Subject: Washington Post Editorial: Indonesia's Test
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 02:31:07 EDT
From: Joyo@aol.comWashington Post Saturday, September 4, 1999
Editorial
Indonesia's Test
ONLY INDONESIA can now prevent East Timor from spiraling down into another terrible
civil war. Armed militias are rampaging in the wake of a U.N.-sponsored referendum on
independence. Those militias were created and encouraged by Indonesia's military, eager
for a proxy to fight against East Timor's separation. But Indonesia's international
reputation now depends on its willingness to use its armed forces to disarm those
militias, restore peace to East Timor and allow -- finally -- the people of that island to
chart their own destiny.
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony, lying north of Australia and at the eastern
end of the Indonesian archipelago, that was violently recolonized by Indonesia in the
mid-1970s. Many of its people have been resisting Indonesian rule ever since; some 200,000
are thought to have died in massacres or from war-induced famine and disease. For years,
Indonesia deflected all international pressure to allow East Timor's surviving population
of 800,000 or so to determine their own future. When the autocratic President Suharto was
toppled from power last year, his successor, B. J. Habibie, acceded to a U.N. referendum.
Now a majority has voted for independence, and Mr. Habibie must show that Indonesia's
professed change of heart was not just a cynical ploy. His responsibility is especially
grave since his government resisted so firmly any deployment of international peacekeeping
troops.
Indonesia is in the midst of a transition of its own, from decades of dictatorship to,
it is hoped, real democracy. The success of that transition, in one of the world's most
populous nations, is of immense importance; Indonesia merits all the help it can get. But
President Clinton, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and everyone else
with some influence must make clear that Indonesia can get no help if it allows East Timor
to go up in flames. An astonishing 98.6 percent of eligible voters in East Timor risked
their lives to vote. Their courage and determination should not be betrayed.
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