Subject: AFP: Pro-Indon militias blamed for nearly
all E.Timor violence
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 06:45:49 EDT
From: Joyo@aol.comWatchdog blames pro-Indonesian militias for East Timor violence
JAKARTA, Aug 20 (AFP) - Pro-Indonesian militias have caused nearly all the violence and
rights violations reported during the East Timor self-determination referendum campaign, a
watchdog said Friday.
The Independent Committee for Direct Ballot Monitoring (KIPER) said it has discovered
55 human rights violation cases by the militias in East Timor seven regencies up to
Thursday.
Committee activist, Bonar Tigor Naipospos told a press briefing that "violations
in the form of threats and intimidations rank the highest among the cases."
Naipospos said the pro-independence camp has committed "a very minor
violation," by campaigning ahead of the official start on August 14.
There are at least 13 pro-Indonesia militias roaming the 13 districts of East Timor
where vote on Indonesia's offer of autonomy is to be held on August 30.
The United Nations, which is organising the vote, and observer groups say they are
armed or supported by the Indonesian military. The United Nations has called for army
officers with known links to the militias to be withdrawn from East Timor.
Based on validated reports from KIPER's 816 volunteers at 156 polling stations,
Naipospos said most reported crimes took place in Bobonaro district, some 75 kilometers
(50 miles) southwest of the capital, Dili.
He said militias were blamed for 18 cases of abductions, illegal carrying of firearms,
vandalism and the destruction and obstruction of campaign properties.
Observers have also noted similar violations in six other regencies in the troubled
province, including Dili.
"The form of violations by pro-independence supporters are by campaigning earlier
than the schedule.
"However the group claimed they have not done anything wrong since they have been
campaigning for referendum there for the last 24 years," he said.
The official campaign for the vote started last weekend. East Timorese will be given
the chance to approve or reject an Indonesian autonomy offer in the ballot.
A spokesman for the Indonesian Task Force in East Timor, Dino Djalal, has accussed the
KIPER committee of taking sides with pro-independence groups during the campaign.
But Naiposos defended KIPER's record. "As a UN-accredited committee we are
professionals, therefore we are always trying to gather inputs from all sides," he
said.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has twice postponed the vote, partly because of
continuing violence by militias against independence supporters in East Timor, a former
Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975.
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