12:13 a.m. - 2002-10-17
International Issues
I've mentioned before that some of my colleagues from my Federal contract have worked overseas as observers or advisors for elections held in countries where the democratic process is either at risk or non-existent. There is an internal newsletter that is circulated among us and their accounts of their experiences are published as events happen.
I was mulling over the accounts I read by the Canadian Returning Officers who worked in Indonesia in 1999 during their referendum and subsequent election while listening to the accounts of the bombing of the nightclub in Bali.
The country had been dominated by military rule for a long time. The army and the local police carried out systematic genocide against various ethnic groups. The most notable at the time were the campaigns against the East Timorese. Their "crime" was that they inhabited land that the military wanted to take over. It had rich oil and gas reserves. In addition, the army turned a blind eye to the harassment and murder of Indonesians who were practising Christians (mostly Roman Catholic) or who were of Chinese descent by the largely Muslim population because, of course, they were infidels. Mass murder, torture and "disappearances" of members of the targetted groups were the norm and numbered in the thousands every year.
The Canadians, along with other UN representatives, were there to organize and administer the vote using local residents as election workers. Our citizens were threatened, shot at, and harrassed. They were lucky though, in that they were able to leave after the vote. Many of the local election workers were tortured, then murdered by the military after the vote despite the fact that they had agreed to abide by the results of the election which had essentially wiped them out of office. Most of the East Timorese had to flee to West Timor as the defeated military stepped up their campaign of genocide against those who could not get out. In 2000, when the army had finished in East Timor, it turned its attention to the refugee camps in West Timor. The UN and many NGO's (non-government organizations) sent observers and the UN sent a peace keeping force to try and protect the refugees. When several of the UN's staff were murdered by the Indonesian military and police almost all non-nationals withdrew, leaving the Indonesian miltary free to inflict mass carnage in the refugee camps. There has been discussion with respect to war crimes and the prosecution of those who have lead the attacks but there aren't the resources to do that. The World Court is tied up with the war crimes trials of Bosnian Serbs like Slobodan Milosevic.
As a result, since that time, the Indonesian military and police have continued their reign of terror. Their latest targets are the inhabitants of Papua (Irian Jaya) and Aceh. I'm not sure what their "crime" is other than not wanting to be ruled by the Indonesian military.
Australia has worked to help stabilize the Indonesian economy and thus given the duly elected government some protection. This is partly because of the events in the South Pacific during WW II when the Indonesians gave sanctuary to Allied forces from the Japanese at great cost to their own country. The Axis forces inflicted brutal punishment on the Indonesians. Turnabout is fair play. In addition, Australians are a major source of income for Indonesia as tourists. They also are involved in receiving refugees who manage to escape from the carnage in Indonesia.
There may be some involvement from middle eastern terrorist groups as well in the latest bombing but, quite frankly, the local terrorists don't need any encouragement - they have held sway in Indonesia for decades.
�
�
