| Subject: SMH: Howard
sees life on Dili's front line; asked to help prove the horror
also: Help us prove the horror, PM told Sydney Morning Herald Monday, November 29, 1999 Howard sees life on Dili's front line PHOTO: John Howard with Santarina Swares, 11, a patient at the Australian-Singapore Field Hospital in Dili yesterday.Photograph by ANDREW MEARES By PETER COLE-ADAMS and MARK DODD The Federal Opposition, the Australian Democrats and refugee groups have called on the Government to allow East Timorese evacuated to Australia in September to stay here until after the wet season. The short-term ''safe haven'' visas issued to the East Timorese expire on December 8, and the Immigration Minister, Mr Ruddock, wants those who are fit to return before then. The opposition parties' demand came as the Prime Minister made a one-day visit to Dili, where he said he would consider a UN request for Australia to provide evidence of Indonesian military complicity in a post-ballot reign of terror. The August 30 referendum resulted in an overwhelming vote in favour of independence, triggering an orgy of arson, looting, murder and forced deportation by Army-backed militias. Lavishing praise on Australian troops who make up the majority of the international peacekeeping force, Mr Howard singled out its Commander, Major-General Peter Cosgrove, as a man who had ''done Australia proud''. ''This operation has brought enormous credit to Australia. Remember, it was a dangerous, uncharted operation when it started on 20th September,'' he said. Later, Mr Howard visited the Australian-Singapore Field Hospital, housed in a sea of Army tents in the centre of town, and distributed toys to children. Before leaving, Mr Howard was flown by Black Hawk helicopter to meet Australian troops garrisoned along the volatile Western border. ------------- Sydney Morning Herald Monday, November 29, 1999 Help us prove the horror, PM told PHOTO: Prime Minister, John Howard, with Interfet Commander, Major-General Peter Cosgrove, yesterday. By MARK DODD in Dili Australia's Prime Minister, Mr Howard, on a one-day visit to war-ravaged East Timor, said he would consider a United Nations request for Australia to provide evidence of Indonesian military complicity in a post-ballot reign of terror. The UN-organised referendum on August 30 resulted in an overwhelming vote in favour of independence, which triggered a pre-planned orgy of unchecked murder, arson, looting and forced deportation by Indonesian Army-backed militias. Most of East Timor's 880,000 population were displaced by the violence, which lasted about two weeks and laid waste to the impoverished territory. The main towns and villages in East Timor were torched on the orders of a revengeful Indonesian military and its militia proxies. About 260,000 East Timorese either fled or were forced across the border to Indonesian West Timor in the ensuing chaos. More than 150,000 remain there living in squalid camps guarded by militia thugs. A UN Human Rights Commission of Inquiry has been established to investigate the atrocities and yesterday the head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, appealed to Mr Howard for urgent assistance from Australia in the field of forensic specialists. The onset of the rainy season had emphasised the urgent need for the speedy deployment of specialists to investigate East Timor's ''killing fields'', Mr de Mello said. ''We need forensic experts to look at all the bodies which have [been] or may be exhumed. We need more than a police investigative capacity. ''This is not easy. We need anthropologists and pathologists. We need a morgue here in Dili that functions.'' Mr Howard said a request for a mobile morgue to be given to East Timor was the responsibility of, or a decision to be taken by, the States. An Australian lawyer in East Timor told the Herald that the Melbourne-based Institute for Pathology was probably best equipped to handle the UN request. The commander of the peacekeeping force in East Timor, Major-General Peter Cosgrove, said his troops had currently recovered 130 sets of human remains and were investigating another 250 cases. Responding to another official UN request from Mr de Mello, Mr Howard promised to help in the creation of an East Timorese Customs and Immigration Department, evidence of the changing priorities now required to rebuild the shattered territory. ''We asked for help to establish a customs and immigration service in East Timor - not only in terms of controlling the entry of goods and entry and exit of people, but especially in terms of raising budgetary income for the East Timorese administration,'' Mr de Mello said. ''He [Mr Howard] promised to help us.'' The Prime Minister said he was not upset about the fact that he was not able to talk with East Timor's revered independence leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, who is regarded as a presidential front-runner. ''I came here to thank Australian forces. I did not plan this visit on the basis of his [Mr Gusmao's] availability,'' Mr Howard said, sounding a note of irritation. Mr Gusmao has said that the vast sum of almost $2 billion being spent on maintaining peacekeeping troops in East Timor until 2001 might be better spent on what he believes are more urgent needs among the island's hard-pressed population, most of whom continue to live without adequate shelter. 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