Since January, violence in East Timor has escalated
RELATED VIDEO A special report revealing first-hand accounts of military involvement in East Timor killings - Part 1 Windows Media 28K 80K Special report on E. Timor - Part 2 Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Special report on E. Timor - Part 3 Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K (Copyrighted pictures courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

May 28, 1999
Web posted at: 12:08 a.m. EDT (0408 GMT)

DILI, Indonesia (CNN) -- The Indonesian military and local militia groups have been blamed for a wave of killings and torture that has swept East Timor ahead of a ballot which could set the deeply divided province on the road to independence.

A special in-depth report for Australian television aired first-hand accounts of killings by the militias and showed graphic footage of some victims.

CNN Interactive provides the report as the United Nations on Thursday announced moves aimed at improving the security situation in the half-island territory.

The program reported that since January, dozens of pro- independence civilians had been gunned down or mysteriously disappeared.

Independence leader Xanana Gusmao said the Indonesian military was supporting militias in the province with weapons while President B.J. Habibie denied responsibility for the deaths of pro-independence East Timorese.

"While Habibie says one thing to the world, ABRI (the military) arms people and tells lies," Gusmao told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners program.

The Indonesia military commander for East Timor, Col. Tono Suratman, denied the military had supplied weapons used in the killings of independence supporters.

But the Australian Broadcasting Corporation show, titled "A Licence to Kill" and made available to CNN Interactive, identified several groups, including a very active one called Mahidi, as being responsible for murders and mutilation.

The groups call themselves "village guards".

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas also denied the military supported any groups of village guards responsible for attacks against independence supporters.

"You may believe me or not believe me. By this time I'm quite immune now to the disbelief of the West. Believe me, I don't care any more. But I can tell you most emphatically that that news is wrong," Alatas said.

"What is happening there is part of what is happening throughout Indonesia -Ð training village guards so that they can help the police at least to maintain peace in their respective villages."

Human rights investigator Rui da Costa had a different impression. "These people are being used as puppets to kill people. It is the Indonesian military which is the perpetrator," da Costa said.

On Thursday, the United Nations announced the expected deployment of an election team and civilian police advisers to "greatly improve" the security situation in East Timor ahead of an August 8 ballot to determine whether the province will proceed toward independence.

Senior U.N. diplomat Francesc Vendrell warned that the United Nations would not be able to ballot the Timorese on whether they wanted to remain part of Indonesia or seek independence if the situation did not improve.

In January, after years of rejecting a change on East Timor policy, Jakarta made the surprise decision to put the 800,000 East Timorese on the road to independence if they rejected wide-ranging autonomy. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it the following year.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated repeatedly that a secure environment free of violence and intimidation is a prerequisite for the ballot.

Vendrell, who heads the Asia and Pacific division of the U.N. Department of Political Affairs, said he expects Annan to decide around June 20 whether the security situation meets those security standards. Voter registration is scheduled to begin about that time.

The United Nations hopes to deploy most of its 600-strong civilian election team by June 15, he said. So far, 31 U.N. staff members have arrived and Ian Martin, who will head the U.N. mission, is expected in the capital, Dili, on Tuesday.

About 270 civilian police advisers will begin leaving for East Timor immediately after the U.N. Security Council passes a resolution authorizing their deployment, now expected around June 10. Full deployment is expected by June 30.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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