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East Timor Catastrophe    

Article by Kerry Morgan

24/9/99

Many aspects of the East Timorese catastrophe were predictable and
predicted. The bloody and vengeful ‘final solution’ or scorched earth
campaign of the Indonesian military against a population which voted
overwhelmingly for independence, was planned and known about well in
advance. The Jakarta government knew, the US and Australian Intelligence
knew and the United Nations itself knew. Nevertheless, the scale and
intensity of the death and destruction wrought in the course of less than
one month has shocked and horrified all those who have witnessed it. 

Thousands of Maubere (East Timorese) people were killed in the
unprecedented wave of violence since the historic August 30 vote. Many
hundreds had already been killed in the run-up to the referendum. The
ballot had seen a staggering participation in many areas of nearly 100% of
registered voters and an overwhelming rejection of rule from Jakarta. 

As the Indonesian Army (the TNI) and its murderous auxiliaries - the
‘militia’ - went on the rampage, practically the whole of East Timor’s
population was ‘displaced’ - driven from their homes and terrorised.
Hundreds of thousands fled to the perilous safety of the mountains where
there is little or no food, water or protection from the militia and
Indonesian army thugs. At least 200,000 were forced into exile, most being
held as hostages in the concentration camps of West Timor.

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of 24 September quotes eye-witness
accounts from refugees there collected by an Australian UN observer,
Katharine Kennedy.

" ‘Heavily armed men wearing Aitarak and Besi Merah Putih militia T-shirts
have been roaming the city of Kupang and terrorising refugees and
searching for individuals named on hit lists they carry’, she said.

On September 13, about 15 young Timorese men were stabbed and thrown
overboard from an Indonesian passenger liner, the Pelni Awu, en route from
Kupang to Denpasar in Bali. The witness believed the killers were members
of the Indonesian Army.

On September 8 at the Dili wharf, Aitarak militias separated men from a
refugee group and told them to remove their shirts. The militias then shot
10 dead before an Indonesian Army member 
intervened.

On September 6 four alleged members of the National Council of Timorese
Resistance (CNRT) were shot and thrown over the side of an Indonesian
naval vessel carrying forcibly deported refugees to Kupang."

Horror

Australian troops who began arriving in the country at the head of the UN
task-force, Interfet, on September 18th and the journalists and
photographers who went with them have only begun to uncover the real
horror of the devastation and human suffering. Dili, the capital, and
every town in the country have been almost totally destroyed and put to
the torch.  

The home of Manuel Carrascalao, a prominent opponent of Indonesian rule,
where many terrified Timorese had sought refuge, had been ransacked by the
militia. In its grounds a torture chamber had been set up and meat hooks
and a primitive guillotine had been used. No less than 30 dismenmbered
bodies were discovered piled up in the compound’s well

The question on everyone’s minds was why did the United Nations not act
more quickly. At the end of the 20th century, far from a ‘New World
Order’, we have yet more scenes of carnage, genocide and barbarity which
have nothing to do with cultural traditions and everything to do with the
bloody record of imperialist plundering. Yet again, the United Nations is
asked to organise what amounts to a ‘sanitary’ cleaning up operation after
untold damage has been done.

For the reasons outlined elsewhere in this edition of Socialism Today,
United Nations will always drag its feet. Also, in spite of the individual
heroism of some of its civilian and military forces, it will never be able
to eradicate the problems they are sent to sort out. 

History

The history of Indonesia and of East Timor over decades proves beyond all
doubt that the big capitalist powers that dominate the United Nations are
the very ones who have contributed to this human tragedy reaching such an
horrific nemesis. 

For decades they encouraged, armed and did business with the hated general
Suharto not only when his troops invaded the newly independent East Timor
in 1975. When he bludgeoned his way to power in the ‘60s, they failed to
condemn the massacre of over one million workers and peasants who were
members or supporters of the mighty Indonesian Communist Party. (CIA
agents actually supplied the names of people to be annihilated!). When, in
1969, another half-island nation, Irian Jaya, struggled to win its
independence, they stitched up a United Nations-approved ‘Act of Free
Choice’ which was nothing of the sort but gave control to Indonesia. 

