| Subject: Age
feature/E Timor: A New, But Devastated Beginning
The Age [Melbourne] Saturday 11 December
1999
Feature
The tale of how one devastated district
in East Timor is trying to rebuild.
A new, but devastated beginning
By MARK DODD
THE QUESTION was disarmingly simple but
it stopped the United Nations policeman in his tracks. "What happens
if you are arrested but you have not done any crime," the villager
had asked. Looking puzzled, the American civilian police officer spoke to
another seated UN official who replied that this would not happen under
the UN's East Timor administration.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, the
villager conferred among his friends who, puffing on clove cigarettes,
nodded approvingly.
After 24 years of Indonesian occupation
and the period of militia rule, "we've got a whole mindset to change
up here", said one Australian Federal Police officer serving with the
UN.
In Ermera, the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) might just have passed
its first assessment test. Old Ermera town, a former Portuguese district
capital, lies in a valley high up in mist-shrouded mountains about 50
kilometres south-west of Dili. In 1983, Indonesia created a regional
capital, Gleno, but Ermera remains the real cultural and social hub for
the district of the same name.
Ermera is typical of many of East Timor's
rural centres. The peasant population live barely above subsistence level,
harvesting coffee between June and August. Small household plots produce
small quantities of maize, rice, cassava and sweet potato, but food
security remains a niggling concern. Livestock plays an important role in
most peasant families' finances.
Sturdy Timor ponies provide reliable
transport in a region where roads are routinely washed away. Coffee is the
district's main income earner - about 37 per cent of Ermera's cultivated
land is dedicated to coffee growing while only 7per cent is used to
produce food.
Before the violence that followed the 30
August referendum, the population of Ermera was about 90,000, or 10 per
cent of East Timor's population. Last week, a UN team visited the old
town, which, like most in East Timor, was devastated by Indonesian
security forces and militias. The team wanted to meet local people,
Falintil guerrillas, and the leadership of the National Council of
Timorese Resistance, or CRNT, East Timor's biggest pro-independence
coalition. It hoped to explain how the UN planned to administer the
territory in the lead-up to full independence within two or three years.
On Wednesday, about 120 residents of old
Ermera gathered in a community barn, one of the few buildings still
standing with a tin roof. They formed a cross-section of local society;
nuns and teachers seated at the front along with mothers and babies. Men
stood at the back, many wearing their distinctive cowboy hats, puffing on
clove cigarettes or the odd pipe, collars on their tattered shirts pulled
up to protect them from the chill outside.
A heavy mist lay across the valley and
rain fell constantly, at times drowning out the noise of the speakers. But
interest was keen. For these villagers, it was the first time they had
been given a chance to participate in their future of their country.
A man from the World Bank was among the
first to speak. "The World Bank and Asia Development Bank are going
to make new projects. We want to make these projects appropriate to the
needs of the people. Money will be given to the sub-districts and the
people can decide how it is used. For example, on roads, bridges, water,
schools - it is your choice. Maybe you would like buy tractors, goats,
cows - it is your choice."
This last promise of reconstruction funds
prompted murmurs of surprise. Captain Jeremy Gillman-Wells, of a
mechanised battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, explained that
Interfet's role was mainly to provide security to the district but his men
were also working extensively on community aid projects, especially road
repairs. His attempt to explain the army's role in faltering Tetun, the
local language, drew applause.
Local concerns during question time
centred on the provision of adequate education, health services and roads.
"I am aware that it is my duty as a mother to teach my children but
what do we use for equipment?" asked one mother, a question supported
by Father Sancho, one of two priests who remained in Ermera through the
violence.
A UN administrator called Dianne appealed
for patience and promised that UNICEF would provide equipment in the new
year. She said the UN would work closely with the church, one of the few
institutions in East Timor providing education.
For many of the villagers, the meeting
was the first sign in seven months that their lives might return to
normal. The arrival in East Timor in May of UNAMET (the UN Assistance
Mission in East Timor) coincided with the first outbreaks of army-backed
militia violence in Ermera district, including a bloody massacre of
suspected pro-independence worshippers in the hamlet of Atara.
Eurico Guterres, leader of the Dili-based
Aitarak militia, was a frequent visitor to the district. He held noisy
pro-integration rallies in Gleno, once threatening pro-independence civil
servants. Intimidation against suspected independence supporters was
common.
Dating back to the 1975 Indonesian
invasion, Ermera district had a reputation as a pro-independence loyalist
stronghold and centre of resistance. The main militia group in Ermera,
Darah Integrasi, backed by a shadowy network of Indonesian intelligence
and Special Forces personnel, had scores to settle.
On voting day, disorder erupted at Gleno
polling booth. The militia fired shots to intimidate voters. By the close
of polling, two UNAMET staff were killed at Baboe Leten polling centre and
the first houses in Gleno were burning.
By 4 September, much of the urban
population had fled to the mountains. Falintil guerrillas reported militia
attacks against their cantonment sites near Estado, with casualties on
both sides.
Leaders of the National Council of
Timorese Resistance say that 36 to 40 civilians were murdered in Ermera
district between 30 August and 20 September. A UN report on Ermera, a copy
of which has been seen by The Age, found that most of the killings were
committed by the militias, although some Indonesian soldiers are alleged
to have been involved.
Throughout the district there were forced
deportations to Indonesian West Timor, but it followed an uneven pattern.
About half the deaths occurred in Gleno but the sub-district of Atsabe
suffered the biggest proportion of mass deportations, probably because it
lies near the militia stronghold of Bobanaro.
"The fact that militias were able to
make several trips to Atambua (West Timor) and back, refuel their
vehicles, suggests that forced relocation of East Timorese population was
planned in advance and that the militias had substantial financial
backing," the UN report says.
More than 50 per cent of Atasabe
sub-district's population was deported, compared with an average 15 per
cent across the rest of Ermera. A total of 8237 people from Atsabe, 3000
from Ermera, 2700 from Hatolia, 1000 from Letefoho and 1700 from Railako
are still missing.
Returnees are few. "It seems Ermera
militias inside the West Timorese camps are particularly active in
intimidating the refugees from the district. This might explain why
refugees are returning very slowly to this district," says the
report.
Gleno, the provincial capital, was almost
completely destroyed. All public buildings, including the court, schools
and clinics, have been partially or completely destroyed, along with 90
per cent of private dwellings. Atsabe and Hatolia were similarly
devastated. All electric power stations were vandalised and damaged. The
central power station in Glen, which services outlying Railako, Ermera and
Letefeho has suffered much damage. Extensive repair and connection works
to install cables are required.
The communications centre, the only one
outside Dili with a modern satellite facility, was completely destroyed.
The militias did not blow up bridges and roads, probably because they
needed them to ensure their safe evacuation. Yet their condition is
extremely poor due to the wet season and two sub-districts are now
isolated.
A huge task lies ahead. At the village
meeting on Wednesday, Professor Jarat Chopra, the UN's head of district
administration, spoke of the importance of mutual reliance between the UN
and the National Council of Timorese Resistance "given the reality of
CNRT organisation on the ground and the willingness of the UN to provide
resources". The months ahead will prove the depth of that commitment
to the people of Ermera and East Timor.
Back
to December Menu
World Leaders Contact List
Human Rights Violations in East Timor
Main Postings Menu
Note: For those who would like to fax "the
powers that be" - CallCenter V3.5.8, is a Native 32-bit Voice Telephony software
application integrated with fax and data communications... and it's free of charge!
Download from http://www.v3inc.com/ |
