The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.43           November 30, 1998 
 
 
E. Timor Independence Fight Deepens  

BY BOB AIKEN
SYDNEY, Australia - On November 12, as masses of students and workers confronted troops in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, demanding democratic rights and an end to the military's role in Indonesia's government, some 15,000 East Timorese rallied at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, East Timor, to press their demand for a referendum on independence from Indonesia.

In the months since former Indonesian dictator Suharto was forced to resign May 21, East Timorese youth, in particular, have stepped up their fight for self-determination.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded by Indonesian troops in December 1975, with the backing of Washington, Canberra, and other imperialist powers, and annexed the following year. Of a population of 750,000 at that time, some 200,000 people were killed or died of starvation in the first few years of Indonesian occupation. The November 12 rally in Dili took place on the anniversary of a 1991 massacre when Indonesian troops killed 271 at the cemetery after opening fire on the funeral procession of an East Timorese youth shot by the army.

Today Jakarta admits to having 18,000 troops in East Timor. Proindependence forces estimate more than 21,000 in August, with a troop buildup continuing since then. Repression by the Indonesian military, however, hasn't broken East Timorese resistance.

Protests in Dili October 11-12 condemned this military buildup, with one of the organizers declaring, "In Dili the armed forces is now taking a passive or defensive position, but in the mountains there are big, new military operations going on against the resistance fighters." At least 25,000 protesters, rallying in buses and trucks, brought Dili to a standstill October 12. They demanded a referendum for self- determination, the withdrawal of Indonesian forces, and the release of Xanana Gusmao, the central resistance leader, who is still jailed in Jakarta. The protests began October 10 as government employees went on strike to protest a threat by the Indonesian-appointed governor, Abilio Soares, to sack all public servants who support independence. Some 12,000 people rallied in Dili the following day.

Earlier this year Indonesian president B.J. Habibie offered "special status" for East Timor - unspecified local government autonomy - in return for international recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor. But this proposal for autonomy has been rejected by almost all political forces in East Timor. For instance, student leader Antero Benedito da Silva declared, "It's not Habibie's right to give us special status, it's the right of the people of East Timor to have self- determination through a referendum."

Students at the Dili campus have played a key role in the latest upsurge. Over July and August they organized as many as a dozen forums across East Timor to bring broader sections of the people into action. Some 5,000 people attended one held in Bacau - virtually the whole town along with people from the surrounding area.

Andrew McNaughton told 250 people at a Sydney rally, held November 14 to commemorate the Dili massacre, that these meetings were organized "against the opposition of the Indonesian military." McNaughton is the president of the Sydney branch of the Australia East Timor Association, and recently returned from a visit to East Timor.

Hundreds of students demonstrated at the provincial parliament in Dili September 10 on the eve of a two-day conference of 50 delegates from East Timor's main political parties. Organized by East Timor's two Catholic bishops, Carlos Belo and Basilio Nascimento, the conference called for the release of Xanana Gusmao. Only three delegates spoke in favor of autonomy within Indonesia, with the majority calling for a referendum. Gusmao, the president of the National Council of Timorese Resistance, declared in a statement released in early September, "There can be no genuine solution to the East Timorese problem without a referendum. We demand this right of ours - a right denied to us for 23 years and ignored by the world - and we demand it vigorously. We will not be put off by compromises such as autonomy."

In an interview with French Press Agency (AFP) dated September 16 and smuggled out of Cipinang jail, Gusmao was quoted as saying, "We accept autonomy as a run-up to a referendum. A period of transition will create a climate of political tolerance and wipe out the last vestiges of the legacy of vengeance and hatred."

He declared that the Indonesian government's decision to enter into detailed discussions with Portugal on autonomy for East Timor signified "no concessions" on the part of the Indonesian authorities. Portugal, the former colonial power in East Timor, is still recognized as the administering authority by the United Nations.

Jose Ramos-Horta, an exiled leader of the East Timorese struggle has also said that he would accept limited autonomy now within Indonesia and a five-year delay on a referendum on the territory's status.

In the AFP interview Gusmao said, "The UN must deploy peacekeepers (like the New Zealand troops in Bougainville), and also a police force including Timorese," to monitor a future withdrawal of Indonesian troops and the dismantling of the regime's repressive paramilitary forces.

Belo has also called for United Nations intervention. After Indonesian police agents killed an East Timorese farmer, Orlando Marcelino da Costa, June 28, the bishop said that if the Indonesian army "are not able to control the situation, let them ask UN forces to control the situation here." Marcelino was among a crowd that had assembled in Bacau to meet a delegation of three European Union ambassadors led by British Ambassador Robin Christopher. Another East Timorese youth, Manuel Soares, was killed by security forces on the eve of their visit. The EU delegation was met by student-led rallies of up to 10,000.

Australia's rulers backed the Suharto regime from its seizure of power in a bloody 1965-66 coup, including Jakarta's brutal annexation of East Timor. With the mass upsurges unfolding in Indonesia and East Timor today, they are coming under increasing pressure to "revise" relations with the Indonesian government. "Too close to the generals" was the headline of a Sydney Morning Herald editorial October 30. The Herald pointed out that the "huge operation against communists in Java and Bali in 1965-66 ... one of the greatest mass killings of the twentieth century, was directed by one Colonel Sarwo Edhie, fresh out of an Australian Army staff college."

The Australian government in Canberra has recently "deferred" three joint military exercises with Indonesian units planned for the coming months. It has also called, for the first time ever, for Gusmao's release.

Central to Australian imperialism's interests is the 1989 Timor Gap treaty between the governments of Australia and Indonesia, which divided up rights to the oil and gas fields between Timor and Australia. BHP, a major Australian corporation, is a big stakeholder in the consortium, developing three fields in the jointly administered Zone A.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has called for a "Bougainville-type" dialogue on East Timor, offering to act as an "honest broker" to host future talks, and assist a settlement. An Australian-led "peacekeeping" force has been intervening in Bougainville for the last year, aiming to quell attempts by the people there to secede from Papua New Guinea.

 
 
 
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