Changes in Indonesian military lineup
Following "intense diplomatic pressure," an Indonesian intelligence officer serving as the senior military liaison to UNAMET has been removed from duty, according to THE AGE (Australia). General Wiranto, commander of the Indonesian armed forces, reportedly decided to remove Major-General Zacky Anwar because Anwar is believed to be involved in the anti-independence campaign. Wiranto is expected to replace him with a "close colleague": The head of Kopassus, the (much dreaded) Special Forces Command. In similarly ominous news, nearly the entire UNHCR staff fled the Dili office Friday following militia threats.

Australia upgrades evacuation plans

The Australian military has upgraded their emergency evacuation plans in case violence breaks out following the autonomy vote in East Timor. According to THE AGE (Australia), officials said that they were prepared to evacuate up to 1800 foreign nationals -- in addition to the 200 Australians they had already committed to rescuing -- within 48 hours, if necessary. Many people worry about what will happen if foreigners -- many of them UNAMET personnel -- are quickly evacuated, possibly leaving thousands of East Timorese even more vulnerable to militia violence. New intelligence reports suggest that militias are planning to partition "up to five western districts" of East Timor, according to THE AGE.

THE AGE also reports that the Australian government and the federal police have been warned that there is "now a high risk" that pro-autonomy militias may try to kill Australian police and journalists in the province.

Covering East Timor: A dangerous job
This editorial from THE JAKARTA POST condemns yesterday's attack on a group of journalists in Dili. Among other incidents, a reporter for the daily paper Kompas was shot in the leg, and a TV cameraman was attacked. The strong presence of international media in East Timor makes many people in the province nervous. "They do not like to see the truth in East Timor, concealed for much of the last 24 years under Indonesian rule, suddenly bared for the whole world to see."

US support for East Timor an "illusion"
The SYDNEY MORNING HERALD has called the US' bluff: American support for a free election and safe transition in East Timor is an illusion. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Stanley Roth may be the only one who cares about events in the region. "Obsessed" with other things, his bosses Madeleine Albright and Bill Clinton could give a damn, according to the paper. However, the HERALD expresses optimism that Roth may be able to wield his influence in the Clinton Administration to the benefit of human rights in the long-neglected province.

Pre-election violence continues

A second day of violence blighted election activities Friday, according to the ASSOCIATED PRESS. A day after militias killed six in Dili, 800 paramilitary fighters attacked the village of Memo, stabbing two people to death and shooting another, according to observers. The attackers burned nine houses before villagers fought back, burning the militiamen's cars.

Giving new meaning to the word "brazen," according to THE AUSTRALIAN notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres warned the Timorese at a rally this week, "Even if you choose independence, East Timor will remain part of Indonesia. Independence is in my hands."

Jakarta rules out UN peacekeeping force
Rejecting the request of Xanana Gusmão (head of the Council of East Timorese Resistance) for the UN to send peacekeepers to quell violence in East Timor, Jakarta has ruled out a peacekeeping force. According to THE AUSTRALIAN, however, the Indonesian government did accept UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal to increase the number of international police from 280 to 460, and to send another 250 military officers in addition to the 50 currently there.

The Portuguese newspaper LUSA reports that Jakarta has threatened to fight "to the last man" if the UN sends peacekeepers.

Meanwhile, the UN has indicated that it will evacuate its staff entirely if it looks like East Timor is headed towards civil war after the vote, according to THE AGE (Australia).

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Aug. 26

Thousands suffer as mayor blocks aid
There is no food shortage in the regency of Suai, but thousands of East Timorese are going hungry there anyway. According to THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia), 3,000 refugees, already driven from their homes, have taken refuge on the grounds of an unfinished church and are living "in insanitary conditions [and] without adequate food, water or medicine." Outside the church grounds, police stand by and watch as men from the Laksaur militia patrol the street carrying machetes. Although the refugees, many of whom are women and infants, are in obvious need of food and water, the local bupati (mayor) reportedly turned away a relief convoy sent from Dili. He also reportedly cut off their water supply -- although it was restored, according to the local priest, because of diplomatic pressure brought by the US. The priest has taken responsibility for the refugees, an act which promptly earned him a death threat.

Demonstrators killed in militia violence in Dili
Militia members opened fire with machine guns on independence activists at a pro-Indonesia rally in Dili, Wednesday, according to the BBC. At least three were killed in the altercation that began when pro-Indonesia forces threw rocks at a picture of Xanana Gusmão and independence activists threw rocks in response. Militias also burned three houses, say observers. The same day, notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres -- who has been appointed by Indonesia to head the UN-mandated "security forces" at the polls -- told a crowd, "If East Timor becomes independent, it will become a sea of fire."

Indonesian military to step up presence in Aceh
According to THE JAKARTA POST, Indonesian President B. J. Habibie has reportedly approved a plan to reestablish a military command in the province of Aceh, where a growing separatist movement has government officials nervous. The command will begin on Sept. 1. From 1988 to 1998 Aceh was declared a military operation zone; hundreds were killed or "disappeared" and thousands went missing. Recent clashes between security personnel and rebels have resulted in an estimated 150,000 people being driven from their homes to refugee centers. General Wiranto -- the Minister of Defense and the commander of the Indonesian military (TNI) -- and other ministers are due to visit Aceh on Aug. 28 to speak with students and community leaders.

