ETAN/CIS - June 7, 2001
On June 6 and 7, the Indonesian government
conducted a procedure throughout the refugee camps in West Timor. One stated
objective was to allow each family to choose whether to be resettled in
Indonesia or to return to East Timor, their homeland from which they were
forcibly abducted 21 months ago. However, this process was ill-conceived,
illegitimately executed, and conducted in an atmosphere of intimidation
without meaningful oversight or participation by the international community.
The results of the registration must therefore be rejected, no matter how
much the two-day process appeared to be smooth and free of civil disturbance.
The approximately 80,000 refugees languishing
in squalid refugee camps urgently need the international community to help
provide for their immediate needs and to ensure that they can freely choose
whether to repatriate to East Timor or resettle in Indonesia. The United
Nations conducted the 1999 election, while leaving security in the hands
of the Indonesian military, thereby creating the conditions which forced
these refugees from their homeland, and the UN should acknowledge its responsibility
to enable them to rebuild their lives. This week’s exercise was totally
inadequate, and we reiterate our call for a genuine, internationally-conducted
registration conducted after the militia organizations have been disarmed,
disbanded, prevented from pressuring the refugees, and not involved in
future registrations.
Intimidation by the Indonesian military
and the militias they created has been a fact of life for the refugees
since before they were evicted from East Timor nearly two years ago. That
alone invalidates this week’s process, and the international community
should be ashamed of allowing it to proceed under these conditions. The
following are specific points which demonstrate the fraudulent nature of
the Indonesian government’s refugee registration:
Intimidation
- Indonesia brought an additional 4,500
military from other parts of Indonesia to West Timor to enforce order during
the registration. These soldiers, operating under shoot-to-kill orders,
recall the 24 years of Indonesian military occupation of East Timor which
resulted in 200,000 East Timorese deaths and which was resoundingly rejected
in the August 30, 1999 referendum. The impunity enjoyed by military officers
and militia leaders who committed crimes against humanity in East Timor
from 1975 to 1999, and in West Timor since then, allows them to continue
terrorizing East Timorese refugees. Reports, including those from Indonesian
authorities, describe militias forcing people either to “vote” for resettlement
or not at all.
- Militia members and camp coordinators
in several camps told refugees that those who opt for repatriation would
be kidnapped instead of being allowed to return to East Timor.
- Only a handful of foreign journalists
went to West Timor to cover the registration. If well-protected and highly
visible reporters were not brave enough to venture into the territory,
what does it say about the climate of fear for refugees who live there
under continuous scrutiny of pro-integration armed men, under the control
of militia and Indonesian soldiers?
Distortion and lack of information about the process
- The very nature of the process was confusing
to all. Was this a count of the refugee population, a poll to determine
what percentage planned to repatriate, a re-vote of the 1999 referendum,
or an individual choice by each person to return or resettle? One thing
was clear the Indonesian authorities, and therefore the militia leaders,
will know how each person “voted.” In many cases, registrants displayed
their marked ballots or marked the ballot without going into the private
booth, proving that they had chosen the red-and-white.
- Posters explaining the process were
not displayed in the Kupang and TTS district camps, but only 200 metres
outside, and only for 1-2 days before the registration.
- UNTAS
(Uni Timor Aswain, pro-integration coalition which includes the militias)
worked closely with the Indonesian authorities, “translating” official
registration information from Bahasa Indonesia to Tetum for the refugees.
For example, in a Noelbaki camp meeting on 2 June, UNTAS people stressed
to the refugees that now was the time for the refugees to show how much
they love the red and white (Indonesian flag colors).
- In Tuapukan camp (and perhaps elsewhere),
an official told refugees the registration was not just going on in West
Timor, but also in East Timor. He said that the process was a re-administration
of the 1999 referendum, and that East Timor will again become part of Indonesia
if more people there East Timor wanted to live in Indonesia than an independent
East Timor.
Coercion
- A pervasive, systematic campaign of
disinformation has been underway for months to make the refugees believe
that East Timor is filled with starvation, vigilante retaliation against
pro-integration people, shortages, and other hardships and dangers. Militias
have organized visits to camps by refugees from other areas in West Timor
who pretend to report on terrible conditions in East Timor.
