East Timorese Still Suffering
by Diane Farsetta, East Timor Action Network
Eighteen months after the vote for independence from Indonesia, approximately one-eighth of the East Timorese population--100,000 people--remain virtual hostages in squalid refugee camps in Indonesian West Timor. A lack of concerted action from the international community, combined with intransigence by the Indonesian military and government, has reduced refugee repatriation to a trickle. Although East Timor is now free of Indonesian troops, East Timorese refugees across the border live under military and militia-imposed terror. An Indonesian humanitarian organization working in the West Timor camps recently estimated that five refugees die from disease, malnutrition, and other preventable causes each day.
As part of the September 1999 "scorched earth" campaign in East Timor, the Indonesian military and its militias moved more than 260,000 people across the border into West Timor, often at gunpoint. Of the 100,000 remaining West Timor in April 2001, some choose to stay for financial or other well-informed reasons. However, the United Nations, international humanitarian agencies, the East Timorese leadership, and other observers agree that a significant fraction of the refugees would return to East Timor if they could do so in an atmosphere free of fear and intimidation.
One of the main obstacles to resolving the refugee crisis is the continued presence of armed militias in many West Timor camps. The international community and Indonesian authorities have been unwilling or unable to disarm the militias and arrest those guilty of serious crimes in East and West Timor. Although the Indonesian government has repeatedly promised to disarm the militias, their ineffective attempts are largely seen as a token gesture to pacify the international community.
A severe miscarriage of international justice exacerbates the refugee crisis. In January 2000, the U.N. International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor called for an international tribunal on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in East Timor. However, over one year later, no Indonesian military officers or militia leaders have been held accountable for the forced removal of East Timorese from their country or for the murders, assaults, rapes, and other serious crimes committed in West and East Timor.
There has been almost no international presence in the West Timor camps since militia members murdered three U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) international workers in Atambua, West Timor, on September 6, 2000. While recent announcements that the UNHCR may re-enter West Timor are welcome, the U.N. has yet to address how it will handle armed and hostile militia gangs and how it will ensure that refugees are able to choose freely between repatriation to East Timor or resettlement within Indonesia. Information from various sources--including the UNHCR's stated plan to reduce its staff by more than 90 percent and close five of its six offices in East Timor--raise concerns that the U.N. may be trying to wash its hands of West Timor, even without an acceptable resolution to the refugee crisis.
The East Timor Action Network is a grassroots human rights organization working with East Timorese to address the refugee crisis, the need for justice for East Timor, and other areas in which U.S. action can make a difference. Friday, May 4, 2001, is a national call-in day to members of Congress to ask them to co-sponsor resolutions in support of an international tribunal for East Timor (House Concurrent Resolution 60 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 9). Of the Minnesota Congressional delegation, only Senator Wellstone is currently a co-sponsor of these important resolutions.
WAMM Action!
National Call-In Day
The East Timor Action Network is sponsoring a national call-in day on Friday, May 4, 2001. Call your Congressional leaders and the administration to let them know how you feel about U.S. policy toward Indonesia and East Timor. For more information, please see the article on this page.
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121
White House comment line: 202-456-1111
Secretary of State Colin Powell: 202-647-5291
Vigil for Justice in East Timor
Saturday, May 5, 2001
12:00 p.m.
Hennepin & Lake Avenues in Uptown, Minneapolis
Sponsored by the WAMM Asia-Pacific Committee
FFI: 612-827-5364