Timor party warned over intimidation

Fretilin is widely expected to dominate the upcoming election

By Joe Havely
CNN Hong Kong Bureau

DILI, East Timor (CNN) -- An election-monitoring panel in East Timor has accused the dominant Fretilin party of using intimidating language reminiscent of Indonesian military tactics in its final days of campaigning.

The statement, from the Independent Election Media Mediation Panel (MMP), comes little more than a week ahead of East Timor's first democratic poll on August 30.

In it the UN-backed panel pointed to what it says is "a disturbing pattern of apparent verbal intimidation" by Fretilin, the party widely expected to win a commanding majority in the assembly.

It said such a policy, if proven, could spark "a rise in fear and tension among the East Timorese people" in the critical final days of campaigning.

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Fears of a repeat of the militia violence that followed the landmark 1999 referendum on independence have so far not been realized.

Still, the UN, which is overseeing the election, is keen to ensure tensions are kept to a minimum ahead of the vote.

The election, in which 16 parties are competing for 88 seats, will take East Timor further down the road to independence - a status that is expected to be granted sometime in 2002.

Military 'sweep'

In particular the panel said it had received numerous reports of Fretilin leaders using the phrase "dasa rai" -- a term in the East Timorese Tetum language meaning, "to sweep the ground".

The term was used by the Indonesian military to describe offensives conducted against the East Timorese resistance.

The Indonesian army is accused of widespread human rights violations during Jakarta's 24 years of occupation.

More than 100,000 East Timorese are thought to have died as a result of military efforts to subdue rebel guerillas.

According to the panel the phrase was also widely used by pro-Jakarta militias -- many of which received backing from the Indonesian military -- to threaten East Timorese ahead of the 1999 referendum.

In its statement released Tuesday, the MMP said it had documented several incidents of Fretilin candidates and party leaders using the term, saying they would "sweep" the country clean after the elections.

Intimidation

It said many observers had interpreted widespread and frequent use of the term "as an act of intimidation".

It said any such effort was out of step with the Pact of National Unity signed in July by most of the political parties in an effort to ensure the election would be as secure and non-violent as possible.

"We are concerned that an atmosphere of suspicion and intimidation may be building in the closing weeks of the election campaign, leading to a rise in fear and tension among the people," the panel said.

It said Fretilin officials had been asked for an explanation and had said use of the phrase was merely to say that the party would engage in a clean up campaign of rubbish, such as posters and other debris, left behind by the election campaign.