Was East Timor ready for independence?

ABC
James Dunn, former Australian consul to East Timor - 29/05/2006

In East Timor killings, gun fights and increasing anarchy in the streets of Dili has seen Australian troops return only two years after they left.

Not waiting for rules of engagement, the Australians were rushed into the country to prevent more deaths as what began as an Army dispute about pay and conditions spiralled to the brink of civil war.

The cry for help was triggered by weeks of increasing violence after a protest by nearly 600 disgruntled soldiers turned deadly.

While the armed intervention will stabilise the country, it has raised questions about East Timor's political leadership just four years after the euphoria of independence.

Someone who's well versed with East Timor's brutal past is James Dunn. He was an adviser to the United Nations Mission in East Timor in 1999. He's also a UN expert on crimes against humanity, having worked as an investigator for the UN's transitional administration in East Timor.
Now, this isn't really a military dispute on pay and promotions anymore, is it? It's an attempted coup d'etat, is it not?

Well, it has moved into a new phase, where it is clear that one section of the military, led by Major Alfredo Reinaldo, is moving to unseat a government he doesn't like very much.


But it did escalate, didn't it, when Prime Minister Alkatiri survived the challenge to his leadership. I mean, he is a man who's said to be very unpopular, not on speaking terms with the President. You know him. What sort of a man is he?

He's somewhat different from other Timorese leaders. Not only because he's a Muslim. I think that's a remarkable fact, that he is a leader of East Timor, Christian country, as a Muslim. Although he's an efficient worker, probably a good bureaucrat, I've never felt that he was an easy person to deal with, an easy politician ...


Why not?

... a politician who had close relations with the people. I guess it's his style.


Is there a danger, are you fearful that, perhaps, anti-Independence forces in the West or in the Western part might exploit this situation?

Well, I think that is a danger, not so much from Indonesia as from a few remnants of the militia. And we mustn't forget that one of the most powerful militia leaders, Joao Tavares, is still over there in Western Timor, occasionally talking about the possibility of returning to the East. And in 1999, he was the leading militia leader. And that's why, in that area, it was in that area that, I suppose, not only most of the militia were recruited but where they were more enthusiastic for continuing with Indonesia, and also where they were more brutal.


Well, James Dunn, how far back should have some of these problems been addressed? Because when you were advising the UN Mission in 1999, you had some concerns about the Western sector, didn't you?

It has been so badly affected because it was the last, it was close to Indonesia, in terms of destruction, the destruction in towns like Maliana, Balibo and so on, was massive. Whereas, in the East, the destruction wasn't as serious. But I think my concerns were more, in relation to this matter, on two grounds. I think one was about the pace of change. And, indeed, the ambitions of the UN Mission to transform the East Timorese from the ashes of November 1999 to independence in 2002. I mean, it was a remarkable achievement, it seemed, but I felt it was so quick that so many aspects hadn't been properly dealt with. One, of course, was the military, in my view. It was only a year before independence that the training of the military got under way. But, you know, the position of the military in a new country is also, is always of crucial importance, because it can be a source of unrest, of instability. And I don't think that the development of the military took that into account.


So what do you do now? Do you sort of revisit those institutions and start again and do what should have been done back in 1999?

Well, you can't start again. We have to deal with the situation as it is. When the UN Mission ended, there was a proposal, which Kofi Annan himself took up, to keep a peace keeping element in East Timor. I'm afraid we lost that. Australia and the United States voted against it. And, of course, they didn't do it.


So you're saying we should take some of the blame?

Well, in a sense, a bit of it because had there been a small peacekeeping element mostly of civilian police, but some troops, there would have been this independent force to move quickly into these areas.


Why did Australia vote against it?

Well, you'd have to ask the Australian government. But I think many people felt they wanted to get Australians out of East Timor. There was some suggestion the Indonesians didn't like their presence there. But, nevertheless, in my view, it was too hasty. They should have stayed there.


Could this damage relations with Indonesia, the fact that we are leading this?

It is sensitive, but so far there hasn't been any official condemnation or negative criticism of it. But, you know, what's important is looking to the future, rather than have what some might see as a provocative, large Australian military presence in East Timor. I think the important step is to get it under a UN umbrella.


So, would you urge that it comes under a United Nations umbrella as soon as is possible?

I would like to see that. Yes, I think that's very important. I mean, what's important about Timor is that it was the great achievement of the United Nations. The one case where the UN went in, actually took over a country and took it from the ashes of destruction to independence. And, of course, from the UN's point of view, that shouldn't fail.