Throughout the years of genocide and bloody repression, the governments of
the big capitalist powers continued their business links and made no
mention of either the murderous role of the army or of the massive
corruption endemic in Suharto Inc.

After Suharto

When in 1997 the economy of the fourth largest country in the world
suffered a catastrophic collapse as part of the ‘Asian Crisis’, the
world’s bankers poured in over $43 billion dollars to shore up Suharto’s
crony capitalism. When the hated dictator was anyway overthrown by a
revolutionary mass movement in May 1998, the US, Britain and other
imperialist countries continued to back Suharto’s appointed successor,
Habibie. The new ‘transitional’ president battled to keep to a minimum the
concessions he was forced to make to the aroused oppressed layers in
society. Since the incipient revolution found no political party making an
all-out challenge to the rule of  private interests in finance, land and
industry, even the tasks of establishing democratic processes in society
and solving national grievances could not be completed. 

The armed forces remained almost unreconstructed and a powerful force in
politics. They continued to employ the brutal methods of the past against
opposition movements of workers, students and oppressed nationalities,
often including killings, torture and ‘disappearances’ of known activists.

Under Suharto and under Habibie, western imperialist countries - and
Australia and New Zealand along with them - have continued to equip and
train the Indonesian Army. A British Ministry of Defence spokesman
justifies this with the patently unreal assertion that "It is a way of
ensuring professionalism in foreign armies. It encourages higher
standards, good governance and greater repsect for human rights"!
(Observer 19/9/99). Wars, civil wars and military interventions bring out
what is most odious and rotten in the capitalist system - its brutality,
its double standards and its crass hypocrisy. 

Imperialism and self-determination

The cynical opportunism of the Ausrtralian government is demonstrated by
its withdrawal at the end of last year of its notorious recognition of the
annexation of East Timor by Indonesia. It had become clear, after the fall
of Suharto, that the movement for independence in East Timor was becoming
an unstoppable force, and the way had to be prepared for renegotiating
business deals - particularly over oil - with whatever government might
emerge in an independent East Timor. 

Imperialist powers do not make a habit of supporting oppressed nations
struggling for their independence, but when they are faced with the kind
of determination shown by the East Timorese people, they have to look for
some ‘solution’ that will keep things safe for their interests. When
Suharto was there was an outburst of youthful demonstrations in East Timor
demanding that independence be restored.


Material interests

As far as the ruling elite in Indonesia was concerned, the loss of their
"27th Province" would represent a big blow to their very material
interests as well as their prestige. The occupation troops, with Suharto’s
son-in-law, Prabowo, playing a commanding role - were amongst the most
brutal and hardened of any fighting force in the world. Their officers,
including Prabowo were trained in the west in the nefarious military
tactics of Vietnam, up to and including the use of napalm, torture,
defoliation and depopulation. Many thousands of soldiers had been killed
and withdrawal in the 23 year-long battle to hold down the independence
movement. Total withdrawal would seem like a betrayal of the ‘supreme
sacrifice’ they had made. 

George Aditjondro - a lecturer at Australia’s Newcastle University – has
revealed the full extent of the involvement of the Indonesian elite in the
tiny half-island territory. 

"…East Timor is the Indonesian "province" with the second largest
landholdings under control of the Soeharto family, namely 564,867 hectares…

"These landholdings stretch from the Western border to the Eastern tip of
East Timor, consisting of a 50,000 hectares timber plantation allocated to
Bob Hasan, one of the Soeharto family’s business operators, to tens of
thousands of hectares of sugarcane plantations awarded to the kids on the
Southern coast, stretching from Suai to Viqueque and to Los Palos in the
district of Lautem. In addition, the best marble deposits in Manatuto, has
been awarded to Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Soeharto’s eldest daughter, who
also has a monopoly over coffee production and export from East Timor,
through a company of hers in Dili.