Irianese students demand UK, South Africa acknowledge role in massacre
A demonstration by 150 Irianese students today called for the British and South African parliaments to take responsibility "for the alleged involvement of their soldiers and mercenaries in a 1996 hostage-release operation," reports THE JAKARTA POST. The incident began when separatist rebels from the Free Papua Movement took 24 people -- including four Britons -- hostage in villages surrounding the Mapnduma district. Soldiers from the British Special Army Service and mercenaries from South Africa allegedly participated in the military operation that freed the hostages but left at least 12 villagers dead. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is also accused of participation in the operation, a charge they deny. According to the Post, human-rights activists say that many Irianese were "massacred, raped, tortured and dispossessed" in a crackdown that followed the incident.

UNAMET faces angry crowd
LUSA reports that 20 Indonesians protested in front of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) this week because the organization did not give them credentials as election observers on the grounds that they were not independent. According to UNAMET, some of the organizations were set up by Indonesian authorities and could not be trusted to help preserve the peace on election day. The Indonesian government has complained that UNAMET has been biased in its selection of election observers.

Violence may postpone vote
THE AUSTRALIAN reports that the Australian government fears that voting will have to be postponed in certain parts of East Timor, where ongoing violence may prevent a vote. However, many fear that if the vote is postponed in these areas -- mostly in western East Timor -- then pro-Indonesian forces may attempt to retain control and partition the province. Though the Indonesian government has said nothing about partition, the militias and Indonesian military forces that control western East Timor are reportedly in favor of such a plan. The UN Security Council, as well as the United States and Australia, have called on Indonesia to halt the increasing violence of pro-Indonesian militias.

Pro-independence groups rally peaceably
Bringing one positive note to a string of terrifying news from East Timor, the IRISH TIMES reports that the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT) held a large pro-independence rally in East Timor's capitol, Dili, this week with no outbreaks of violence. After weeks of news that pro-integration militia groups have been terrorizing independence advocates, reports of the 500-person rally come as a surprise. Trucks of activists drove through the city chanting for independence, with hundreds of people in the streets voicing their support. Although 50 armed police followed behind the activists, they did not interfere with the rally.

On Wednesday, a much larger rally filled the streets of Dili. The ASSOCIATED PRESS estimates that the number swelled to as many as 10,000. East Timorese chanted and waved flags and banners -- actions that until recently might have gotten them killed.

Concerns over ballot-counting in Dili
The Indonesian government may already be positioning itself to reject the outcome of Monday's vote, according to the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia). Indonesia's ambassador-at-large told the paper that it is unfair that the United Nations has chosen to count votes in East Timor's capitol, Dili, because, he said, ballots could be tampered with on the way.

State Dept.: Too late for peacekeepers
The State Department said this week that it is too late to send UN peacekeepers to East Timor in time for the independence referendum that will be held on Monday. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called for peacekeepers after returning from a fact-finding trip to the troubled half-island, according to REUTERS. Another REUTERS story notes that Harkin's travel companion, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said that the United States should tie aid to Indonesia to a peaceful vote, because Indonesia is responsible for security on election day.

"Hooligans" summoned to disrupt voting
In addition to the Indonesia-backed paramilitary groups that have been terrorizing East Timor since President Habibie authorized an independence vote, José Ramos-Horta now reports that the Indonesian military has brought in "hooligans," with the expectation that they will frighten the East Timorese out of voting on Monday. The SYDNEY MORNING HERALD reports that Ramos-Horta has called for the young thugs to be removed from East Timor, lest they disrupt the election.

Australia, US helped subvert Irian Jaya vote
With the independence movement in Irian Jaya gaining momentum, new evidence has emerged about the role of Australia and the United States in that province's original 1969 vote to become part of Indonesia. According to THE AGE (Melbourne, Australia), the UN's so-called "Act of Free Choice" was anything but. Under the act, roughly one thousand West Papuans -- who had been selected by the Indonesians -- voted on behalf of a population 800,000 strong. Furthermore, at Indonesia's request the Australian government detained two West Papuan independence leaders -- literally on their way to the United Nations to present testimony calling for independence for the territory -- and sent them to an island of the coast of New Guinea to prevent further political organizing. Meanwhile, a document prepared by the US embassy in Jakarta stated that the UN team was fully aware that "95 percent of Irianese support the independence movement and ... the Act of Free Choice is a mockery."

East Timor: Big news in Portugal
The BBC looks outside East Timor to see how the upcoming vote is being viewed by the half-island's former colonial administrator, Portugal. The impending election makes front page news nearly every day in the country that ruled East Timor for 400 years. The BBC predicts that some of this attention comes from the fact that, like the Portuguese, East Timorese are predominantly Catholic and many speak Portuguese, and that citizens may feel guilty because Portugal left East Timor so vulnerable to the Indonesian invasion.

UNAMET descends on Dili
If you can get past the obnoxious characterizations of Dili and its inhabitants that pepper the first few paragraphs, this article offers an interesting glimpse into the not-so-obvious ways the independence vote has affected life in the East Timorese capital. For starters, notes THE INDEPENDENT (UK), UNAMET's staff of one thousand people from 67 nations -- and the accompanying entourage of diplomats, election observers, and journalists -- has the small town practically bursting at the seams. Foreigners are begging and bribing their way onto flights destined for the province, and the demand for accommodations and translators has pushed prices up four-fold. Unquestioningly, the best thing the foreigners' presence has brought is a feeling of protection: the largest popular demonstration ever in the province paraded up and down the streets yesterday in Dili, calling for independence.