Violence Erupts in East Timor as Pro-Indonesia Militiamen Clash with Independence Supporters

Strategic Insights -

Tens of thousands of people gathered in East Timor to await the results of a historic referendum on the territory's future, but violence erupted outside U.N. headquarters in Dili on Wednesday, leaving one teenager dead and several others injured. The clashes between pro-Indonesia militiamen and rock-throwing independence supporters raised fears that the former Portuguese colony could slide back into lawlessness.

Key Takeaways:

  • 98.6% voter turnout in the U.N.-sponsored ballot on Monday, with independence activists claiming a landslide victory for independence.
  • Militiamen, armed with homemade guns, rifles, and machetes, clashed with independence supporters outside U.N. headquarters, killing one 19-year-old and injuring at least three others.
  • Indonesian riot police secured the museum building in Dili, where ballot counting started on Wednesday, but it took over an hour for them to arrive and disperse the militants.
  • Foreign observers accuse hard-line factions within Indonesia's armed forces of arming and directing the militias.
  • Militiamen erected roadblocks throughout western East Timor, trying to carve out a zone of control, and some of them vowed not to recognize a defeat in the polls.
  • U.S. and U.N. officials strongly criticized Indonesia's slow response to the violence, with the U.S. State Department calling for the arrest of those "disturbing order, terrorizing the populace, and disrupting the U.N. process."
  • Indonesian soldiers and police stood by without intervening during the clashes, and officials in Washington condemned the police response as inadequate.
  • East Timor has been a province of Indonesia since being invaded in 1975, but Jakarta reversed policy in January and announced East Timor would be given the right of self-determination.

Statistics:

  • 98.6% : Voter turnout in the U.N.-sponsored ballot on Monday.
  • 1 : Number of teenager killed in the clashes.
  • 3 : Number of others injured in the clashes.
  • 360 : Number of Indonesian police officers to be flown into East Timor on Thursday.
  • 19 : Age of the victim, Jorges Fransisco Bonaparte.

Sources:

  • Associated Press - Slobodan Lekic, "Violence Erupts in East Timor as Pro-Indonesia Militiamen Clash with Independence Supporters" (no date mentioned)
  • Philip Reeker, U.S. State Department spokesman
  • Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar, Indonesian police spokesman