The New York Times

Monday, August 30, 1999

East Timorese Vote on Independence

By The Associated Press

DILI, Indonesia (AP) -- Throngs of East Timorese defied threats of violence to cast their ballots today in a U.N.-supervised referendum on independence after decades of Indonesian rule.

U.N. officials hailed the huge, peaceful turnout. They estimated that 90 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

``The eagle of liberty has spread its wings over the people of East Timor,'' U.N. envoy Jamsheed Marker said in the provincial capital of Dili. He refused to speculate on the outcome, but said the voting was free and fair. The United Nations says it will need seven days to count and verify votes.

Optimistic independence supporters predicted that the enormous turnout meant success for their cause, allowing East Timor to break completely with Indonesia.

``We are convinced that we have won because our people have suffered under Indonesia,'' said Leandro Isaac, a prominent independence leader.

Despite fears that many people would be too scared to vote, long lines formed outside polling centers. In many towns, enthusiastic voters scuffled to be the first to cast their ballots.

Guerrillas who have fought Indonesian troops for more than two decades walked out of the jungles carrying voter registration cards rather than guns.

But in Liquica, about 15 miles west of Dili, frightened villagers accused militiamen of threatening to burn their homes if they voted to break away from Indonesia, which invaded in 1975.

Heavily armed police who failed to rein in attacks by anti-independence militias stood guard, along with unarmed U.N. police advisers.

Indonesia invaded East Timor nearly a quarter-century ago, after Portugal ended a reign of nearly 400 years. Human rights groups claim 200,000 people have died in the ensuing violence.

More than 451,000 voters, including 13,000 East Timorese living abroad, registered for the ballot. They were asked if their impoverished, mainly Roman Catholic homeland should stay part of Muslim-dominated Indonesia as an autonomous region or break away completely.

Anti-independence militiamen, accused of killing and terrorizing civilians to slash support for independence, said they would abide by the result that is to be announced by Sept. 7.

Dozens of people have been killed this year. An estimated 60,000 have fled their homes in fear. Many traveled back to their shattered villages to cast votes.

There is overwhelming evidence that the military has backed the pro-Jakarta militias, though the government has consistently denied it. The armed forces have been reluctant to give up their hold on East Timor after nearly a quarter-century of a strong presence there.

The polls closed at 4 p.m., giving residents time to hurry home before nightfall and a possible new round of militia attacks.

In the town of Emera, 40 miles south of Dili, provocateurs fired gunshots before being dispersed by police.

A U.N. officer was injured in a shooting incident while helping monitor the referendum, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Yutaka Kawashima said in Tokyo today. He provided no details.

In Jakarta, Indonesian Defense Minister and armed forces chief Wiranto said the military has the impression that the U.N. team carried out its duties very well.

``We consistently appeal to both sides to lay down their arms and surrender them to the Indonesian police,'' Wiranto said. He, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Sensing the overwhelming support for independence, a soft-spoken President B.J. Habibie went on national television Sunday night to appeal to East Timor's voters to remain a part of this sprawling nation of 210 million.

Separatist leader Jose Alexandre ``Xanana'' Gusmao called for a big turnout, then received a hero's welcome when he voted at the U.N. polling station in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where he is under house arrest.

A large crowd clapped and cheered when Timor's spiritual leader and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bishop Carlos Belo, voted at a Dili schoolhouse.

In Sydney, Jose Ramos Horta, who shared the Nobel prize with Belo, joined several hundred East Timorese refugees now living in Australia and New Zealand in casting his vote.

``For peace in Timor and all those who died in the past 23 years,'' Ramos Horta said as he cast his ballot.

Suharto, Indonesia's former authoritarian president who ordered the invasion, steadfastly ignored international opinion and refused to grant self-determination to the territory's 800,000 people.

After Suharto was forced out last year, Indonesia agreed to allow the vote.