From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese
Date: 21 Jul 92 18:44 PDT
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs July 21
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1591800207:000:12935
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!apakabar    Jul 21 18:44:00 1992


From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar>
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs July 21



   AFP, Brussels, July 20 - Portugal prevented its European Community
partners on Monday from carrying on negotiations on a new cooperation
agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), diplomatic
sources said here.
   At a meeting of E.C. foreign ministers, Portuguese minister Joao de Deux
Pinheiro pointed to what he termed Indonesia's non-observance of human rights
in East Timor in explaining Portugal's stand.
   A Portuguese spokesman commented, "Since 1991, the European Community
has made a clear connection between human rights and signature of cooperation
agreements. Moreover, it has condemned Indonesia at the United Nations because
of the situation in Timor".
   Portugal wants the E.C. to ask Indonesia to show some accommodation in the
matter, for instance, by releasing the political prisoners in Timor. East
Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and then
annexed.
   On Monday, Portugal suggested to its partners that the community should
conclude bilateral agreements with the other ASEAN members: Malaysia,
Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei.
   An E.C.-ASEAN meeting is scheduled for Manila July 24-26. But diplomatic
sources commented that the agenda, which called for negotiations on renewal
and strengthening of the cooperation agreement between the two sides that has
existed since 1980, could not be followed.


    Reuter, Brussels, July 20 - Portugal blocked a European Community
cooperation agreement with six southeast Asian states on Monday in
protest at the killing of demonstrators in its former colony of East
Timor.
    EC foreign ministers abruptly dropped their discussion of a planned
accord with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) after
Portuguese Foreign Minister Joao de Deus Pinheiro made a speech listing
alleged atrocities in East Timor.
    "There was complete silence when he had finished speaking," one
participant in the meeting said, adding that ministers simply dropped
the matter without further debate.
    The Portuguese intervention came after EC Commissioner Abel Matutes
outlined the proposed mandate for concluding a cooperation agreement
with ASEAN, which groups Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and Brunei.
    Diplomats said the matter would go back on the agenda when foreign
ministers met again after the summer recess.
    Portuguese officials said Lisbon wanted Indonesia to release East
Timor political prisoners and condemn the killing last November of
pro-independence demonstrators in East Timor.



   DPA, Brussels, July 20 - Portugal has blocked a new European Community
cooperation agreement with six Southeast Asian countries because of
Indonesia's human rights record.
   Portugal's Foreign Minister Joao de Deus Pinheiro told his 11 E.C.
colleagues at a meeting in Brussels Monday that Portugal was unwilling
to sign a new deal with the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN)
unless Jakarta agreed to hold bilateral talks with Lisbon on improving
human rights.
   An E.C. spokeswoman said the European Commission "regretted"
Portugal's decision to hold up the planned E.C.-ASEAN agreement.
   "The new agreement we are proposing will include a human rights
clause," she said, adding that such a provision would have given the
E.C. "more power and influence" in Asia.



    Reuter, Tokyo, Aya Takada, July 21 - Japan is being hypocritical when 
it says it wants to use its overseas development aid (ODA) to improve human 
rights, market economies and good government in recipient nations, foreign 
aid experts say.
    Kiyoko Furusawa, who teaches development economy at Tokyo Woman's
Christian University, doubts whether Japan would apply this to nations
with which it has close business ties.
    "I agree with linking ODA policies with human rights abuses by
recipient governments, but I do not feel our government is serious about
implementing the principles," she said.
    She pointed out that Japan did not suspend aid to Indonesia even
after government troops killed scores of East Timorese civilians last
November.
    "We have asked the foreign ministry to make withdrawal of the
Indonesian troops from East Timor a prerequisite for continuing ODA, but
it won't listen to us," Furusawa said.
    Azusa Hayashi, director of the aid policy division of the Foreign
Ministry's Economic Cooperation Bureau, said Japan was currently
reviewing aid to several recipient countries.
    This could lead to ODA being reduced or suspended if these nations
were not complying with four basic principles.
    "We have made various proposals to several recipient governments,"
Hayashi said. "(Their responses) will be taken into account in future
allocation of ODA."
    He declined to name the countries involved.
    But many aid experts dismiss such policy statements as posturing,
saying it would be a long time before Tokyo suspended aid to an
important recipient.
    Japan's ODA totalled $10.95 billion in 1991, up 20.8 pct from the
previous year, making it the second biggest donor in the world after the
U.S. Asia receives some 60 pct of the aid, with Indonesia, China and the
Philippines the main recipients.
    The Foreign Ministry is eager to counter the belief that its ODA is
merely an instrument to promote Japan's exports and seek favour from
countries that provide the essential raw materials for Japanese
industry.
    "Basically, Japan will maintain its stance of meeting the requests
of recipient governments but Japanese proposals need to be accepted in
some cases, especially concerning environmental protection," Hayashi
said.



Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 360Syafei: "Missing better dead"
gn:tapolreg.easttimor10:57 pm  Jul 20, 1992

Source: UPI
Date: 20 July 1992
Abridged

MILITARY LEADER SAYS MISSING PROTESTORS BEST DEAD

The military commander in East Timor said Monday he would
prefer that 66 East Timorese dissidents missing since the
November Dili massacre were either dead or fled to join
separatist groups in the jungle. Brig.Gen Theo Syafei said the
missing protestors, who survived the massacre in which more
than 50 separatists were killed by government troops, could
only cause unrest by remaining among the general population.

