [and] and are not particularly well- equipped,
[although] they are armed or have access to arms. They are not highly trained, competent
military people. They are basically very apprehensive of what might happen to them."
There was an urgent need for more dialogue between the militias, who were confused
about what was happening, and the independence leader Xanana Gusmao. A ceasefire was the
first requirement.
Mr McCarthy said there were shortages of medicines and increasing reports of lack of
rice and other foodstuffs, but he had no evidence to support claims by Timorese resistance
leaders that Indonesia was mounting a deliberate campaign of starvation.
The ambassador confirmed that the Indonesian opposition politician Mrs Megawati
Sukarnoputri had told the Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, earlier this month that
if the East Timorese opted for separation in a consultative process brokered by the United
Nations she would not try to upset such a settlement if she became Indonesia's next
President.
His sombre assessment of the situation on the ground came as Amnesty International
issued a report saying the Indonesian armed forces and paramilitary units were continuing
to be responsible for arbitrary detention, torture, "disappearances" and
unlawful killings.
Amnesty urged immediate steps to stop human rights violations and called on the United
Nations and relevant governments to ensure that any new constitutional framework for the
territory included appropriate human rights provisions.
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