Peace-prize winner pays tribute to the victims of violence a year after a fortnight of bloodshed

Bishop Belo hails martyrs of East Timor
By Antoine Lokongo
EAS'I TIMOR'S Bishop Filipe Ximenes Belo has urged his fellow countrymen to honour as martyrs those who died in the violence that followed a vote for independence a year ago.
The comments of Bishop Belo, the apostolic administrator of Dili, the island's capital, came as he celebrated Mass in Dili's cathedral on August 30 to commemorate the first anniversary of the United Nations-sponsored referendum that effectively ended years of illegal Indonesian occupation.
"We have to rebuild our nation, but let us not forget the people who died in helping us achieve our liberty," said Bishop Belo, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his defence of human rights and quest for peace and justice in East Timor.
"We must pray to them. They are our martyrs who died for us. They see us from heaven so we must continue their sacrifice," he told a crowd of more than 4,000 people.
The bishop paid a special tribute to his "fallen colleagues", a reference to the priests, nuns and catechists who were murdered in the violence that followed the September 5 outcome of the vote.
The Indonesian army invaded in 1975 after Portugal, the former colonial rulers pulled out of the island. It is believed more than 300,000 people, a third of the island's population have been killed in the last 25 years.
During the occupation, Timorese communities were herded into camps by Indonesia forces and many Timorese women were forcibly injected with contraceptive drugs while Indonesian nationals were encouraged to settle in the captive country. The invasion was condemned in a series of UN resolutions but a world-wide campaign was still necessary to encourage the international community to act.
East Timor descended into chaos after the UN referendum. Most of the island's infrastructure was destroyed by pro-Indonesia militias, paramilitaries and retreating Indonesian troops.
With help from the Indonesian army, the militias forcibly removed more than 200,000 people, a quarter of the country's population, from the territory at gun point to neighbouring West Timor, where they have been kept in squalid refugee camps. About 80,000 to 120,000 people still remain there.
Before the UN troops, led by Australians, arrived about 14 days later, they had killed thousands of independence supporters. The number of the dead is not yet known because many bodies were thrown into the sea.
Bishop Belo, whose house was destroyed by militias, urged East Timorese "not to seek revenge for past abuses", but to "work for mercy in the seeking of justice", and called for a "process of reconciliation" where each person "sought forgiveness and gave forgiveness".
He said: "We must build a nation of peace and one that respects human rights. We are a Catholic nation that must never forget that every person deserves dignity."
Bishop Belo also thanked the international community for its intervention.
"Let us thank God," said the bishop, "for allowing the people to participate in the process of liberating East Timor. August 30 will forever be known as Liberation Day".
The memorial Mass was attended by prominent dignitaries, including Xanana Gusmao, the former leader of the East Timorese guerrilla movement and a man who is widely expected to be the free nation's first president when the UN administration (UNTAET) departs next year. Also present were Jose Ramos Horta, who shared the Nobel Prize with Bishop Belo.
Celebrations, however, were blighted by a new wave of violence. At least 150 armed militia gangs, responsible for last year's mayhem, infiltrated from West Timor.
Peacekeepers last week stepped up patrols and exchanged gunfire with them. They deployed reinforcement to East Timor's central highlands in an effort to secure a region where militiamen are thought to be hiding out.
Although most of East Timor and Dili is calm. the risk of renewed violence means UN forces will have to remain long after UNTAET gives way to a civilian government, a process due to take place towards the end of next year.
"Ibe militia are back and want to lay waste to this immense effort to rebuild," said Mr Gusmao. They are still burning houses and killing people. We have to treat them as terrorists."
Other problems also exist. Although most ordinary civilians are thankful that Indonesia's "reign of terror" has conic to an end, they understand that they are faced with enormous challenges.
Unemployment is minting at about 70 per cent, for example. Locals rely on UN handouts and some resent the comparatively high living standards of officials and aid workers.
Inflation has rocketed as western goods have become available in Dili and living conditions for ordinary people, who have flocked there, have grown increasingly squalid.
"There is much left to be accomplished," said Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN chief administrator. "But East Timor is irrevocably on the path to full independence."
Meanwhile, international aid agencies have united in calling on the international community to exert pressure on the Indonesian government to fulfil its promise of demilitarising and closing refugee camps. of allowing the return of over 100,000 refugees, and of ensuring that security is provided for those who chose to stay in Indonesia.
An estimated 130,000 refugees are still living in makeshift camps in West Timor that the UN says are controlled by the militias.
Catherine Sexton, Cafod's East Timor programme officer said: "More pressure must be exerted on the Indonesian government and militia to cease their support to renegade army units, East Timorese militia and ex-collaborators who are preventing the remaining refugees from returning home."
One of the major concerns of the survivors is that the killers of their families face justice. Indonesia's top legislative body last month passed laws prohibiting retroactive prosecution for human rights crimes, which may make it more difficult to bring war criminals to justice.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church and local human rights groups have been collecting information on the mass killing. They say evidence implicates Indonesian army officials.
Ms Sexton said: "This denial of justice strengthens UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson's call for an international tribunal to bring to book those guilty of serious human rights abuses in East Timor.
As problems intensify in the neighbouring Indonesian archipelago, human rights groups and aid agencies suspect the same "shadowy military figures" who orchestrated the violence in East Timor are now involved in provoking the violence that has racked the Spice Islands for most of this year and which has undermined the government of President Wahid.