"It's okay if the missing persons enter the jungle and join
the remnant East Timorese Fretilin guerrilla movement, rather
than remaining in town and continuing to agitate innocent
people", he said. That way, "we know clearly that they were
the enemy," because if these people joined the community in
town, it would be difficult to charge them as enemy," he said.

"But," said Syafei, "the best would be that these people were
already dead."

Military authorities said last week that an estimated 66 East
Timorese people were still missing in the aftermath of the
November 12 massacre in Dili.

Syafei said the missing people included a man, identified as
Constancio Pinto, the most wanted by the military, allegedly
the ring-leader of the Dili massacre (sic).



Source: FBIS.  Scanned.

Most East Timorese Want Native as Governor

BK]407130992 Jakarta THE JAKARTA POST in English 3 Jul 92 p 2
[Text] Jakarta (JP) - A legislator has added to the growing pressure to
Jakarta to let East Timorese have a native as its next governor.

"All East Timorese I talked to during my recent visit (to the former
Portuguese colony) want their next governor to be an indigenous East
Timorese," Salvador Januario Ximenes Soares told the JAKARTA POST on
Wednesday [1 July].

Salvador argued that the appointment of a non-East Timorese governor would
create the wrong impression among foreign countries and dissatisfied local
people that Indonesia meant to colonize East Timor.

The statement by the DPR [House of Representatives] member from East Timor
was the latest contribution in the heated debate over who should replace
governor Mario Vegas Carrascalao when his term of office expires in September.

Carrascalao, a popular indigenous governor, has ruled out local people's
proposal to stay in office, saying that taking a third five-year term would
represent a violation of the law.

The local legislative council (DPRD) is yet to formally propose the
gubernatorial candidates to the home affairs minister but their names have
been widely publicized.

Home Affairs Minister Rudini and the local Military Field Commander Brigadier
General Theo Syafei have in various occasions said that the origin of the
next governor is not important because East Timor has been an integral part of
Indonesia since 1976.

Among the names believed to have a good chance to replace Carrascalao are
Clementino Dos Reis Amaral (a DPR member), A.B. Saridjo (vice governor),
Armindo Mariano (Dili regent), Rui Tesseira Lopez (Kovalima regent), Mariano
Lopez Da Cruz (Maliana Regent), and Lopez Da Cruz (a member of the Supreme
Advisory Council).

The official statements have been generally interpreted as a support for the
candidacy of Saridjo, who is a Javanese.  The final decision will be in the
hand of the president.

Salvador said the appointment of a native as the next East Timor governor was
important to "win back the local people's heart" hurt by the November 12,
1991 bloody incident in Dili in which about 50 people were killed.

"Efforts to win back East Timorese's heart can succeed if they are made by 
a governor who has emotional ties with the local people," he said.

East Timorese Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo has also stepped in the 
debate over the best choice for the next governor of predominantly Roman 
Catholic East Timor.

In a rare press meeting at his residence in Dili two weeks ago, Belo said he
would write President Suharto, asking him to name an East Timor native as the
next governor.

The bishop's involvement, however, has also caused confusion as a similar
request circulated by him and addressed to various public figures were
declared fake by Brig. Gen. Theo who claims to have discussed the matter
with him.



Source: FBIS.  Scanned.

Suharto Receives Report From Military Chief

BK]407143892 Jakarta ANTARA in English 1028 GMT 14 Jul 92

[Text] Jakarta, July 14 (OANA/ANTARA) - Chief of the Armed Forces Gen. 
[General] Try Sutrisno here Tuesday reported the results of an
investigation carried out by the Armed Forces (ABRI) of last year's 
November 12 Dili incident to President Suharto in his capacity as the 
supreme commander of ABRI.

The report made by a team instructed by the Armed Forces chief to investigate
the incident in the capital of East Timor last year said that the incident
claimed 115 people who are either dead or still missing, a spokesman for
the Armed Forces Brig. Gen. [Brigadier General] Nurhadi Purwosaputro M.Sc.
said at the ABRI headquarters in Cilangkap here Tuesday.

The number does not include a foreign journalist [sic], Kamal Bamadhaj, 
who was also killed in the Dili Incident.

Of the 115 people previously reported missing, 31 have returned to their
villages up to June 28, 1992.  The team led by Insp. Gen. [Inspector
General] Vice Admiral Sumitro, who is also a member of the National 
Investigation Committee (KPN), did not find any new graves in addition 
to the 18 graves found at Hera.

Some of the 66 missing people are believed to be dead while the rest have
reportedly joined a troublemaker group (GPK) which is hiding in forest,
according to Nurhadi.

Among those believed to be in hiding is Constantio Pinto, a driving force
behind the demonstration on 12 November 1991 in Dili.

It has not been easy to find those still alive or the graves of the victims
despite ABRI's diligence in carrying out President Suharto's instruction,
according to Nurhadi.

The ABRI team has utilized all possible sources of information for the 
investigation, including the police and village heads who gave information 
on the people who they believed became victims of the incident.

The ABRI official is of the view that based on past experiences, those who
are still alive will come back to their homes sooner or later.

Except for those who were the driving forces behind the demonstration, most
of these people would be set free, he said.

On comments from foreigners that the Indonesian court gave heavier sentences
to civilians than to ABRI members involved in the Dili incident, the ABRI
spokesman explained that the civilians were tried not just for staging the
demonstration but also for subversive acts.

They are conspiring against the Indonesian authorities, and their network
extends not only to Dili and Jakarta but also to other countries, Nurhadi
said.

The military officers were punished for acting beyond their authority when
they were dealing with the demonstrators in Dili.  If the ABRI members had
been found guilty of subversive acts they would have been given heavy
penalties too, he added.


Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese