The last year of the twentieth century was a transition for both East Timor and Indonesia. East Timor finally exercised its long-denied right to self-determination, and is now becoming an independent nation. Next year, East Timor will merit its own Country Report.

Indonesia firmly broke with the 32-year Suharto dictatorship, holding elections and moving toward a pluralistic democracy.

Yet, as the State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1999 on Indonesia indicates, this progress has come at a tremendous price. Not only have the people of East Timor and Indonesia survived decades of brutal repression and mass slaughter, but their 1999 passage toward freedom was accompanied by widespread killings and many other human rights violations. Although East Timor is now under interim United Nations administration and can look forward to peaceful democracy, many parts of Indonesia continue to suffer at the hands if Indonesia's military.

The State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DHRL) Report released last Friday discusses Indonesia's "significant progress in its transition from a long-entrenched authoritarian regime to a more pluralistic, representative democracy." Yet, the Report appropriately states "Both the TNI (military) and the police committed numerous serious human rights abuses throughout the year."

The East Timor Action Network commends the State Department for producing a generally accurate Country Report, and for including nearly all of the most serious ongoing violations of human rights. We also appreciate the shifts in U.S. policy toward Indonesia over the past two years and encourage the State Department to continue building relationships with Indonesia's civil society and maintaining pressure on the military. It is still far too early for the United States to resume weapons sales, military training or any other ties with Jakarta's military establishment, still not fully under civilian control and still violating the rights of people in Aceh, West Papua and other areas under Indonesian control.

Space does not permit recounting the voluminous information provided by the State Department, and these comments should be read in conjunction with the State Department Report. The following are the major areas relating to East Timor where ETAN believes the Report is lacking:

1. The Report fails to convey the extent to which the Indonesian military and its militias attempted to subvert the U.N. referendum process. Although some militia crimes preceding the May 5 agreement are described, as is the devastation after the results were announced on September 4, the terror and mayhem operation conducted by the militias during the referendum process is largely omitted.

There is no mention, for example, of the systematic attacks on CNRT offices during the two-week August campaign period, which effectively squelched public advocacy by the pro-independence side.
During the week before the vote, militias wrought havoc in towns all across East Timor, killing at least six people in Dili and several in other areas. On August 28 militia entered the Los Palos home of Verissimo Quintas, the 60-year-old traditional chief, and hacked him to death with machetes while Indonesian police stationed close by failed to act. In the enclave of Oecussi, the pre-vote violence was especially severe.
2. The Report is inadequate when discussing human rights cases prior to 1999 in which no new progress was made. Although a few such cases are mentioned (such as the 1991 Dili massacre), the Indonesian military committed literally hundreds of thousands of human rights violations during their 24-year occupation of East Timor. A major deficiency of the current Indonesian and international investigations is that they fail to include violations before 1999. The State Report should point that out, and should report on the (lack of) progress on the many major violations reported by State in previous years.
3. The extent of the post-vote devastation is not conveyed. Although the Report recounts some elements of the post-vote violence by the TNI and the militias, it fails to describe the scale or the systematic nature of the destruction. In less than two weeks, the military, police and militias drove 650,000 out of the East Timorese population of 850,000 from their homes – either fleeing into the mountains or forced, often at gunpoint, on trucks or ships and taken to West Timor or other parts of Indonesia. Simultaneously, they deliberately destroyed 70% of all buildings and nearly all of East Timor's infrastructure. The legacy of this devastation will affect every aspect of East Timorese society for years, resulting in the denial of shelter, education, food, work (East Timor now has 80% unemployment) and many other basic rights.
4. The Report fails to mention the responsibility of the international community, including the United States. The United Nations Security Council approved the May 5 agreements. For the first time since 1975, the international community legalized the Indonesian military presence in East Timor by giving Jakarta responsibility for security during the referendum process. Yet, as the State Report documents, it was clear at that time that TNI was carrying out a widespread, systematic policy of terror, implemented through paramilitary militias, to prevent the vote or distort its outcome.

The United States made no effort to pressure Indonesia to improve the agreement by making security an international responsibility, and therefore shares culpability for abuses committed as a result of that agreement.