I REFER to your editorial headlined, 'Jakarta on the defensive' (South China Morning Post, March 3).
After almost 20 years of occupation of East Timor, Jakarta has yet to convince the world that the Timorese accepted integration with Indonesia, or that life is normal in that country. It is most definitely not normal.
Since Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, 200,000 people - more than one third of the Timorese population - have died as a consequence of the war that followed the invasion.
Now, 20 years on, arbitrary killings and imprisonment, massacres and torture, are still happening in East Timor (as referred to by Indonesia's Human Rights Commission report, published in February of this year).
How much longer will Jakarta remain on the defensive? Jakarta has taken some initiatives to try to restore an image damaged by the problems in East Timor, including two meetings held in London, in December 1993 and October, 1994.
It was attended by Timorese leaders working within the Indonesian administration and those in exile.
I was a member of the East Timorese delegation in exile.
