Sir, - The ballot on the future status of East Timor, due to take place on August 8th, is fast becoming something of a sick joke.
You report (June 10th) that the Indonesian authorities are to allow their armed militias to become a civilian force that will ensure "security" for the vote. This proposal is nothing short of outrageous. These same militias, backed by their Indonesian overlords, are at present detaining up to 50,000 East Timorese civilians in re-education camps to achieve the desired result in the ballot. Added to this, hundreds of young students have been murdered in Dili, Suai, Liquisa and elsewhere in recent months by a combined force of militias and Indonesian troops. Against this background of terror, intimidation and murder, the United Nations, in their collective wisdom, have decided that an unarmed UN police force numbering 280 is sufficient to oversee the Indonesian security for the elections. This would be laughable were it not for the fact that it seems the people of the territory are about to be sold out for a second time.
What is needed now is for the United Nations to insist that they have had enough of the dirty tricks of the Indonesian government. The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, must demand that an armed United Nations peace-keeping mission is allowed to go to Timor and that they, not the Indonesians, provide security to ensure a free and fair vote. If Indonesia refuses, the ballot should be postponed and all upcoming loans from the World Bank, the IMF and the Inter-Governmental Conference on Indonesia (the amount to be decided in Paris next month) be put on hold in an effort to make the Indonesian authorities come to their senses.
Lest Irish Times readers be in any doubt, allow me to spell it out. The Indonesian intelligence service (BIA) are not going to allow a free and fair ballot to take place in East Timor. They are prepared to commit the most hideous of crimes, including a second genocide, to ensure that East Timor does not achieve its right to self-determination. - Yours, etc., Tom Hyland,
East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, Dame House, Dublin 2.