Page 3, 5th April 1985

5th April 1985

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Page 3, 5th April 1985 — The vital issue of Timor
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The vital issue of Timor

Mrs Thatcher travels to south east Asia on Thursday. Among the dignitaries she will meet is President Suharto of Indonesia. Peter Stanford asks if the sufferings of the East Timorese will be on her agenda of talks.
Ii;EAVING London on Maundy Thursday, Mrs Thatcher will spend Easter in south east Asia. Among those to play host to the British Prime Minister will be President Suharto of Indonesia.
Orders for military hardware will doubtless figure in their discussions in the capital, Jakarta, as will Britain's role in the Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (1001) which channels aid.
However, it is less clear if Mrs Thatcher will take the chance to echo her own Foreign Secretary's January comments on Indonesia's ten-year occupation of predominantly Catholic East Timor.
Sir Geoffrey reaffirmed Britain's position on the former Portuguese colony by remarking that "the people of East Timor deserve the opportunity to determine their own future in accordance with their own political aspirations, unaffected by pressures of one kind or another".
Britain has consistently refused to recognise Indonesia's annexation of the territory and its 650,000 people, but equally the cordial relations which will guarantee Mrs Thatcher a warm reception in Jakarta, have also led her government and its predecessors to abstain every time that the occupation has been challenged in the United Nations, The island of Timor is at the eastern extreme of the Indonesian archipelago, and in colonial times was divided between the Dutch and the Portuguese. When the Netherlands relinquished control of the Dutch East Indies in 1949, West Timor, excluding the Portuguese enclave of Oecusse, became a part of the' newlyformed, predominantly Moslem state of Indonesia. Portuguese rule in East Timor has never officially ended, although a few days prior to the Indonesian invasion in December 1975 and popular local Fretelin party declared independence.
Since the Indonesian invasion East Timor has been virtually shut off to all visitors. The main source of information as to what is happening in the country is the Catholic Church.
In 1975 the Portuguese bishop fled along with the Governor, and his successor was never granted the title of bishop, remaining apostolic administrator. From 1975 onwards it was Mgr da Costa Lopes who collected information of the atrocities carried out against the civilian population by way of the SO or so mission stations in East Timor, and then passed on that news to the west.
Over 100,000 people have been murdered in the conflict so far between Fretelin and the Indonesian army. Civilians have been forced into what amounts to prison camps so that the invading force can monitor their movements, crops have been destroyed, and famine and disease are rile. The Indonesians have attempted, unsuccessfully, to impose the teaching of their language, they have brought in farmers from other Indonesian islands and given them the best lands.
However, as Mgr da Costa Lopes reported, the determination of the East Timorese in the face of such oppression and injustice did not waver, arid they gave their support to Fretelin guerrillas.
Mgr da Costa Lopes was many times threatened for his outspoken stance, and in 1982 the Vatican asked him to resign, replacing him by Mgr Carlos Belo, who is Timorese and was reported at the time to he of a more conservative disposition. Local clergy boycotted his installation and expressed fears as to the Vatican's intentions. Their fears have been without substance and Mgr Belo has shown himself every bit as outspoken in condemning human rights abuses — for example the massacre of between 80 and 200 civilians at Krara by the Indonesians.
The Vatican's attitude to the situation in East '1 imor has been slow to crystalise. After his departure Mgr da Costa Lopes said how painful it was for the East Timorese to feel that the Pope was ignoring their dilemma.
The religious of East Timor made the point forcefully in a letter to their brethren in Indonesia: "We felt stunned by this silence which seemed to allow us to dic deserted .. . We could not understand why the Indonesian and the universal Catholic Church had not siated, openly and officially their solidarity with the church, the people and the religious of East Timor".
The Vatican has though of late become more outspoken on the question. Just last week Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the Secretary of State, told the Portuguese, Foreign Minister that a solution which safeguards the human rights of the East Timorese must be found.
Pope John Paul has made his sympathies clear on several occasions. During a visit to Portugal in 1982 he discussed the issue with President Eanes and celebrated a Mass for Timorese refugees at the shrine of Fatima. In 1984 he cancelled a planned visit to Indonesia without giving any reason, and later that same year told the new Indonesian ambassador to the Holy See that "the Vatican continues to follow the situation in East Timor with preoccupation."
Conversely as church support has increased, votes condemning the Indonesian annexation at the UN have been showing smaller and smaller majorities. Earlier this month the UN Commision on human Rights voted in Geneva to remove East Timor from its agenda, despite the fact that there is every indication that the injustice and oppression continue.
Direct talks between Indonesia and Portugal were held officially for the first time at the end of 1984 under UN supervision, but the representatives of Fretelin, which has widespread support in East Timor, were excluded.
It would seem that contrary to the Pope's pleas the people of East Timor are to have no say in their future while the Portuguese, who since 1975 have virtually washed their hands of the affair, are to be their spokesmen.
Mrs Thatcher's visit to Indonesia and the accession of Portugal to the European Economic Community give the governments of the west a chance to discharge their obligations towards the people of East Timor.
East Timor: Comment, published by the Catholic Institute for International Relations, 22 Coleman Fields, London NI price 50p (postage free).




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