---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- ANTARA, September 27, 1999 E Timor: Aussie Troop Brutality Damages Interfet's Image Lisbon, Sept 26 (ANTARA)-Australian troops who continue to arrest East Timorese people by using military-styled approaches in their bid to restore law and order in the troubled territory can damage the image of the UN-approved International Force for East Timor (Interfet), a Portuguese academician said. "The Australian troops have used purely militaristic ways which solely recognise "friend or enemy". This is not relevant to the culture of East Timor which is part of the Asian one," Prof Dr. Felipe Delfim Santos of Independence University in Lisbon said on Saturday night. The Australian troops were recently reported to have brutally burned a pro-Indonesian loyalist to death in a Dili port compound. In return, Dr Santos said what is really needed now is a reconciliative approach in a bid to unite the two warring factions in the East Timorese society. "If the Westerners have accused Indonesia of using a militaristic approach (in dealing with East Timor), the Interfet, firstly sponsored by the Australian troops, is clearly saprking a new conflict there." he said. As depicted by the international news agencies, the Australians were reported to pay more attention to the interests of the pro independence camp, and, in return, launched campaigns the pro- autonomy loyalist by alleging them to be militiamen. "I also see a tendency of conspiracy among Western massa media regarding the presence of Interfet, particularly the Australian contingent." "Why are the arrested people always accused to be pro- integrationists and bound to the militiamen? The stories on them are also exaggerated. Psychologically, this thing can trigger a new problem," he said. Moreover, the new conflict of the East Timorese has now entered a new phase due to the fact that the Western world, mainly sponsored by Australia, EU and USA, has shown much more support for the Xanana Gusmao-led National Council for Timor Resistance (CNRT). New Colonialism The Westerners, he said, have demonstrated a new concept of colonialism in East Timor by disintegrating the East Timorese. The CNRT position is not more than as a puppet of the Western world. As a matter of fact, the CNRT is not the only dynamic group in East Timorese society whose members of elite circles are not easily united, he said. On the brutally of the Australian troops in East Timor, Indonesia's National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has reacted. The commission asked the Australia-led Interfet to be transparentin upholding human rights principles and security for East Timor, and leave out its paranoia. "We need a resolute step from Interfet that they can respect and provide the same space of human rights for everyone," Chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Marzuki Darusman, said in Jakarta. If Interfet can show its transparency in enforcing human right principles, it will bring benefit to the international troops' credibility, Darusman added. Commenting on a statement of Interfet's Commander, Peter Cosgrove, that Interfet will shoot those who point a gun on his members, Darusman said it shows the force's unreadiness to anticipate security developments in the region. The UN force, he added, tends to threat East Timor as a war area where the have to destroy the enemy. "In fact, Interfet has a duty to settle the East Timor problem peacufully. In any condition, Interfet's troops should be able to uphold human rights principles for all people in the territoty," Darusman noted. Commander of the Integration Troops (PPI), Filomeno Antonio Brito, has previously said one of his members, Clementino, was burned to death by Interfet are Lino Soares, Antonio Soares, Marcellino de Jesus, Gregorio Soares, Mathias Soares, Alberto and Domingos. As of Saturday, Alberto and Domingos have yet to be found while the other five victims escaped from the location and were saved by TNI's personnel, by leaving Dili. (T.LPT-1/NN-03/05:45/INT-TA/nn-03/TB06) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 30 Sep 1999 jam 09:15:12 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
