Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-158"
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"en.19990915.11.3-158"2
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"Mr President, as we now know, what is happening in East Timor is both a crime and a tragedy. This has been said several times here. A crime, because Indonesian colonial occupation has lasted for 24 years. On-going human rights violations, terror inflicted on a people that is peace-loving, unhappy and defenceless have become widespread, but have existed there for 24 years, as I myself have seen.
The UN organised a referendum: there was 98% participation, with more than 78% in favour of independence. This was a perfectly transparent democratic vote. Well, far from finding peace again, the Timorese are now suffering a real tragedy. We are witnessing serious violation of East Timorese sovereignty by a state of siege imposed by Indonesia. In international law, from the point when the Timorese people chose independence, it became effectively sovereign on its own territory. It becomes sovereign in law as soon as it sets up representative institutions which it has chosen. There is only one sovereign authority today in East Timor, and that is the people of East Timor.
You are aware of the facts which flout this law: the deportation of more than 80,000 people to West Timor, where they are held in pens, starved, beaten and held hostage by the Indonesian army. Mass terror everywhere else. The people responsible have been identified: the militia, the army and the civil authority of Indonesia.
We are told that Mr Habibie’s government is the prisoner of the army in Djakarta, that the Army High Command no longer has any control over the troops of East Timor and that the militia are getting out of hand everywhere. But I ask you, friends, who then is responsible? If it is not the civil government, then we should denounce a bloodless coup in Indonesia. If it is not the army, we should denounce the disappearance of any representative institution in this country.
It is clear what action must be taken. The UN must intervene under Chapter 7. The UN must define the composition of the intervention force. The Indonesian army must withdraw from East Timor. The militia must be disarmed. And the Indonesian State must be held clearly responsible for its present prevarication. An international commission must be set up to look into the acts of violence in East Timor and the people responsible for these crimes must be brought before the International Criminal Court. All trade with Indonesia must be conditional upon the definitive restoration of peace in Timor. The Timorese must be given the means to establish themselves as an independent state and to be recognised. In this tragedy, Mr President, there is no question as to our right to interfere. It is a matter of respect for international law."@en1
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