Commentary : Only Intervention Can Stop the Violence : East Timor: The Jakarta government, unable to control its renegade army, has lost legitimacy.

JOSE RAMOS-HORTA shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, whose home was burned to the ground Tuesday by militias roaming Dili, the capital of East Timor. Ramos-Horta spoke with Global Viewpoint editor Nathan Gardels on Wednesday.

Question: Why is the violence taking place now, after the independence vote? Who is committing it?

Answer: The killing is a well-designed strategy prepared for a long time by the Indonesian Army intelligence and special forces. They have their own agenda, and it is very simple: They are not prepared to relinquish East Timor, regardless of the vote in favor of independence and regardless of the commitment by Indonesian President B.J. Habibie.

The so-called “militias” are a fiction. Most of these militia members are not East Timorese opposing autonomy but are Indonesians recruited from West Timor. Among the militias are special forces and Indonesian police in plain clothes. And it is not even these militias that are carrying out the main violence. They don’t have the firepower to destroy buildings. And where on Earth would these local militias get the means to ship tens of thousands of people out of East Timor? The Indonesian army, like the Serbian army in Kosovo, arranged for this mass deportation of our people. They have provided the ships to take the people away.

Q: What is the objective of their campaign?

A: To overturn the vote. As far as the army is concerned, the vote is history. They know if they don’t accept it, there is no one who will enforce it. Again, let me stress: The war is not being waged by the 20% of the East Timorese who voted for autonomy over independence. We had meetings with all their leaders and they were prepared to accept the vote and join us in a power-sharing arrangement. It is the Indonesian army that is waging this war.

Q: The martial law that has been declared, then, will consolidate the military control of East Timor, not stem violence?

A: Absolutely. Martial law only strengthens the power of the military. Neither President Habibie nor the defense minister have the power to stop the army. In the context of a democratic country, the Indonesian army is a renegade army. Along with the special forces, they are a law unto themselves in East Timor.

Q: What, then, is the solution?

A: The only solution is international intervention. If the United Nations Security Council does not fulfill its obligations and call for armed intervention, then countries that have a conscience and resources--Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Europeans--should do it.

Q: Even if the government in Jakarta does not invite them in?

A: A government that cannot honor its international obligations because it cannot control its renegade army does not exist from the standpoint of international law. The army has hijacked the legitimacy of Indonesian sovereignty. It is a false issue to argue that intervention by the outside world requires the approval of Jakarta.

Q: Are you hopeful about a U.N. Security Council resolution?

A: No, I am not. Some Security Council members insist on an invitation from Jakarta.

Now that U.N. personnel have left East Timor, the violence will escalate. East Timor will be betrayed once more and left alone at the mercy of the Indonesian army. Thousands and thousands will die in the next few days.

I also cannot say I am hopeful that the Australians and others might take action on their own. I can only pray for a divine inspiration that will summon those with decency to go in and fight for justice, to save the people of East Timor.