"...The entire top brass of the Indonesian army and civilian bureaucracy
in East Timor are closely interlinked with the former inner circle of
Soeharto, which has in turn be taken over by his successor, Habibie. Even
Wiranto is not free from Soeharto connections, since all the army
charities which are now under his patronage, are co-shareholders of many
of the Soeharto family’s timber concessions and telecommunication
companies."

These extracts come from a document entitled ‘Unmasking the Indonesian
interests behind the pro-Jakarta militias. (The full text is available
from East Timor International Support Center on their web-site:
www.easttimor.com). They explain why the author concludes:

"… I believe that behind the militia tactics in East Timor there seems to
hide a strategy to partition East Timor into a western half which support
continued links with Indonesia and an eastern part that would be allowed
to become independent. A partition, that would roughly follow the lines of
the ‘oil-rich’ and ‘oil-poor’ parts of East Timor.

"Or, a strategy that would allow the entire territory to obtain its
political independence, as long as the landholdings of the Soeharto family
and their East Timorese collaborators would be respected by an independent
East Timor state, and not be seized by the new government or by those
properties rightful, traditional landowners."


Reluctance

It was clear that, in spite of verbal condemnations, the big powers would
not agree to intervene without the ‘permission’ of their long-time ally
and major business partner in the region. They had not challenged
Indonesia’s control in East Timor and even after the intervention (rather
than invasion) began, they did not insist on the withdrawal of all
Indonesian troops. Even though the TNI has been ostensibly making its own
way out, at least 5,000 remain in place and are reported to be preventing
refugees from returning to their homes. (Its commander of operations in
East Timor, (NAME) is alongside the UN appointed commander Peter Cosgrove
as he gives briefings to his forces and to the press).  

Although the major capitalist powers feared the effects of the
conflagration in East Timor on the stability of the whole region, they
were also concerned about the repercussions of breaking off relations.
This meant cutting off loans and lucrative commercial contracts, including
those for the very arms being used to kill and terrorise in East Timor.
They were also fearful of the destabilising effect inside Indonesia if the
military were seen to be totally humiliated. Eventually, however, they
were forced to act and impose certain ‘sanctions’. In the end the
intervention itself was presented as a move to ‘aid’ Indonesian forces to
restore law and order - aid the very same forces who, it is
uncontrovertibly clear - were directly behind all the murderous activities
of the militia and often actually directly involved in them. 

Meanwhile BJHabibie was struggling to maintain his position as president.
LEAVE OUT?[In offering autonomy within Indonesia and then independence if
that was rejected, Habibie was, as on so many issues, trying to reconcile
the irreconcilable. Whether he blundered, gambled on fears of too rapid a
transition to independence or even deliberately brought about the present
situation, it seems unlikely that his own career will prosper.] Jon
Aglionby of the Guardian when asked if he thought Habibie was "finished"
commented that he has been "written off many times already"

But the students facing the batons and bullets of the military on the
streets of Jakarta have been shouting down both Habibie and Wiranto (the
armed forces commander). The government has been reeling before the
renewed demonstrations of tens of thousands of students joined by the poor
of the capital and a number of defiant workers. They have achieved the
suspension of legislation being rushed through the outgoing parliament to
enable the military to step in with more or less unlimited powers in case
of a national emergency. This is seen by many as an incipient military
coup and a warning against any who might protest the domination of the
next government by the military.

It has been speculated by regional analysts like Catherine Napier of the
BBC that the president in waiting Megawati Sukarnopoutri could be
preparing a deal with the military over East Timor. "Under a pact, the
army’s past crimes in not just East Timor but the rest of Indonesia could
be studiously ignored in the interests of national unity, much as under
President Suharto" (BBC News 14/9/99). 

