US stood by as Indonesia deployed militia in Timor Leste conflict Declassified documents • Dian Septiari The Jakarta Post PREMIUM Jakarta Thu August 29 2019 10 50 am Wearing different hats Coordinating Political Security and Legal Affairs Minister Wiranto right and Timor Leste’s lead border negotiator Xanana Gusmao exchange documents as part of an agreement on land borders signed in Jakarta on July 22 Both figures were instrumental actors during Timor Leste’s independence referendum in 1999 Antara Sigid Kurniawan 0 SHARES • • • • • • The United States government was aware for months that Indonesia’s armed forces had created armed and directed militias in Timor Leste in the lead-up to its referendum 20 years ago recently declassified US government files have revealed More than 200 documents produced in 1999 by the US Embassy in Jakarta State Department Defense Intelligence Agency Central Intelligence Agency CIA Pacific Command and Defense Department were declassified and obtained by the National Security Archive a nonprofit research and archival institution at George Washington University In the year leading up to the Timorese referendum vote on Aug 30 1999 the US administration under president Bill Clinton was already aware that the thenIndonesian Armed Forces ABRI was determined to thwart the independence vote with terror and violence But Washington still chose to preserve military ties with Jakarta according to Brad Simpson the director for the institution’s Indonesia and Timor Leste project “US Embassy and intelligence agencies noted overwhelming evidence of direct Indonesian military involvement in militia violence and some US State Department officials pressed their Indonesian counterparts to rein in the terror and allow a free vote in East Timor ” Simpson said in briefing notes on Thursday “But US military officials resisted efforts to pressure the Indonesian armed forces and opposed efforts to reduce military aid convinced that the Indonesian military remained a crucial force for political and military stability in the archipelago during a fragile democratic transition ” The US Embassy in Jakarta was not immediately available for comment The documents were released as a result of Freedom of Information Act FOIA requests filed by the National Security Archive between 2002 and 2007 They comprise a substantial portion of the daily reporting on Timor Leste – known as East Timor under the Indonesian occupation – by the US Embassy in Jakarta and US intelligence agencies from late 1998 through September 1999 One of the documents a CIA Intelligence report issued on May 10 1999 noted that support for then-president BJ Habibie's East Timor initiative appeared tenuous among senior military officers including then-defense minister and military commander Wiranto “who has taken no action against the pro-integration civilian militias or discipline against local military units that if not abetting have at the least tolerated these groups ” “Wiranto had repeatedly promised that the military was a neutral force but local commanders would have required at least tacit approval from headquarters in Jakarta to allow the militias the blatant free hand they have enjoyed ” the report said “Security authorities knew in advance about a planned militia rally on April 17 in the provincial capital of Dili permitted it to occur and were ineffective in curbing the violence that led to some 20 deaths ” Wiranto now coordinating political security and legal affairs minister under the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo refused to comment on the revelations saying the case was closed The issue with Timor Leste is done and over it's already independent he said on the sidelines of a meeting at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Thursday On Aug 30 1999 more than 98 percent of eligible East Timorese cast ballots in the referendum They voted overwhelmingly against integration with Indonesia with 78 5 percent of valid votes cast rejecting Indonesia's offer for an autonomy package In retaliation the security forces and their local paramilitary allies launched a scorched earth campaign killing more than 1 500 Timorese and displacing nearly half the population including more than 100 000 who were forced across the border into neighboring West Timor and razing much of East Timor to the ground United Nations officials foreign journalists and some East Timorese also claimed that the Indonesian military was aiding the militias a claim that then-foreign minister Ali Alatas dismissed by saying any cooperation between the militias and the military was the result of rogue elements within the military The revelations coincided with the 20th anniversary of the referendum on Friday through which the nation restored the independence it had prematurely declared in 1975 and subsequently lost in the Indonesian occupation tjs — Editor's note Aug 29 2019 at 14 56 p m This article has been updated with remarks from Wiranto