Letter to the Editor
We, researchers on Southeast Asia, have been deeply shocked by the article on East-Timor published by Francois Raillon in the IIAS Newsletter (no. 21, February 2000): 'Global Flop, Local Mess: Indonesia betrayed by East-Timor and the West'. While the article contains a number of factual errors, it invites criticism on methodological grounds, as well. Omissions and rough estimates prevent the reader from grasping the very grave issues at hand. The article is aimed at providing the Indonesia viewpoint on the Timor problem. This approach has its merits provided it objectively presents both the Indonesian position and its limits, for example by referring to the wide-ranging debates taking place in Indonesia on the subject. In fact, the article goes no further than to reproduce the official line of the Suharto-Habibie regime, which has been notorious for manipulating facts.The Indonesian people have just emerged from nearly 35 years of a dictatorial regime rejected by a large majority. They are currently in the process of seeking the truth about their past, which they still often must view through the prism of official texts. What possibly could be gained today by defending, with neither in depth analysis nor explanation, the discourse of the former regime? It would appear to us, both in our academic capacities and as an act of solidarity with our Indonesian friends, that we should contribute to shed as much light as possible on the Indonesian past, so as to help Indonesians build a better future.
FRÉDÉRIC DURAND
Université Toulouse Il Le Mirail / LASEMA CNRS
14 April 2000
The text has been co-signed by:
Michel Bruneau (CNRS, UMR-Regards), David Camroux (CHEAM),
Françoise Cayrac-Blanchard
(CERI- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales), Muriel Charras (CNRS, LASEMA), Rodolphe De Koninck (Université Laval-Québec, Gérac-Groupe de Recherche sur l'Asie Contemporaine), Stéphane Dovert (IRASEC- Institut de Recherche sur l'Asie du Sud-Est Contemporaine), Alain Forest
(Université Paris VII), Manuelle Franck (INALCO- Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales), Laurence Husson (CNRS, IRSEA/MAP/Marseille), Pierre-Yves Manguin (Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient), Charles Macdonald (CNRS, Maison Asie Pacifique), Jean-Louis Margolin (Université de Provence/IRSEA CNRS).
Editors Note:
This is a shortened and edited version of a more extensive text submitted by the undersigned.