DATE=5/20/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43450
TITLE=EAST TIMOR/MILITIA TERROR
BYLINE=JENNY GRANT
DATELINE=ERMERA, EAST TIMOR
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: COFFEE FARMERS, PRODUCERS OF EAST TIMOR'S NUMBER ONE CASH
CROP, SAY THEIR LIVELIHOODS ARE ENDANGERED BECAUSE OF A CAMPAIGN
OF TERROR BY PRO-INDONESIA MILITIAS. JENNY GRANT RECENTLY
VISITED THE COFFEE GROWING AREA OF ERMERA IN EAST TIMOR, AND
REPORTS KILLINGS AND KIDNAPPINGS CONTINUE, DESPITE THE PRESENCE
OF A UNITED NATIONS TEAM IN THE TERRITORY.
/// SOUNDS -- TRADITIONAL COFFEE MARKET ///
TEXT: COFFEE FARMERS GATHER AROUND A SET OF BRONZE SCALES ON A
MOUNTAIN ROADSIDE IN ERMERA, 60 KILOMETERS SOUTH WEST OF THE
CAPITAL, DILI. AS THE SUN DIPS BELOW THE TREE LINE AND THE
EVENING AIR COOLS, THE FARMERS UNLOAD THEIR WICKER BASKETS OF
COFFEE CHERRY ONTO THE SCALES.
ERMERA IS EAST TIMOR'S TOP COFFEE-GROWING AREA, PRODUCING THE
TERRITORY'S LARGEST CASH CROP. BUT THIS ROADSIDE MARKET IS NOT
AS BUSY AS USUAL. BUYERS SAY MUCH OF THE RED COFFEE HANGING ON
TREES IN THE SURROUNDING PLANTATIONS WILL ROT BECAUSE THERE ARE
NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TO DO THE PICKING.
THE REASON: MOST OF THE TEENAGE BOYS TO MIDDLE-AGED MEN HAVE FLED
THIS REGION. THEY LEFT IN TERROR OF A LOCAL MILITIA GROUP KNOWN
AS THE RED DRAGON, WHICH SUPPORTS EAST TIMOR'S INTEGRATION WITH
INDONESIA. IN WHAT SHOULD BE THE BUSIEST TIME OF THE COFFEE
HARVEST, ONLY WOMEN, CHILDREN AND OLD MEN CAN BE FOUND TO DO THE
PICKING.
IN AUGUST, VOTERS IN EAST TIMOR WILL DECIDE WHETHER TO ACCEPT AN
AUTONOMY PACKAGE WHICH WAS NEGOTIATED BY PORTUGAL, THE
TERRITORY'S FORMER COLONIZER AND INDONESIA, WHICH INVADED AND
ANNEXED EAST TIMOR IN THE 1970'S. INDONESIAN OFFICIALS SAY IF
THE EAST TIMORESE REJECT AUTONOMY, THE TERRITORY WILL BE GIVEN
ITS INDEPENDENCE.
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGES OF ERMERA IT HAS BEEN A BLACK
HARVEST. THE PRO-INDONESIA MILITIAS HAVE BURNED HOUSES AND
KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
LOCAL RESIDENTS BELIEVE THE MILITIAS AIM TO DISRUPT THE COFFEE
HARVEST AND ERODE THE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE OF FARMERS IN EAST
TIMOR'S MOST AFFLUENT RURAL DISTRICT. THEY SAY THE PRO-JAKARTA
PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATIONS ALSO WANT TO ELIMINATE EAST TIMORESE
WHO SUPPORT INDEPENDENCE AND TO TERRORIZE VILLAGERS INTO VOTING
FOR THE AUTONOMY PACKAGE, WHICH WILL KEEP EAST TIMOR WITHIN
INDONESIA.
ERMERA IS SEEN AS THE STRONGEST PRO-INDEPENDENCE AREA IN THE
WESTERN REACHES OF EAST TIMOR, MAKING IT AN IMPORTANT TARGET FOR
THE MILITIAS.
/// ACT SEGA INDONESIAN-FADE UNDER ///
FATHER IGNATIUS SEGA, OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH IN OLD
ERMERA, SAYS 18 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED AND AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN KILLED IN HIS TOWN. OTHERS HAVE BEEN REPORTED KILLED
IN THE VILLAGES OF FATUBOLO, LISSAPOTE AND MASSOSAE.
THE NEARBY VILLAGE OF FATUBOLO SITS ON A MOUNTAIN RIDGE, BEYOND
AN INDONESIAN TELKOM MICROWAVE STATION. THE VILLAGE CHIEF SAYS
UP TO 20 PEOPLE WERE KILLED LAST WEEK IN AN INDONESIAN
MILITARY-BACKED MILITIA OPERATION IN COFFEE PLANTATIONS A FEW
KILOMETERS AWAY. ELEMENTS OF THE INDONESIAN ARMY HAVE BEEN
SUPPORTING ANTI-INDEPENDENCE PARAMILITARY GROUPS.
MOST OF THE MALES HAVE FLED UP A MOUNTAIN BEHIND THE VILLAGE.
THEY SAY THEY DO NOT WANT TO JOIN THE RED DRAGON MILITIA AND
ARE AVOIDING A CAMPAIGN OF FORCED CONSCRIPTION THAT HAS ALREADY
TAKEN MANY FARMERS.
ON THE DAY I VISITED, FARMERS HAD FINALLY FELT SAFE ENOUGH TO
ENTER THE PLANTATIONS TO COLLECT THE BODIES. THE FAMILY OF 17
YEAR OLD STUDENT SEBASTIAN SOARES LEFT JUST AFTER SUNRISE TO
COLLECT HIS BODY. FAMILY MEMBERS SAID SEBASTIAN WAS PICKING
COFFEE IN THE PLANTATION, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL, WHEN HE WAS
KILLED BY MILITIAMEN. NO ONE AGREED TO A TAPE RECORDED
INTERVIEW, OUT OF FEAR.
HIDING UNDER A THATCHED ROOF, I WAITED FOR THE BODY TO BE CARRIED
BACK TO THE VILLAGE.
BEFORE THE RETURN OF SEBASTIAN'S BODY, ARMED SOLDIERS ON THE
THREE MOTOR BIKES ESCORTED A TRUCKLOAD OF RED DRAGON MILITIA MEN
FURTHER UP THE MOUNTAIN. THE MILITIA HAD ALREADY BEGUN ITS
INTIMIDATION CAMPAIGN FOR THE DAY AND I COULD WAIT NO LONGER.
THE VILLAGERS URGED ME TO DEPART FOR THEIR PROTECTION. (SIGNED)
NEB/JG/LTD/
20-May-99 11:09 AM EDT (1509 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
