Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – An East Timorese political party called yesterday on Indonesia's peak human rights body to help release resistance leader Jose Xanana Gusmao just as people rallying outside the house where he is being detained demanded he be hanged.
Guards outside the house across from Salemba Prison outnumbered the 20 or so pro-Jakarta demonstrators who listened as a three-page statement was read out.
During the 15-minute demonstration the protesters waved posters saying "Hang Xanana" and "Xanana is not a hero". Xanana had been removed from the house early yesterday and taken back to Salemba prison as a security measure, his aides at the house said.
He issued a statement accusing the Government of trying to recruit poor East Timorese factory workers to take part in the demonstration.
He described a climate of violence in East Timor created by the distribution of arms to militia groups supporting the continued integration of East Timor with Indonesia.
"I urge the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Alatas, to refrain from wasting large amounts of money which serve the interests of a tiny section of the Timorese society at a time when his own people are facing tremendous economic hardship," Xanana said.
"I urge President Habibie to put a stop to these shameful political manoeuvres which only serve to discredit his reformist government and which call into question his pledge to the international community to work towards a just and peaceful solution for East Timor."
Meanwhile, members of the Socialist Party of Timor called on Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission to secure the release of all 128 East Timorese political prisoners, including Xanana, and a group of asylum-seekers holed up in the Austrian Embassy for 18 months.
A group of United Nations and Indonesian Government officials returned this week from assessing the situation in East Timor and is expected to announce next week whether the provincial and national governments can cope or whether overseas help will be required. The Australian Government agency AusAid also has a team in the province to assess the availability of food, medical supplies and services.
The Portuguese envoy Ms Ana Gomes, ending the first visit to East Timor by a Lisbon official since the 1975 Indonesian invasion, said Indonesian troops should be withdrawn from East Timor to facilitate a ceasefire under UN auspices. The port authority chief in Dili, Mr Noke Rahakbauw, said 16,911 non-Timorese had fled since January.