DATE=3/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA MILITIA CRACKDOWN (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260047
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid says the
government is going to crack down on armed militia
groups in West Timor. As Patricia NUNAN reports from
Jakarta, officials from the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees blame the militias for
preventing more than 100-thousand refugees from
returning to East Timor.
TEXT: Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab says the
President has instructed the Defense Minister to take
steps to disarm the militias in West Timor. The
comments came after the head of the United Nations
peacekeeping force in East Timor issued a formal
protest to the Indonesian government Thursday about
the spate of cross-border raids by the militia groups.
According to the Foreign Minister, Indonesian
President Abdurrahman Wahid said that the militias'
actions "can no longer be tolerated," adding that the
perpetrators would be subject to what he described as
"legal sanctions."
Armed militia groups in West Timor have launched 16
cross-border raids in the past 16 days, leaving at
least one person dead.
It was the militia groups that killed at least 200
people and left East Timor in ruins after they went on
a campaign of terror and destruction last September.
After the arrival of UN peacekeepers, many militia
members fled into the Indonesian province of West
Timor.
The United Nations Assistant-High Commissioner for
Refugees Soren Jessen-Petersen says that continued
intimidation by the militias in West Timor has
prevented more than 100-thousand refugees from
returning to East Timor.
//Begin Jessen-Peterson act.//
There have been for months, been in and around the
refugee camps, people who have been stopping the
refugees. UNHCR staff have
been attacked. Convoys have been attacked. Refugees
have been attacked. Now we understand that Indonesian
authorities are bringing that to an end. And you will
see the number of refugees returning going up very
quickly -- if that happens.
//end Jessen-Peterson act.//
Officials from both the United Nations and from
Indonesian human rights groups have accused members of
the Indonesian Armed Forces of supporting the militia
groups. Six top generals may face prosecution by the
Indonesian government if allegations they orchestrated
the violence are proven.
Mr. Jessen-Petersen -- who has just finished a six-day
trip to East and West Timor -- says he has no evidence
to suggest the military is working with the militias
in West Timor.
//Begin second Jesson-Peterson act.//
Whether it is still happening or whether it is not I
do not know. What I leave with is clear statements
that it is not the policy of the
Indonesian government to support the militias.
//End second Jesson-Peterson act.//
Last month, President Wahid made the first trip by an
Indonesian head of state to East Timor since it won
its independence. The president along with East
Timorese leaders pledged to work for strong relations
between the two governments in the future.(Signed)
NEB/PN/PLM
10-Mar-2000 05:13 AM EDT (10-Mar-2000 1013 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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