- Although Indonesian authorities did
not distribute rice and monetary allowances to refugees for the past three
months, they distributed rice in at least two camps just hours before the
registration. They promised more rice after registration was completed.
Ubiquitous irregularities
- There are widespread reports of West
Timorese locals misrepresenting themselves as East Timorese refugees and
registering, often for money (Rp. 100,000 is typical) or because they were
told they would receive food if they registered, as part of an effort to
increase the numbers registering and the percentage choosing resettlement
in Indonesia.
- Nobody under 17 years old was allowed
to register. Consequently, adult men decided for all people in their households
(often telling adult women how to register) whether to repatriate or remain
in Indonesia. Many families were systematically divided by militia in September
1999 when they were taken to West Timor, and most refugee children are
being cared for by adults from their village who ended up in the same camp.
- There were only 12 international observers
for 507 registration sites, and they visited each site, with military escort,
for only a brief time. West Timorese humanitarian and human rights NGOs
who wanted to observe the registration were denied credentials.
- At some sites, there was not enough
indelible ink to mark registrants’ hands, and stamp-pad ink was used instead.
This allowed people to wash it off with water and register a second or
third time.
- At many sites in Tuapukan and Noelbaki,
among others, registration staffers could not speak Tetum and were unable
to explain the process or answer questions asked by registrants.
- A news report quoted the registration
organizing committee’s media center that 9,226 out of 9,533 voters chose
resettlement, with only 277 choosing repatriation. Not only is 97% choice
for resettlement wildly inconsistent with the experience of anyone who
has spoken with the refugees, but the total number is perhaps one-fourth
of the number of adult refugees. On the other hand 140,000 ballots were
distributed, several times what would be needed to register all the adult
refugees.
- The registration was rushed to meet
UNTAET’s timetable for August 30 Constituent Assembly elections in East
Timor, for which voters are required to register by June 20. Both timetables
are unrealistic and do not allow sufficient time, given the necessary political
will, for West Timor to conduct a refugee registration free of intimidation,
followed by repatriation of those who wish it, followed by civic education
and voter registration for East Timor’s first election.
We are deeply disturbed that the United Nations is participating in this sham refugee registration by providing funds and an observer, and that UNTAET declared that the process appears successful merely because little violence was initially reported on the first registration day. As the calm East Timor voting day of August 30, 1999 vividly demonstrated, the military and militia can turn their violence off and on. If no major incident occurs while West Timor is under international scrutiny for a few days, that says nothing about prior intimidation or subsequent retaliation which is the experience and the terror of the East Timorese refugees and inevitably influences their decisions. For all these reasons, the refugee registration process conducted by Indonesia this week must be soundly rejected. The United Nations and the international community have accepted Indonesia’s hollow promises and dangerous charades too many times and left the East Timorese people to bear the bloody consequences. This time, they must do better.
CIS: the Centre for Internally Displaced Peoples Service in West Timor
May 23 Rondo: East
Timor's Refugees: the Growing Crisis
"Indonesian plans for refugee registration
on June 6 by military and militia-associated groups will put the refugees
in grave danger. ... Mr. Rondo and CIS [Centre for Internally Displaced
Peoples Service in West Timor] are currently working to ensure the refugee
registration process scheduled for June 2001 allows refugees to choose
between repatriation to East Timor and resettlement within Indonesian freely
and without intimidation. Concerns include the prominent role of the Indonesian
military and militia in the process."
Apr
10 ABC: Rondo: Children dying in refugee camps in West Timor
Interview added Apr 11
"The greater proportion of the refugees
in West Timor live in a crisis situation. No freedom, no hope and also
no future. ... There’s just one way to come in or get out from the camp
and the militia have full power. They can control all civilians and all
the aid that you give to the refugees. ... a lot of violence goes on in
the camps and people from outside don’t know about it. Rape, looting, sexual
harassment. ... the militia manipulate the information about the real situation
in East Timor. They have newsletters, they have many ways to manipulate
the information." Winston Rondo,
General Secretary of the Centre for Internally Displaced Peoples Service
in West Timor
BD: 'Refugees' & Missing Persons - A collection of recent information, reports, articles and news