A cartoon on General Wiranto. Graphic: East Timor Action Network

The VIOLENCE is between the people who want to vote peacefully for autonomy or independence, as President Habibie promised, and the ABRI para-military squads. That is, the Indonesian army organised, financed and armed mercenary murderer leaders, many from outside East Timor, with the large numbers of ordinary people coerced into their ranks, intent on killing off democracy and freedom forever in East Timor. The Resistance army in the mountains, Falintil, has observed a nine months cease-fire, ordered by leader Xanana Gusmao, and the recent order to defend the people is unlikely to have much meaning inside the major towns where Indonesia has the bulk of its 20,000 troops. Howard and Downer said recently that East Timor was Australia's main foreign policy issue for the next two years. Since then the situation has deteriorated markedly. So they are clearly INEFFECTIVE in what they do if they are sincere in trying to stop the violence.

When I met Alexander Downer last week I recall he reasserted that diplomatic means were all Australia could use because East Timor is part of Indonesia. I argued that our immoral and illegal de jure recognition of Indonesia's annexation severely limited our options and should be scrapped.

I accept that Downer has been active within his circles or his perceived spheres of influence - but I do not accept that he understands we are not dealing with Adelaide church college educated nice people, but ruthless killers with the blood of over 300,000 East Timorese on their hands. Is that so hard to appreciate? They will only be impressed by force. That is what the Suharto government was about for over 30 years!

SANCTIONS must apply until Indonesia stops the violence in East Timor and allows the UN to supervise a transition government:

1. Direct Howard to Habibie, Downer to Alatas, and Defence Commander to Wiranto contact insisting ABRI stops its terror campaign in Dili and the rest of East Timor.
2. Withdraw de jure recognition.
3. Deny any financial aid whatever to the Indonesian government from Australia or IMF.
4. Use the Security Agreement of Keating to place Australian troops to do the job ABRI can't or actually won't, or dissolve the agreement.
5. In which case, BOMB ABRI and paramilitary installations in Timor, to be consistent with Kosovo.

   A new round of genocide is happening while Australia does nothing effective. The ABRI mercenary militia leaders said last week that today Sunday 18th they will kill Bishop Belo. They said all the other things they started doing yesterday. Despite the pleas from Timorese and supporters, the world sits back and does nothing.

   Kosovo dominates the Australian media both prints and electronic. The last ABC news I heard never even mentioned East Timor- our nearest neighbour. Malcolm Fraser who as Prime Minister allowed the invasion of East Timor and did nothing to stop it, and eventually gave de jure recognition to its annexation, is touring Europe for two CARE workers who are in good health. CARE nor any other Australian AID agency or Church to my knowledge in the last 20 years has run any Australia-wide aid appeal for East Timor.

   I hear on the news today that Howard will ring Habibie. When? Last Tuesday Habibie's adviser Frans Seda said in Darwin that Indonesia (read Habibie?) will accept international peacekeepers in Timor. Downer discounts this, no-one else has picked it up. Why? Was this the last chance from a President facing military insurrection of his own? Let there be no doubt, Wiranto is responsible for the ABRI paramilitaries and violence in East Timor, ABRI does not, as a body, accept the possibility of an independent East Timor.

   Yesterday in Timor the Liquisa area suffered perhaps more killing and violence than last week, yet this is not yet reported. The Timor newspaper office has been destroyed, visiting journos beaten and highly restricted, (I admire their courage in being there, by the way), NGOs targetted and today are threatened with destruction, and Bishop BELO will be ASSASSINATED today according to the ABRI death squads from Wednesday last week, whilst ABRI soldiers stand by watch and laugh. Next it will be Baucau's turn and so on ... I think now ABRI intends to do as it is doing in West Papua, reduce the indigenous population to a minority in its own land so the genocide is effective.

6. Rob Wesley-Smith is of the Australians for a Free East Timor (AFFET) /Troppo Rural Consulting.

Copyright © 1999 Rob Wesley-Smith and Asia-Pacific Network. This document is for educational and research use. Please seek permission for publication.
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