It is long past time for the United Nations to take responsibility for security in East Timor by replacing Indonesian police and military with U.N. forces who will put an end to militia terror and bring the perpetrators to justice. Each diplomatic ploy that delays UN peace enforcement is directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of East Timorese people. Every time the Security Council accepts a TNI troop level increase or declaration of martial law as an excuse to forestall effective international action, they are complicit in killing. Tens of thousands of East Timorese have fled to the mountains to escape militia terror. Equally frightening are widespread reports of East Timorese civilians and refugees being forced onto trucks or ships and taken away to West Timor or other Indonesian islands.
Nobody knows how many have been abducted, but it is certainly in the thousands.
Without any oversight, images of genocidal slaughter from Indonesia's occupation of East Timor 24 years ago spring to mind. All military and economic cooperation, IMF and World Bank support, and other financial assistance should be frozen until Indonesia brings the militias under control. Since the Indonesian government is unwilling or unable to control the shock troops it has created, the Indonesian military must withdraw from East Timor, the militia must be disarmed, and the United Nations must immediately send armed peace enforcement personnel to East Timor to assume responsibility for security in the territory. This must be an international effort which should include all members of the Security Council, including the United States. U.N., national, and non-governmental organizations must provide immediate emergency humanitarian aid to those displaced from their homes by militia terror.