Subject: TI: East Timor Flag Flies Legally At Last
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 23:25:23 EDT
From: Joyo@aol.comThe Independent [UK] Monday, August 16, 1999
EAST TIMOR FLAG FLIES LEGALLY AT LAST
THE FLAG of the East Timorese resistance was legally raised for the first time in 23
years yesterday, as the campaign for the forthcoming referendum on independence got
underway in the territory's capital, Dili.
Five thousand supporters of independence turned out at the gathering, after a much
smaller rally on Saturday by about 600 of their opponents who favour the other option
being presented in the referendum: limited autonomy within Indonesia.
The weekend's events mark the beginning of the final and most perilous phase of the
fraught referendum process before voting itself takes place on 30 August.
The green, white and blue flag was raised to mark the re-opening of the offices of the
National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), many of whose leaders have been in hiding
since anti-independence militias began a campaign of killing and intimidation earlier this
year.
In a speech recorded from house arrest in Jakarta, Jose "Xanana" Gusmao, the
leader of the East Timorese guerrilla army, Falintil, urged his supporters to avoid
violence against supporters of Indonesia. "I hope for a campaign of peace," he
said. "Now is the time for East Timorese to determine their future. For the past 24
years our enemy has not been the East Timorese people who want integration with Indonesia.
Our main enemy has been the Indonesian military."
Despite the indignant denials of the Indonesian government, foreign observers -
including the United Nations' mission which is supervising the referendum - have been
unanimous in concluding that the militias are the tools of the Indonesian military.
Last week, Jimmy Carter, the former United States president, said that "the
Indonesian military and other government agencies are supporting, directing, and arming
pro-integration militias to create a climate of fear and intimidation". The US State
Department accused Jakarta of intimidation for encouraging fears that the referendum will
lead to violence and civil war.
But East Timor is undoubtedly at a very tense and delicate stage in which the
possibility of violence remains high. Indonesia's occupation of the country, following a
brutal invasion in 1975, led to the deaths of an estimated 200,000 people; on the
pro-independence side, there is an assumption that, in a fair vote, they would win an
overwhelming victory. In order to avoid further violence, the CNRT has announced that it
will hold no more rallies. And, despite the depredations of the militias, who drove tens
of thousands of people out of their homes, some 460,000 of East Timor's 800,000 population
have registered for the referendum, a figure that far exceeds the most optimistic
expectations.
Two questions remain: can the small UN force hold the Indonesian police to their
promise, so far consistently broken, to stifle intimidation during the campaign and on the
voting day? And will a vote for independence provoke a violent reaction among the
supporters of autonomy within Indonesia?
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