Freedom in the World 1998 - East Timor

1998 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 6.5
Civil Liberties: 6
Political Rights: 7

Ratings Change

East Timor's civil liberties rating changed from 7 to 6 due to a slight easing of restrictions on freedom of expression which coincided with President Suharto's May 1998 ouster.

Overview

Indonesian President Suharto's May 1998 ouster offered a brief window in East Timor during which independence, autonomy, or at least an improved human rights situation all seemed possible. By year's end, the human rights situation had improved only marginally, and new Indonesian President B.J. Habibie had offered only vague proposals for greater autonomy.

The Portuguese arrived on Timor around 1520, and in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries took formal control of the island's eastern half. In 1974, Portugal agreed to hold a referendum on self-determination. In November 1975, the leftist Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) declared an independent republic. Indonesia invaded in December, and in 1976 formally annexed East Timor as its 27th province. By 1979, Indonesian soldiers had killed up to 200,000 Timorese. Skirmishes between Indonesian forces and the poorly-equipped armed resistance have since continued.

On November 12, 1991, Indonesian soldiers fired on a peaceful pro-independence march to the Santa Cruz Cemetery in the territorial capital of Dili. Between 150 and 270 civilians were killed. In 1992, courts-martial handed down light prison sentences ranging from eight to 18 months to ten soldiers. Separately, courts sentenced 18 Timorese to terms ranging from six months to life imprisonment for allegedly organizing the Santa Cruz march. In November, Indonesian soldiers captured resistance leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao. In 1993, a court sentenced Gusmao to life imprisonment, subsequently reduced to 20 years, in a sham trial.

The 1996 award of the Nobel Peace Prize to East Timor Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos Jorta, the leading East Timorese exile activist, brought renewed international attention to Indonesian abuses in the territory. During and after the May 1997 Indonesian parliamentary election period, attacks by East Timorese National Liberation Army (Falintil) guerrillas on military and civilian targets killed at least nine suspected collaborators and other civilians, as well as 33 soldiers, police, and guerrillas. The army responded by arbitrarily detaining and often torturing hundreds of civilians, and there were reports of killings and "disappearances." A September report by Human Rights Watch/Asia linked the recent violence to tensions caused by the army's effort, since mid-1995, to "Timorize" the security forces by creating paramilitary groups and counterinsurgency forces that rely heavily on unemployed East Timorese youths as informers. The report also blamed the continued influx of Indonesians to East Timor, a high unemployment rate, and development policies favoring non-Timorese.

In August 1998, the Indonesian military said it had completed a withdrawal of all combat troops from East Timor, leaving some 5,000 "territorial personnel." Yet by September, residents and church groups were reporting a new combat troop buildup. In October, the New York-based East Timor Action Network, publicized as credible, leaked Indonesian Ministry of Defense documents from August showing a total of more than 12,000 Indonesian troops in the territory, twice the number of soldiers Indonesia had said were based there. In the fall, the Habibie government offered to grant autonomy to East Timor, but ruled out a referendum on independence. Falintil attacks on Indonesian soldiers in southern Manufahi District in October and November brought reprisals from security forces. Some accounts reported that soldiers had massacred up to 50 people in Alas, although in December, Amnesty International put the confirmed death toll at two. The army reportedly detained more than 20 people from Manufahi District, many of whom were reportedly tortured.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

The United Nations does not recognize Indonesia's 1976 annexation of East Timor. A referendum on self-determination, promised by Portugal in 1974, has never been held. Suharto's ouster left the existing Indonesian power structure intact, and civil liberties improvements in East Timor were modest.

The judiciary is not independent, particularly for trials of dissidents. The trial of Jose "Xanana" Gusmao (see above) fell well short of international standards. While the Habibie government released 120 political prisoners throughout the archipelago, there are still several East Timorese political prisoners. Many are held for peaceful activities including participating in demonstrations advocating East Timorese independence or criticizing the Indonesian government.

Under Suharto, the army and police committed arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, "disappearances," extrajudicial killings, rape, and other abuses with near impunity. During security crackdowns, soldiers arbitrarily detained and often tortured civilians to extract information. Under Habibie, many of these practices have apparently continued. In December, Amnesty International reported that security forces were responsible for "unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment" in the context of military operations following Falintil attacks in October and November.

In recent years, army-organized gangs have harassed the local population, and kidnapped and beaten dozens of pro-independence East Timorese. In 1997, a paramilitary group, Gadapaksi, participated in army operations and committed abuses against civilians. Leaked Ministry of Defense documents publicized in October 1998 (see above) show that the Indonesian military counts among its ranks some 9,000 members of these pro-Jakarta local groups and militias, despite past government denials that such organizations were not army-linked.

The armed resistance is responsible for extrajudicial executions and other abuses against suspected civilian collaborators and informants.

In October, thousands of East Timorese demonstrated in Dili and Bacau demanding a referendum on independence, acts that would have brought a swift crackdown from security forces only a few months earlier. Yet overall, authorities continued to restrict freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. In recent years, authorities closed schools that refused to use the official Bahasa Indonesia as the language of instruction. In October, Jakarta-appointed governor Abilio Soares warned civil servants that they risked being fired if they opposed Indonesia's proposals on granting East Timor autonomy but not independence.

The predominantly Roman Catholic population can worship openly, but religious freedom must be seen in the context of East Timor's overall human rights situation. Authorities restrict access by foreign journalists and human rights organizations to East Timor. The Indonesian government's controversial transmigration program brought thousands of Indonesians to the territory in recent years despite charges that this reduced economic activity for East Timorese.