Sir, - Having just returned from a solidarity visit to East Timor on behalf of the Irish Catholic bishops, I was interested to read your coverage of the current situation in East Timor (The Irish Times, July 10th).
As your readers are aware, Portugal, Indonesia and the UN reached an agreement last May which allowed for a consultation process with the people and a ballot on the political future of East Timor to take place on August 8th. Many observers could be forgiven for thinking that this initiative offered East Timor a respite from the 25 years of torment which followed the Indonesian invasion of 1975. Since then, more than 200,000 East Timorese have died under brutal occupation. However, at meetings with members of the Church in East Timor, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Bello, everyone informed me that the situation has deteriorated despite the UN presence there. Indeed, the ballot has been postponed until August 22nd because of political violence.
The irony is that, under the May agreement, Indonesia was given responsibility for security. Yet it is arming and funding civilian militias which are engaged in a systematic campaign of intimidation and violence to force the people to vote for integration with Indonesia. Resources for vital social services such as health and education are also being diverted to the militias. The Indonesian policy of controlling the East Timorese meant that most professionals such as doctors and teachers in the territory were Indonesian. These people are now fleeing East Timor in the face of violence and non-payment of salaries. This means that schools are closing and there are not enough doctors and nurses - or indeed medicine - to care for the health needs of the people.
There is only one government-paid doctor to cater for 94,000 people in Baucau, where TB and malaria are rampant. Rice is the staple diet of the people and the territory is dependent on Indonesia and its sealanes for the rice supply. During my visit, Bishop Basilio Do Nascimento informed me that there is one month's supply of rice in the territory at any given time. Cutting off these supply routes is a powerful threat hanging over the East Timorese population. No-one is safe. One teacher spoke about teenagers finishing their final exams in secondary school but being killed before they could collect their certificates. She said that every family in East Timor has lost at least one close relative. Many families are fleeing to the mountains and jungles to escape persecution. It is against these odds that Trocaire, the local Church and the other people that I met during my visit, including Irish Christian Brother Pat Payne, Superintendent Gerard Philips and Sergeant John McGing - two of the nine gardai who are serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission for East Timor (UNAMET) - are trying to operate. I have many misgivings about the UN-brokered agreement. The Irish Government must continue to put pressure on Indonesia to ensure a free and fair vote. The Indonesian-sponsored militias must be disarmed. Indonesia must be stripped of its security responsibility and these duties must be assumed by a UN peacekeeping force.
UN personnel, both monitoring and military, must be present in all 13 districts and 63 sub-districts of East Timor to ensure the people feel secure enough to vote freely. I would also query the wisdom of the international community dispersing multi-million dollar loans to Indonesia while that state is sponsoring a campaign of terror against civilians in East Timor. Without strong action by the international community to ensure a free and fair ballot, the people of East Timor will, once again, be let down by the outside world. At this crucial time, we must walk in solidarity with the people and Church of East Timor who have shown courage and resilience in the midst of this horror. - Yours, etc.,
Bishop John Kirby, Chairman, Trocaire, Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.