Volunteers who arrived in Tokyo from East Timor earlier this week told their stories Wednesday of pro-Indonesia militias going on rampages, disturbing the voting in an independence referendum, torching homes and shooting civilians in the violence-torn province.
The volunteers said the militias are apparently acting in concert with and have full support from the Indonesian police and military.
Stefani Renato, a member of a nongovernmental organization, said that during the Aug. 30 voting, the polling station he was assigned to had to suspend operations for an hour because of militia gunfire.