The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the growing crisis that has recently beset East Timor, the world’s youngest nation. Reports indicate that tens of thousands of persons have fled the capital and are seeking refuge in camps, as the result of continuing communal and ethnic violence, which has led to the death of at least 27 persons and the burning of many homes. International peace-keepers–from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia–are being deployed in the country and appear to be restoring some order, but the violence is ongoing, with fears that the country may yet collapse further.
East Timor voted on independence from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum in 1999 that was marred by an upsurge in violence, resulting in some 1’500 deaths. Following a UN-administered transition period, the country gained full independence on May 20, 2002. AHRC is saddened by the fact that only four years later, the country is again plunging into violence and unrest. UN peace-keepers left the country in May 2005, following what has widely been deemed one of the UN’s greatest success stories. However, East Timor remains the poorest country in the region with 40% of the population estimated to be living in poverty, and while some advances have been made since independence, it is now clear that greater levels of international support are required in order to avert the state’s collapse. Many underlying ethnic and regional tensions have not been dealt with and are now fuelling violence that some fear may plunge the country into civil war.
The current crisis was sparked by unrest in the military in March 2006. Following a month-long stand off, nearly 600 soldiers from the 1’400 strong force were sacked. The soldiers in question, most of whom are thought to be former insurgents from the fight for independence, were reportedly protesting against injustices, including a sense that their past sacrifices were not being adequately recognised, and nepotism in the military. Underlying this schism are regional tensions between two groups within East Timor. The protesting sacked soldiers predominantly come from the west of the country, a region associated with the pro-independence movement. The east of the country is associated with a more pro-Indonesian stance.
Fighting erupted in April 2006 between government troops and the sacked members of the security forces, which has in turn led to widespread communal violence based on the same underlying ethnic and regional tensions. Marauding gangs armed with machetes and other light weapons, including some firearms, have over-run the capital, Dili. Many homes are reported to have been set on fire, and killings are continuing, with four persons allegedly having been killed only yesterday, May 28, 2006. The Red Cross estimates that around 50’000 persons fled their homes in order to escape the violence. Tens of thousands of refugees are now sheltering in makeshift camps under conditions qualified as being “horrendous” by Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta. Reports indicate that local residents have attempted to break into a World Food Programme warehouse due to increasingly serious food shortages.
The AHRC expresses its dismay at the rapid collapse of law and order and the upsurge of ethnic violence in the country, and urges the international community to provide all necessary support in order to ensure that further killings and destruction of property are averted and that a peaceful resolution to the crisis can be reached. While welcoming the deployment of international peace-keepers, which are reportedly restoring some stability to the situation, it is clear that greater support is still required. Initial international support should, of course, be focussed on averting a worsening of the crisis and the potential for civil war. Beyond this, however, support and investment should be channelled to enable the country to resolve underlying tensions in a peaceful manner and for the strengthening of state institutions. For example, the training of members of the police and the strengthening of the judiciary are vital to ensure that future breakdowns in law and order are prevented and that perpetrators of crimes and human rights violations are brought to justice. The prevailing impunity that remains in great part for perpetrators of violence during the struggle for independence has likely engendered a climate that permits such violence to re-emerge. It is also vital that any external intervention be designed in order to restore rather than replace the country’s hard-won political independence.
The AHRC calls upon all actors in East Timor to immediately halt the use of violence and to hold negotiations. The AHRC sincerely hopes that the current crisis will find a rapid and peaceful resolution and that the international community will commit to providing sufficient support to ensure that East Timor can resolve the underlying tensions that have sparked these events and can ensure that the victims and the displaced are adequately protected and compensated for their losses.
