Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon News

The truth about Waco
A survivor says the government still isn't admitting its role in the deaths of 74 Branch Davidians.
By David Thibodeau
[09/09/99]

A place called Crystal City
Bill Bradley kicks off his presidential campaign with an old-fashioned tug at the heartstrings.
By Jake Tapper
[09/09/99]

Capital punishment on trial
After witnessing a state execution, a Florida reporter says the electric chair is inhumane.
By Charles Elmore
[09/08/99]

Assume the position, Newt
Former House Speaker Gingrich faces embarrassing questions about his sex life and marital fidelity.
By David Corn
[09/08/99]

Commentary's scurrilous attack on Edward Said
Enemies are calling him "the Palestinian Tawana Brawley," but Said's stories of displacement and diaspora are true.
By Christopher Hitchens
[09/07/99]

Complete archives for News

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Officially, the United States and the United Nations have never recognized Indonesia's rule in the province. This year, in a move to win confidence in his promised democratic reforms, President B.J. Habibie offered East Timorese the chance to vote on whether to be an independent state or "autonomous" under Indonesian rule. Despite threats from the military and a ban on campaigning by independence advocates, on Aug. 30 nearly 99 percent of registered voters dropped ballots, with 78 percent of them voting for independence. Though the election was amazingly free of violence, in the past week anti-independence militias have terrorized the Timorese. Scattered reports tell of killings, looting and massive destruction. Bishop Belo, the Catholic leader of the province and a well-known advocate for independence, has been evacuated.

In response to militia violence, Habibie's government proclaimed a state of "martial law." Yet many observers say the Indonesian military itself is the problem, that its soldiers and military leaders are working with militia groups to gather Timorese and interrogate, transport or kill them, and that Habibie has no control of military forces. An estimated 200,000 Timorese -- one quarter of the population -- have been relocated or killed since the violence began.

Now the international community must decide what, if anything, to do to stop the bloodshed. While the United Nations considers whether to send peacekeeping forces into the region, neighboring Australia says it is ready to deploy 2,000 troops. U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen says the United States has no plans to send peacekeepers. However, President Clinton on Thursday suspended future relations with the Indonesian military. U.S. support for the Indonesian military has been in place since the reign of Suharto. In his statement, delivered to Indonesian Gen. Wiranto, Clinton threatened economic sanctions if the violence did not end, and said Indonesia "must invite the international community" to assist in restoring security.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank must also consider whether to cut the billions of dollars in financial aid they have been sending to the Indonesian government in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. But again, the United States is reluctant to risk harming its relationship with Indonesia and with Habibie's tenuous reform effort by joining the push for sanctions.

A new, reformist assembly is scheduled to convene in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in November, and one of its agenda items is the ratification of the vote in East Timor. Some experts fear that violence in Dili, the East Timorese capital, is only a precursor of the military's coming effort to prevent the assembly. And reports are surfacing that Habibie, a civilian leader, is likely to face a military coup at any moment.

Salon News asked four East Asian experts what the world community should do about the fate of East Timor and the future of Indonesia.

Next page | Stop training the Indonesian military