=Subject: NPR: People of ET face violence
Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 09:31:39 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (8:00 PM
ET) May 5, 1999, Wednesday
PEOPLE IN EAST TIMOR SUBJECTED TO VIOLENCE PRIOR TO ELECTIONS ON AUTONOMY VS.
INDEPENDENCE
NOAH ADAMS, host:
At the United Nations today, representatives from Portugal, Indonesia and the UN signed
an agreement to allow a referendum in East Timor. Voters there will get the chance this
August to choose between autonomy and independence. Indonesia invaded the former
Portuguese colony in 1975 and then annexed it. The UN refused to recognize the annexation
and separatist groups in East Timor have waged a guerilla war against Indonesia for
decades. NPR's Michael Sullivan reports now from Dili, East Timor's capital.
MICHAEL SULLIVAN reporting:
Dili's dock workers were busy today unloading cargo ships bringing rice and other
staples to this remote island territory that's a lot closer to Australia than it is the
Indonesian capital Jakarta. In the past few weeks, many ships and planes have left Dili
carrying a different cargo: People fleeing the upsurge and violence following President
Habibe's surprise announcement in January to allow the Timoris independence if they reject
autonomy. Since that announcement, local militias, which want to remain part of Indonesia,
have waged a terror campaign against pro-independence activists. In a single weekend last
month, more than 30 people were killed in Dili, as militias rampaged through the city.
Fifty more were killed outside a church in a village 20 miles to the west.
Diplomats and human rights activists say the militias are backed by elements of the
Indonesian military, who have no intention of letting East Timor go free. Aniceto Guterres
Lopez heads the local human rights group, Hawk(ph).
Mr. ANICETO GUTERRES LOPEZ: (Foreign language spoken)
SULLIVAN: Everything continues to be controlled by Indonesia,' he says, both the army
and the militias. There's terror, there's intimidation, there's violence and,' he says,
there's no indication it will end any time soon, with or without UN monitors on the
ground.'
The violence has forced many independence activists into hiding or exile. And though
the Indonesian military denies any direct involvement, people here say there's evidence to
the contrary.
Dr. DAN MURPHY (Operates Outpatient Clinic in Dili): Well, the weapons can only come
from one place and that's the Indonesian military.
SULLIVAN: Dr. Dan Murphy is an Iowa native who helps run a small outpatient clinic in
Dili.
Dr. MURPHY: Well, over the last six weeks, I have been overwhelmed with high-velocity
penetrating wounds, which--usually M-16 caliber penetrating wound to the chest, head
wounds, abdominal wounds, severe eye injuries, a lot of bleeding. Well, suddenly they're
flooded with wounded and they just kept coming and kept coming.
SULLIVAN: In the clinic's tiny four-bed ward, he pointed to a young man, his right arm
wrapped in bandages, a foot-long machete scar on his back. The man,' he says, who doesn't
want to talk, was attacked when militia stormed the house of a pro-independence leader a
few weeks ago.
Dr. MURPHY: First of all, he was shot and then he was hacked with a machete, left for
dead in a pile of bodies for an hour. But he wasn't dead and he got out afterwards.
SULLIVAN: Otelio Ote, deputy editor of Dili's Suara Timor Timor newspaper, says the
militia's strong-armed tactics appear to be working.
Mr. OTELIO OTE (Deputy Editor, Suara Timor Timor): (Foreign language spoken)
SULLIVAN: Two months ago,' he says, I'm sure that most Timoris would have voted for
independence. But now,' he says, the people are afraid and will probably vote for autonomy
instead.'
Human rights activist Aniceto Guterres Lopez hopes for a free and fair election, but
says he's pessimistic, especially given the short time frame involved.
Mr. LOPEZ: (Foreign language spoken)
SULLIVAN: Because of the situation on the ground,' he says, I believe that three months
till August is not enough for the three parties--Portugal, Indonesia and the UN--to ensure
a free and fair ballot. There has to be the political will on the part of all the
parties,' he says. And on the military side, on the militia side, that will does not
appear to be there.'
Many observers say the Indonesian military is unwilling to let East Timor go free
because such a move might encourage other restive provinces to seek their freedom. Since
President Suharto stepped down last May, the central government's control over the vast
Indonesian archipelago has been steadily eroding. But East Timors' grievance, in the eyes
of the international community, is real. A legacy of nearly 30 years of oppressive rule by
Indonesian security forces, a rule that human rights groups say has claimed nearly 200,000
lives. Michael Sullivan, NPR News, Dili, East Timor.
ROBERT SIEGEL (Host): Parental tools for the Internet--that's next on NPR's ALL THINGS
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