Socialist Action /September 1999
East Timorese Defy Violence
As we go to press on Aug. 30, hundreds of thousands of residents of East
Timor have cast their votes in a UN-supervised referendum for independence
from Indonesia.
Reports indicate that over 90 percent of registered voters went to the
polls-in strong defiance of the pro-Indonesian militias. These death squads
killed dozens of independence supporters in the weeks before the voting.
Further threats were made to kill anyone who voted for independence.
This coffee-growing nation, on the eastern half of Timor island, has
been occupied by Indonesia for close to 24 years. A third of the indigenous
civilian population, over 200,000 people, were wiped out by Indonesian forces
using military equipment provided by the United States.
In fact, the Carter administration expedited the delivery of aircraft
to Indonesia, which were used to bomb and strafe Timorese refugees who had
fled to the mountains.
In late August, President Clinton belatedly wrote a letter to Indonesian
President Habibie in which he vaguely warned of a halt to economic aid if
Indonesia does not do more to rein in the militias, which it controls. But
Clinton said nothing about cutting off the arms that Washington continues
to supply.
The vote totals will be released in early September. If a majority favors
independence, it will probably take a couple of months for the Indonesian
parliament to ratify it. Meanwhile, massacres and disruptions by the death
squads are expected to continue.
Socialist Action /September 1999 |