| Subject:
IHT/Horta: Back to E Timor With an Agenda for Reconciliation
International Herald Tribune Wednesday,
December 1, 1999
Back to East Timor With an Agenda for
Reconciliation
By José Ramos-Horta International Herald
Tribune
SINGAPORE - I left East Timor on Dec. 4,
1975, three days before the Indonesian invasion. A private plane took me
from Dili to Darwin. I have been abroad ever since, representing the cause
of East Timorese independence.
This Wednesday, I return home for the
first time since the occupation - one of four survivors from the 1975
generation of East Timor's independence leaders. We, the fortunate ones
who have been out of the country, are united in our deep respect and
loyalty for Xanana Gusmão and the other East Timorese who continued our
common struggle from inside our country.
The true heroes are those who stayed
behind and endured 24 years of great hardship, facing danger and, all too
often, torture, imprisonment and death.
East Timor is now under United Nations
administration preparing for independence within three years. Our dream of
freedom is realized, but at enormous cost. From 1975 to 1978 at least
200,000 East Timorese, perhaps one-third of the population, lost their
lives, mainly from the famine and illness that followed the invasion.
Almost every family has been shattered. I
lost three brothers and a sister.
The scale of killing and destruction
under the Indonesian occupation ranks among the worst crimes against
humanity in this century. The world did not witness much of what happened.
Its eyes were opened in September by the carnage and forced displacement
of the population by the military and its militia proxies, after an
overwhelming majority of East Timorese defied a campaign of intimidation
and violence to vote against Jakarta's offer of autonomy, for
independence.
Indonesian forces are the primary
culprits for East Timor's suffering in the last 24 years, but many in the
West share the responsibility - for their silence, indifference and even
active complicity with the illegal Indonesian occupation.
But despite the anger they feel, the East
Timorese who fought so bravely for freedom must now summon their best
humanity and bury the past, forgive their worst enemies and build a new
nation that deserves the sacrifice of so many.
-
I was asked recently whether I thought
independence was worth so much sacrifice. It is a difficult question to
answer. I care deeply about human life. The answer should wait a few
years. We aim to make East Timor truly democratic, tolerant and inclusive,
corruption-free, and a model of transparency and accountability.
We want to banish abject poverty, malaria
and the high rate of tuberculosis. We want to ensure that most East
Timorese can read and write, and have access to clean water and basic
health care.
If we can achieve these things, then the
East Timorese who died in the cause of independence would say: We have not
been betrayed, because those who came after us built a beautiful country.
The next couple of years of UN
administration will pave the road for our independence. The future depends
on the United Nations' ability to exercise its power with competence,
integrity and compassion.
The UN administrator, Sergio Vieira de
Mello, is one of the most talented and respected international civil
servants. His appointment was applauded by all of us. I believe that a
great partnership will be forged between the United Nations and the East
Timorese leadership and people.
The East Timorese are represented by an
umbrella group, the National Council of Timorese Resistance, an
all-encompassing organization that truly reflects the will of the vast
majority of the population. But we also remain totally open to accommodate
those who favored integration with Indonesia.
In fact, some well-known collaborators
occupy key positions in the council, including Mario Carrascalao, who
served for 10 years as the Indonesian-appointed governor of East Timor.
I recently spent two days in Singapore in
cordial talks with some of the most prominent pro-Jakarta leaders, among
them Francisco Lopes da Cruz, Florentino Sarmento and Salvador Soares. We
planned their future return to East Timor and their active participation
in the building of the nation.
My message to them was that there are no
losers, all East Timorese have won. All are now needed for the task of
building a new nation. I have urged Mr. Vieira de Mello to incorporate
these brothers of ours in the UN administration.
-
The greatest challenge facing the East
Timorese leadership will be in the process of healing and national
reconciliation. This is critical for peace, stability and economic
prosperity. Building a strong civil society, the rule of law, and
promotinga culture of peace, tolerance and human rights must be among our
priorities.
In addition, we want good relations with
Indonesia. The visit by Xanana Gusmão and me to Jakarta this week at the
invitation of President Abdurrahman Wahid is a first step in building
relations with the new Indonesia. We had met Mr. Wahid before. He is an
extraordinary human being.
Indonesians are blessed to have him as
their leader in these critical times, when their country is harvesting the
seeds of 30 years of misrule by former President Suharto, backed by the
military. If anyone can save Indonesia from plunging into civil war and
disintegration, it is Mr. Wahid. For what is needed most is a person of
great moral authority at the helm.
The issues of common concern between
Jakarta and Dili requiring sustained dialogue and careful management are
numerous. They include security along the border with Indonesian West
Timor, the repatriation of all East Timorese from West Timor and other
parts of Indonesia who wish to return, and punishment of those Indonesian
military leaders who planned and executed the killings and destruction in
East Timor. These are pressing issues that must be addressed immediately.
Economic and trade relations, sea and air
transport, and communication links between East Timor and Indonesia are on
our list. So, too, is a solution to the question of the savings of East
Timorese in Indonesian banks.
Many thousands of Indonesian military are
buried in East Timor. Access to their graves for their relatives is a
sensitive matter for Indonesia. On our side, we will be totally open to
facilitate such access.
I have urged multilateral bodies and
foreign governments to lift all existing sanctions against Indonesia. The
government of President Wahid deserves the full support of the
international community.
East Timor is ready to build relations
with the wider Asian region as well as with the new Indonesia. In the last
few weeks I have met with many Asian leaders, including President Kim Dae
Jung of South Korea and the foreign ministers of Thailand, Singapore and
the Philippines. East Timorese representatives will soon go to Japan and
China. In the first three months of 2000, Xanana Gusmão will be visiting
most of the members of the Association of South East Asian Nations.
The writer, an East Timorese Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate and political leader, contributed this comment to the
International Herald Tribune.
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