Timor Leste to join ASEAN 3

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Sorry, I changed the tittle because... I don't have enough material to focus on PNG. Thus, I will be focusing more on Timor Leste and ASEAN.

Dear Timor Leste,

We know this apology can't bring back the dead of your loved ones. We as a nation did a very grave mistakes and we are very sorry. We'll demand our government to submit this case to the court's ruling and do a trial of the generals responsible for the invasion. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive us...

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=> Indonesia Apologizing for Timor Violence

The Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has apologised for the violence in East Timor during its 24-year occupation by Indonesian forces.

The apology came at the end of his brief visit, when he laid wreaths at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, site of an infamous 1991 massacre by Indonesian troops, and at a neighbouring cemetery where Indonesian soldiers who died in a long guerrilla war are buried.

"I would like to apologise for the things that have happened in the past, to the victims or the families of Santa Cruz and those friends who are buried in the military cemetery," President Wahid said.

"These are the victims of circumstance that we didn't want," he said.
East Timorese independence supporters say up to 250 people died when troops opened fire on a funeral in November 1991. Indonesian authorities put the number at more than 50.

Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao welcomed President Wahid, saying the visit was important for both countries.
"You are a symbol of the universal principal of peace, justice, and democracy," he said.
"You bring hope to East Timor because in your country you can create [conditions] for future dialogue and democracy."
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=> Indonessia Apology to Timor Leste during Gus Dur visit

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INDONESIAN President Abdurrahman Wahid is a man of surprising gifts, one of which is the capacity for springing surprises. His critics find this capacity confounding, but it is not without its uses, especially when it is coupled with an acute sense of what the historical moment demands. He showed this last week when he visited East Timor, barely six months after Indonesian troops left the territory. He did more to win the trust of the East Timorese in the three hours he spent in Dili than any other Indonesian leader has done in the past three decades. He laid wreaths at two sites -- one, the site of a 1991 massacre of innocent protesters by Indonesian soldiers, and the other, a cemetery for Indonesian soldiers killed during Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor -- and apologised for his country's "sins". Addressing a crowd at Santa Cruz, the site of the 1991 massacre, he said, eloquently and simply: "I would like to apologise for the sins that have happened in the past, to the victims or the families of Santa Cruz and those friends who are buried in the military cemetery. These are the victims of circumstances that we didn't want." His words served at once as a salve and a benediction, a remembrance and a promise.

The Indonesian government must now see to it that it keeps its President's promise of friendship. Mr Abdurrahman signed a communique with East Timor's leaders which promised, among other things, the resumption of commercial flights between Dili and Kupang in West Timor, a transport corridor between East Timor and its coastal enclave in Indonesian territory, and scholarships for East Timorese. A separate agreement called for cooperation between the Indonesian Attorney-General and the United Nations Transitional Authority in investigating the role of six Indonesian generals in the violence which followed the referendum vote last August. Given Indonesia's present economic plight, it would be too much to expect Jakarta to play a significant role in the economic rehabilitation of its former province, but the agreements Gus Dur reached with East Timor's leaders, as well as the personal warmth and sincerity he expressed, will go a long way towards establishing an atmosphere of peace and goodwill without which East Timor cannot prosper. Reflecting on this new atmosphere, the Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta described the visit as "a turning point in our common history", and said that it "definitely put to rest the past, which is ugly and violent". A cursory look at the map will suffice to indicate how important Indonesia will be to East Timor's future viability: the country is only one-half of an island, the western half of which remains Indonesian. Unless Australian troops are to remain in East Timor in perpetuity -- an eventuality which neither Indonesia nor Australia, for different reasons, would want -- East Timor must get along with Indonesia in order to get on.

As for Indonesia, it must be seen to be getting along with its former province in order to restore its international credibility. Gus Dur's visit set the right tone, as did his seeming determination to prosecute Indonesian generals allegedly responsible for human-rights violations in East Timor. His government has established a Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations in East Timor, whose proceedings and reports have been open and transparent. This process must continue. Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. And when it is, Indonesia, as well as the region, will owe a debt of gratitude to the man of many surprises -- Gus Dur.

Timor Leste OC design by
Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz
Indonesia aph and Malaysia aph based on Himaruya's sketch. ([link])