Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-178"
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"en.19990915.11.3-178"2
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"Mr President, the referendum in East Timor, which was supervised by the United Nations, has turned into a drama. After more than twenty years of violence and repression, the people there were able at last to choose their own future; yet, the choice they made in freedom, to go down the road of independence, was punished with a brutality of which history has scarce seen the like. Murdering, setting fire to things and deporting people as they went, the pro-Indonesian militias left the country in a state of chaos, plundered and burnt to the ground. The images have been there for all to see.
The Indonesian army failed to take action to protect the population. The UN, the NGOs, the observers were all powerless to do anything. There have been instances of death and wounding in these quarters too. I count myself as one of those that know Indonesia well. I hesitate a little to address Indonesia in harsh terms, representing as I do, a country that held sway as a colonial power there for 300 years. But these events transform any hesitation on my part into outright criticism and severe reprimands directed at the Indonesian government and the Indonesian army.
What happened in East Timor is serious and requires us to impose sanctions and take international action with all haste. Sanctions have now been approved, also by the EU, and I welcome this with open arms. I regret that France and the Netherlands tried again in Council to prevent the weapons embargo from going ahead, and admire the Finnish Presidency for pushing it through nonetheless.
The second step that must now be taken is to send an international peacekeeping force, preferably from within the region, so that the people can be protected and the independence of East Timor can be implemented
The third step is to set up a tribunal for the purpose of punishing those who have committed such cruel acts, so that law is upheld and justice is done.
The fourth thing that needs to happen is the delivery of aid to the region. Once independence has been implemented, which is undoubtedly going to happen now, East Timor will need an enormous amount of help. And we must be generous in providing this help too.
On a final note, the violence meted out by the militias in Indonesia has not been confined to Timor alone. They murder and plunder in the Moluccas, in Aceh and in Irian Jaya too. Hundreds of people, especially Christians, have already died in the Moluccas in particular. Last week, Dutch citizens of Moluccan extraction demonstrated in Brussels in a dignified manner. We believe that attention should also be given to what is happening there. If the murder does not stop in those other regions too, and if the Indonesian government doesn’t offer protection, then, in our view, the United Nations should also take action in those other regions of Indonesia.
Mr President, human rights and democracy are at stake in Indonesia. Let us deal with the situation as an international community."@en1
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