[ETAN-key] Statement by the ETAN on the Current Violence in Timor-Leste

[John M Miller]

Statement by the East Timor and Indonesia Action 
Network (ETAN) on the Current Violence in Timor-Leste

May 27, 2006 - We have watched the unfolding 
situation in Timor-Leste this past week with deep 
concern. 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.

-30-

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>www.etan.org.





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John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org
National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network

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