 Megawati has opposed independence for East Timor and blames the
referendum for the catastrophic violence in the half island country. In
this she reflects the interests of the Indonesian ruling class and their
fear of further losses - of oil-rich Aceh and of copper-rich Irian Jaya,
in particular - and of a disintegration and humiliation of the Indonesian
state. One of the aims of the army’s bloody wrecking tactic in East Timor
was no doubt to deter independence movements in these and other areas. In
fact, it could well have the opposite effect, and increase their
determination to escape from the nightmare of life under Jakarta rule. 

The carnage in East Timor signifies one of the bloodiest
counter-revolutions in history. It alone is proof that the regime issuing
from the overthrow of general Suharto is far from democratic. The party
that picked up the electoral fruits of the ‘reformasi’ movement of 1997-8,
Megawati Sukarnopoutri’s Democratic Party of Indonesia - Struggle (PDI-P),
is now said to have "profited from a wave of nationalism and xenophobia"
(Far Eastern Economic Review for week ending 16 Sepember). "Many
Indonesians see a UN and American plot to humiliate their country, and
they blame foreigners, not their military, for the violence." 

While they have said they would reluctantly accept the democratic decision
of the people of East Timor, it is ironic that the arch ‘democratic’
figure of Megawati could, by November, head a military bonapartist
government, with General Wiranto as vice-president. But what kind can now
be expected in East Timor itself? What is the aim and role of the UN
approved intervention and how ‘independent’ a state can be established?

Aims and role of intervention

The initial force of around three and a half thousand troops proved unable
to assure the security of either the UN’s own humanitarian relief agencies
or of the mass of the population. They have been powerless to come to the
aid of the imprisoned refugees West Timor and will inevitably come into
conflict with the starving East Timorese people who have already raide
food storecks and begun to take things into their own hands.

Phone calls between TNI and militia groups still on the ground indicate
the possibility of a number of bloody clashes yet, in which some foreign
soldiers and many more unarmed civilians could be killed. David Usborne of
the ‘Independent’ newspaper cites the blood-curdling radio conversations
in which militia bands agree enthusiastically to put "those white people"
in the river, to exterminate them, "eat them up" etc.(20 September).  

It will obviously take some time before the few thousand soldiers, most of
them without experience in actual fighting, will be able to cope with the
situation. They will be there for some time before a new ‘independent’
government can be established and probably for some time after. It seems
certain that the large anti-independence forces massing in the border area
with West Timor will continue their bloody terror raids into East Timor on
a regular basis.

The dependence on Interfet forces itself indicates the weakness of the
aspiring rulers of an independent East Timor. It has been clear for some
time that the main independence force- Fretilin - could not win a military
victory. It had not adopted a strategy of mobilising and arming he workers
and poor of the towns. The guerrilla tactics of sorties from mountain
bases to pick off particular military targets were insufficient to defeat
the all pervasive Indonesian army. The possibility, on the other hand of a
movement in the urban areas being able to appeal to and split the
occupation forces is not so unrealistic given the reports of mass
desertions of the thousands East Timorese in the Indonesian army and of
about 1,000 police even before the arrival of the UN sanctioned force. 

Unfortunately now, with the commander of the task-force, Peter (check)
Cosgrove promising impartiality and the declared role of his troops to be
the disarming of both ‘factions’, it is inevitable that independence
fighters will find themselves being called on to hand in their weapons.
Apart from a few skirmishes and even successful attacks on Indonesian
military, the Fretilin fighters, still in the four cantonments they agreed
to restrict themselves to before the referendum, have anyway been under
orders not to do anything that might provoke civil war. As if there is
already not an extremely bloody and one-sided civil war being carried out
against not a ‘faction’ but the overwhelming majority of the population
who voted for their freedom. 

