EAST TIMORESE OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT AUTONOMY WITH INDONESIA =========================================================== East Timorese have overwhelmingly turned down a proposal for autonomy in favour of independence. The results of the East Timor ballot on autonomy as announced at 11am, Sydney time, by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan: Yes: 94,388 (21 per cent) No: 344,580 (78 per cent) The turnout among the 451,792 registered voters was 98.6 per cent. Source: Sydney Morning Herald - September 4 ASIET News Updates - September 4, 1999 ====================================== * Pro-Indonesia militias pack Dili as independence chosen * Police 'stand back as homes torched' * Gangs expand their domain on the wings of fear and rumor * Jakarta split on foreign force ------------------------------------------------------------- Pro-Indonesia militias pack Dili as independence chosen ======================================================= Agence France Presse - September 4, 1999 Dili -- Hundreds of pro-Indonesian militiamen roamed through the East Timorese capital Dili early Saturday as fear gripped the territory with the United Nations announcing an overwhelming vote in favour of independence. There were no visible celebrations, despite 78.5 percent of East Timorese rejecting autonomy. Whole areas of Dili were deserted as fearful residents had fled to the the hills around the city for safety ahead of the ballot announcement by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Annan told the UN Security Council in New York that 78.5 percent of eligible East Timorese, or 344,580 people, had turned down Indonesia's offer of autonomy. Just 94,388, or 21 percent, wanted to stay a part of Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese territory in 1975. In Jakarta, jailed East Timorese separatist leader Xanana Gusmao urged the UN Security Council to urgently send an international peacekeeping force to prevent a "genocide" following the result. "I appeal to [the] secretary general of the UN to convene en emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to decide on the sending of multinational forces to save the Maubere (East Timorese) people from a new genocide," Gusmao said in a statement issued from his house jail. In Dili, a heavily armed brigade of police guarded the entrance to the Mahkota Hotel where UN Mission in East Timor chief Ian Martin announced the result simultaneously with Annan. Truckloads of Besi Merah Putih (Red and White) militiamen were seen entering Dili to join the predominant Aitarak militia, which has waged a campaign of terror over past months. Sporadic shooting was heard in the city through Friday night, and motorists said there was no fuel available. Anxiety was high over the likely reaction to the ballot result by the militias, whom many observers charge are backed by the Indonesian military. It was also unclear whether other pro-Indonesians would accept the result. Basilio Araujo on Friday said his umbrella United Front for East Timor Autonomy had suspended recognition of the vote because of alleged irregularites. Jakarta on Friday night sent in 1,400 crack troops, apparently to help secure the capital, as international calls grew for a neutral peacekeeping force for East Timor. Police 'stand back as homes torched' ==================================== South China Morning Post -- September 4, 1999 Ian Timberlake, Dili -- Furious United Nations staff -- evacuated from Maliana following the murders of two UN poll workers in the district -- yesterday blasted Indonesian police for doing nothing while anti-independence militiamen rampaged. A 38-car convoy from Maliana, carrying 40 foreign and 14 local UN staff, arrived at the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (Unamet) headquarters in the capital Dili yesterday afternoon, with some saying Maliana was in anarchy. The Unamet staff had sought refuge in the Maliana police station after the militia went on the rampage and torched houses. "I haven't seen one ounce of police work since I got into this country," one of those evacuated said. "They have got to have an international [peacekeeping] force in here. The Timorese people are at their [the militias'] mercy." Another UN officer called the situation in Maliana a disaster. "It is just surrounded by fire and smoke. The militia just roam free with their weapons," the officer said. "There were houses burning all around town this morning," another said. "Nobody did anything to stop it either. The TNI [Indonesian military] did absolutely zilch." He said some houses were burning next to an Indonesian police compound and "the police were doing nothing". The two dead East Timorese workers were a driver and an interpreter for Unamet. They were murdered in the early evening about 200 metres from the UN compound as they headed for home, a Unamet source said. "We believe they were killed by pro-Indonesian militias. We believe they were macheted to death. Of course, all our locally employed staff had received threats continually," the source said. After the murders, Unamet grouped all its personnel together. They spent the night surrounded by burning houses and the continual sound of gunfire, some apparently coming from automatic rifles. They fired "hundreds and hundreds of rounds," a UN civilian police officer said. When the convoy left the town, 75km southwest of Dili, it was escorted by Indonesian police, many of whom had also fled Maliana, one officer said. The convoy passed through several armed militia road blocks on its way to Dili. East Timor's Human Rights and Justice Foundation said observers in Maliana had confirmed three civilians had been shot dead there by Dadalus Merah Putih militiamen. In a separate evacuation, four members of the International Federation for East Timor-Observer Project were on their way to West Timor under Indonesian police escort. In Liquica, another militia-ruled town 35km west of Dili, there were no plans yet to evacuate UN staff, Unamet spokesman David Wimhurst said. Militiamen had virtually taken over Liquica and torched about 30 houses on Thursday. Some 75 journalists, mostly foreigners but also Indonesians working for overseas media, left East Timor for Bali aboard a BBC-chartered aircraft. The Safety Office for Media in East Timor issued a "high alert" for journalists, cautioning them to avoid unnecessary travel and not to go out alone. Pro-Indonesian militiamen were reported to have told Indonesian journalists of a plan to go on a fresh rampage in Dili today. ********************************************************** Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) PO Box 458, Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Phone: 61-(0)2-96901230 Fax : 61-(0)2-96901381 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW : http://www.peg.apc.org/~asiet/ ********************************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
