DATE=10/12/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR / MILITIAS HISTORY
NUMBER=5-47154
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=DILI, EAST TIMOR
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesia is rejecting a U-N request to extradite a notorious, anti-independence militia leader to East Timor for questioning. On Wednesday, the U-N transitional government in East Timor issued an arrest warrant for Eurico Guterres in connection with the murder of innocent civilians prior to the territory's vote for independence in August, 1999. As V-O-A's Alisha Ryu in East Timor explains, militias in Timor have had a long history of violence against their own people.
TEXT:
/// OPEN FOR SOUND OF PIGS SQUEALING EST. AND FADE UNDER ///
With pigs and other livestock slung over his shoulder in gunny sacks [burlap bags], an East Timorese refugee begins crossing the shallow Malibaka River which forms a natural border between East and West Timor.
He is one of 22 refugees today who have been given permission by the Indonesian army to return home. The refugees had fled to camps in West Timor in September of last year, after violent rampages by militias opposed to independence left hundreds dead and most of East Timor in smoldering ruins.
But returning refugees hardly receive a warm welcome home. Each one is met by a dozen U-N peacekeeping soldiers armed with guns and metal detectors. The refugees are carefully screened while several other soldiers hand-check every item they possess. The soldiers' mission to prevent militiamen from infiltrating back into East Timor.
Major John McCafferey is company commander of one of the Australian peacekeeping battalions posted at the border.
/// FIRST MCCAFFEREY ACT ///
The threat of infiltration is always present. The border here is extremely rugged in places and it is quite porous. During crossings, locals have pointed out to us who are suspects. We have not caught anyone trying to infiltrate but we have detained numerous individuals.
/// END ACT ///
A year after the devastation, the fear of militias still grips East Timor and it is easy understand why.
It is widely believed that it was the Indonesian military and police that helped arm the militias. They then looked the other way when the militias destroyed much of East Timor's infrastructure and drove an estimated 300-thousand people into West Timor.
U-S Army reservist Eric Stallmer - who is participating in the massive international effort to rebuild East Timor describes how he felt when he first saw the devastated capital, Dili, five-months ago.
/// STALLMER ACT ///
It floored you to see so much destruction, so much damage. It amazed you to see how, in a relatively short amount of time, they methodically destroyed the city and country.
/// END ACT ///
At least 13-militia groups were believed to have been operating in East Timor before the U-N independence referendum. The most prominent of these was headed by Eurico Guterres who warned that East Timor would be turned into a sea of fire if it became independent.
In an attempt to intimidate voters, the militias went on a killing spree, murdering as many as one-thousand people in the 12 months preceding the vote. In the worst single incident, 57 people were shot and hacked to death in a churchyard near Dili in April 1999.
No one knows exactly how many militiamen were involved in these and other attacks, nor how many still exist. U-N officials say they do know that when international peacekeepers arrived a year ago, nearly all of the known militia groups fled to Indonesian-held West Timor where they harassed and threatened refugees languishing in camps. The militias are still intimidating them now.
Major McCafferey says even a handful of militiamen still pose a threat to people in East Timor.
/// SECOND MCCAFFEREY ACT ///
They are carrying grenades Korean M-25 grenades. They are carrying automatic weapons M-16s and S-K-S, which is the Chinese copy of the A-K.
/// END ACT ///
One problem in dealing with the militias is that they appear to have no unified command structure.
East Timor militias have always been loosely-grouped bands numbering from four up to 50. They were initially formed in 1975 when the invading Indonesian government armed small groups of East Timorese to support Jakarta's rule. Over the years, Indonesia used the militias to help in the fight against Falintil the pro-independence guerrillas led by Xanana Gusmao.
Facing political and economic sanctions, the Indonesian government of President Abdurrahman Wahid says it is working on ways to reign in the militias. But U-N spokesperson Peter Kessler says too little has been done so far.
/// KESSLER ACT ///
The Indonesian government has to react much more firmly against the militias. Others who have been already detained like Eurico Guterres these are steps forward. But they have to take control of the situation.
/// END ACT ///
With more political will, some of the militias that have been organized, trained, and armed by Indonesia could very well be dismantled. But many say others are a little more than well-armed thugs out to promote anarchy. (SIGNED)
NEB/HK/AR/JO/RAE
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