The orders have been coming from their supreme commander - Xanana Gusmao -
recently freed from detention by the Jakarta regime. He has long been
appealing for a UN intervention to oversee the transition to independence
and talks of ‘reconciliation’ and ‘forgiveness’. He proposes joint
policing with the Falintil fighters operating alongside the murderers of
the militia bands. Gusmao tries to reassure his backers that revenge will
not be taken for the massacres of ‘his people’ and also that all property
rights will remain untouched. Pressure will build up against policies
which go against some of the long-held principles of the ranks of the
independence movement. 

What future for East Timor?

Gusmao is the acknowledged leader of the East Timorese nation and will
undoubtedly become its first president or Prime Minister. He and his
colleagues - such as Jose Ramos Horta - are undoubtedly assembling a
future East Timorese government as they await in the North Australian port
of Darwin the time when they can return to East Timor’s capital, Dili.
Under the protection of the Foreign forces now ‘securing’ the situation in
his homeland, he will undoubtedly establish an administration that is
heavily dependent on resources being pumped in by the US, Australia and
European countries, especially the ex-colonial power, Portugal (whose
business-men also have lucrative ventures to protect).  

Gusmao has already had extensive discussions with the World Bank and
throughout the last months of his detention in Jakarta was being courted
by business men and politicians from around the world. Deals will have
been struck and conditions will have been promised. This grovelling to
world imperialism shows to what lengths the national liberation leaders
have become representatives of what must be a very feeble East Timorese
capitalist class and its attendant middle class layer. In power, they will
be unable to satisfy the needs of the masses.

The working people and the poor farmers of what was even before the latest
catastrophe, one of the poorest countries in the world, will tire of
waiting for genuine improvements in their living and working conditions. 

Massive sums will be needed just to reestablish the elementary
infrastructure of East Timor, let alone restore the workplaces, docks and
communication systems. Homes, hospitals, offices and schools will all have
to be rebuilt and, in this predominantly catholic country, resources will
no doubt go into building new churches and missions. Most, if not all,
must have been torched and destroyed as their role as sanctuary for the
thousands of refugees became meaningless.

Such wholesale reconstruction will not be achieved on a capitalist basis -
on the basis of such a weak capitalism as that represented by Gusmao and
the CNRT front in which Fretilin is the major force. It is clear, that a
Gusmao government will have no trace of a socialist coloration, in spite
of the declarations of the CNRT in March of this year that the vast
properties of Suharto Inc. would be confiscated. The ex-guerrilla fighter,
now seen in smart suits and ties, will play a similar role to that of
Mandela in South Africa after the victory of the people’s struggle against
apartheid in keepingg things safe for capitalism. [His nation will be in
hock to the big capitalist powers for the foreseeable future.]

As part of his deals with imperialism and with Jakarta, no doubt,
assurances have been given East Timor’s land, resources and industries
will not become the property of the East Timorese state but will be
‘available’ for the exploitation of local proprietors as well as
Australian, US and even Indonesian magnates. Little benefit will accrue to
the ordinary people of East Timor from their struggle to control their own
lives. The only way this will be possible will be through a struggle for
public ownership of land, minerals, banks and all major companies. 

Once the heroic youth of East Timor see the inadequacies of a programme
that leaves property rights as they were under Indonesian rule, they will
begin to organise to take the struggle further. With the recovery of the
small but important proletariat of East Timor, new battles with the
employers will open up. If these struggle s are co-ordinated behind a
programme of socialist demands, they can provide hope for the
long-suffering people of this devastated country. Then comes the prospect
of genuine, socialist self-rule. An appeal for support to the workers,
youth and poor people of Indonesia would spread the struggle. If it was
taken up by the powerful working class of Australia, that has in its
solidarity actions at the beginning of Sepotember, just begun to show what
it is capable of, then the future of the whole region could look socialist.

Lessons drawn from the tragedy of East Timor - of the need to take a
class, socialist approach on every issue of importance to working and poor
people - can provide the spur to workers and youth everywhere to engage in
the struggle for a new world - a world free of wars, genocide,
exploitation and poverty - a socialist world.