East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) Statement on the Current Violence in E.Timor

We do not believe that events had to
escalate to this point. Like others, we do not
have complete information about the current
situation and its causes. Below are our initial reflections:

The intervention by foreign military and police
forces is a sad event for Timor-Leste, whose
hard-won political independence has had to be
laid aside – we hope for only a short time –
because leaders and state institutions have been
unable to manage certain violent elements of the
population and security forces.

Now that foreign forces are being deployed -- at
the request of Timor-Leste's government, with the
stated support of rebel leaders, and the welcome
by most of a terrified population -- we hope that
they serve their intended purpose in quelling the
violence and allowing negotiations and a peaceful
resolution, as well as the identification and
arrest of those who have committed crimes.

Outside intervention is a temporary solution at
best. Timor-Leste must find ways, with respectful
support from the international community, to deal
with problems in a manner that will not require troops.

Statements by Australian government leaders that
providing security assistance entitles them to
influence over Timor-Leste’s government are
undemocratic, paternalistic, and unhelpful. Who
governs Timor-Leste is a decision to be made by
its people within its constitution.

Key countries -- including those now sending
troops and police -- must examine their roles in
relation to the new nation, including the
training provided to Timor-Leste’s security
forces. Australia bears special responsibility
for Timor’s underdevelopment by refusing to
return revenues, totaling billions of dollars,
from the disputed petroleum fields in the Timor
Sea, including Laminaria-Corallina, and by
bullying Timor-Leste into forsaking revenues that
should rightfully belong to it under current
international law and practice. As in 1999, we
must not forget that the Australian government’s
actions have contributed to the situations their
peacekeepers have now been sent to
correct. Australia should not view its current
assistance to Timor-Leste as a favor, to be
repaid, but instead as a partial repayment for
the debt Australia owes the Timorese people for
its help during WW II and for Australia's deep
complicity in Indonesia's invasion and occupation.

Independent Timor-Leste had a violent birth. The
legacy of Indonesian occupation left the people
of the new nation deeply traumatized and
impoverished, without governmental institutions
and experience. Those who orchestrated,
implemented and aided the illegal occupation have never been held accountable.

We wonder if international and Timorese failures
to ensure justice have led some in Timor-Leste to
believe that their own use of violence would be
met with similar impunity. As described in the
recent report of Timor-Leste's Commission for
Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR),
several countries - among them U.S., U.K., and
Australia - bear a special responsibility to
ensure justice and accountability due to their
action and inaction from 1975 on. Reparations, as
called for by the CAVR, would help alleviate the
poverty and joblessness that have fueled some of the unrest.

It must not be forgotten that despite its many
problems, the transition from occupation to UN
administration to independence has been
relatively peaceful, especially when compared to
the experiences of many other post-colonial
countries. We hope that the recent violence --
which appears to have complex causes -- proves to be an exception.

We urge the key political, security force and
other actors in the current crisis to evaluate
their own actions and recommit themselves to the
spirit of national unity and public service,
which so ably provided the foundation for the
independence movement. Timor-Leste needs to
examine whether or not it wants a military and,
if so, what is its purpose. In addition to
addressing the past, the CAVR report provides
useful recommendations for implementing rule of
law and improving justice and accountability in independent Timor-Leste.

We urge the international community and the UN,
especially the Security Council, to work with
Timor-Leste to complete the nation-building and
development tasks to which they have already
committed. If Timor-Leste is to become the
success story it has already been portrayed as,
further international support is necessary.
However, this support must be given in an honest
spirit that supports real self-determination and
empowers the Timorese people to take full charge of their own destiny.

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ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human
rights for East Timor and Indonesia. ETAN calls
for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes
against humanity committed in East Timor from
1975 to 1999 and for restrictions on U.S.
military assistance to Indonesia until there is
genuine reform of its security forces. For
additional background, see <http://www.etan.org>.