I haven't sufficient bandwidth to receive the film, but since it was produced in 1997, I assume that it deals with the pre-existing human rights situation in East Timor, not with current events. The introduction to the film runs like this, with some of my reactions inserted:
In the weeks before and the days since the August 30th overwhelming
vote for independence by the East Timorese, armed gangs of thugs,
armed and controlled by the army, have rampaged throughout the
country, trying to terrorize the population and block independence.
This is true.
Now there are plans being laid by Indonesia, the US and Australia, for a massive ethnic cleansing of East Timor, removing hundreds of thousands people from their homeland "to quell the violence."
I would have to see some strong evidence before accepting this allegation. Note that the film does not deal with this subject, which means that the people behind the site are making this allegation without supporting evidence.
Bitter Paradise, produced by Elaine Briere (1997), documents the
human rights situation in East Timor and Canada's shameless support
of a predatory military regime.
The human rights situation in East Timor is horrifying, considerably worse than in the analogous situation in Tibet. However, looking at it simplistically and striving for "solutions" which feel good but are not practical could easily unleash a round of atrocities which dwarf the previous ones.
First of all, the west has limited influence over Indonesia, which considers the whole matter a completely internal dispute. It is not likely that any sanction that the west could impose would cause a significant change in the Indonesian position on East Timor.
The Indonesians are exceedingly sensitive to any attempt by foreigners to dictate policy. Forcing them into a position with no graceful exit may seem "correct" to human rights activists, but it is not likely to correct the situation or make life better for the Timorese.
The recent referendum has placed a brand new government in a position where it has no alternative between standing in stark opposition to the west or kowtowing publicly to the white man. If the government accepts the deployment of foreign troops - and there will be no other way to stop the current chaos - to oversee the detachment of East Timor from Indonesia, I believe that the military is very likely to seize control of the country, eject the intervening force, and effectively obliterate East Timor as a political entity.
Intervention to stop them would be somewhere between difficult and impossible.
It is hard for me to see any pragmatic value in this course of action.
I think I'm repeating myself, and I'm starting to sound like Stratfor.
Bad signs. |
