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ETAN Congratulates the People of East Timor on Independence |
Current rating: 0 |
by East Timor Action Network
(No verified email address) |
20 May 2002
Modified: 22 May 2002 |
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The East Timor Action Network/U.S. congratulates the courageous people of East Timor on their independence. |
Against the odds, East Timor will become the world's newest nation on May 20. At midnight, the United Nations transitional administration will hand over control to the East Timorese government, and the East Timorese will have achieved their long-sought goal of self-determination. A scaled-down UN operation -- including peacekeepers, civilian police, a serious crimes unit and international civil servants -- will remain in East Timor over the next few years.
Due to grassroots and Congressional pressure, United States policy shifted from one of enthusiastic backing of the invasion to support for an independent East Timor:
1.As detailed in recently declassified documents, U.S. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave Indonesia the "green light" (http://www.etan.org/news/kissinger/default.htm) to invade East Timor in 1975. The U.S. was the largest patron of the Indonesian military -- 90% of weapons used in the invasion of East Timor came from the U.S. Since then, the U.S. supplied Indonesia with over one billion dollars worth of military assistance and weapons.
2.Congressional and grassroots pressure led to limits on U.S. military training and some weapons transfers to Indonesia and an endorsement of self-determination for East Timor.
3.The complete cut-off of military ties with Indonesia by President Clinton in September 1999 was critical to the Indonesian military withdrawal from East Timor and Indonesian agreement to allow an international security force to enter Timor.
4.Since then, the U.S. government has given substantial financial assistance to East Timor, and many members of Congress continue to take strong, principled stances supporting human rights, justice, and security for East Timor. A complete accounting for the U.S. role in supporting the invasion and occupation of East Timor has yet to take place.
The new nation faces major challenges: justice remains elusive, government services are haphazard, unemployment is high and economic development is slow, security along the border is tenuous and all refugees who wish to repatriate have yet to do so. The U.S. can have a positive impact on the new country by supporting sustainable, environmentally-sound, and socially-just development. Supporting East Timor at this critical phase is the least the U.S. can do after having supported the Indonesian occupation for decades.
The U.S. must act on the following critical issues now facing East Timor:
I. Justice
The people of East Timor have yet to see justice for the crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed against them since 1975. In January 2000, the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor found the Indonesian military (TNI) responsible for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor in 1999. The UN commission called for the establishment of an international tribunal. In response, the Indonesian government promised to establish its own Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor, which began hearing cases in March 2002.
Justice for East Timor is being addressed at three levels:
1.Indonesian Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor
2.hybrid UN-East Timorese Serious Crimes Investigation Unit (SCIU) in East Timor
3.East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation
The Indonesian court is seriously flawed. The court's limited jurisdiction covers only 2 months of a brutal 24-year occupation and only three of East Timor's 13 districts. Under these constraints, only a few mid-ranking officers will be tried, the systematic planning and execution of 1999's devastation will go unexamined, and massacres committed over the previous 23 years will be ignored. These sham trials will not provide justice for East Timor, nor will they prompt reform of the Indonesian military or the notoriously corrupt Indonesian judicial system. Indonesian prosecutors have not targeted any of the numerous systematic crimes committed against women (http://etan.org/action/issues/women.htm) in 1999, including rape and sexual slavery, as well as widespread forced sterilization during many years of the occupation.
The justice system in East Timor is severely constrained by insufficient staff and funding. Moreover, it does not have access to the high-ranking officers with command responsibility, as well as most of those culpable for atrocities, who reside with impunity in Indonesia. Indonesia has refused all extradition requests by the SCIU , including requests for East Timorese militia leaders currently residing in Indonesia, despite an agreement between Indonesia and the UN.
The East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation is charged with documenting and assessing responsibility for human rights violations committed between 1974 and 1999. It is empowered to request and gather information from victims, witnesses, government officials and agencies in other countries. However, only East Timorese are likely to participate.
Recommended action:
1.Only an international tribunal covering 1975 to 1999 can provide full justice for the people of East Timor. The U.S. administration must actively support an international tribunal on East Timor and initiate proceedings in the UN Security Council to pass a resolution establishing such a tribunal. Resolutions (http://etan.org/legislation/) in the House and Senate have been introduced calling for such moves, House Concurrent Resolution 60 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 9. Additional co-sponsors are needed to obtain hearings and votes on these bills.
2.The U.S. government must assure adequate material and human resources are available to East Timor's judicial system.
3.The U.S. Administration should direct pertinent agencies of the executive branch to collect, declassify, and provide information (including from intelligence sources) and appropriate resources on a timely basis to assist the East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation.
4.Congress should conduct an investigation into the U.S. role in backing Indonesia's invasion and occupation.
see ETAN's Human Rights & Justice Pages
http://www.etan.org/action/issues/h-rights.htm
II. Development and Financing Gap
Centuries of Portuguese colonial neglect and 24 years of brutal, illegal Indonesian military occupation have left East Timor one of the poorest countries on the planet. East Timor has a 60% illiteracy rate, a per capita gross national product of $340, and a life expectancy of only 57 years. The infant mortality rate is 135 per 1000 live births, and the maternal mortality rate is twice that of other countries in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. The short period of UN administration has barely tackled most of these problems.
Insufficient funds could stand in the way of East Timor's commitment to use its revenues for healthcare and education rather than to service a debt to wealthy states and financial institutions. The government faces a substantial revenue shortfall (a financing gap) in its already lean budget for the first three years of independence. Timorese leaders have publicly affirmed their determination to avoid going into debt, and a "no loans" policy has been put into place. The international community should use this opportunity to take preemptive action to prevent the stranglehold of structural adjustment, loans, and the vicious cycle of poverty that has harmed so many poor nations from putting its deadly grip on the new country. Donor countries and international financial institutions (IFIs) will hold a pledging conference May 14 and 15. The U.S. and other countries should pledge in grants (with no strings attached) enough to cover the gap in its entirety for all three years. Otherwise, East Timor may have no choice but to resort to loans with terms dictated by the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank.
The Bush administration and other governments have recently stated their commitment to eradicating global poverty. The U.S. now advocates that a large portion of international assistance to poor countries should come in the form of grants.
Recommended action:
1.The U.S. government should commit to funding 25% of the financing gap for East Timor's first three years with grants free of restrictive macroeconomic conditions. Funding can come from State Department and Treasury Department discretionary funds, as well as money appropriated by Congress. The U.S. administration should coordinate with other donors to ensure the financing gap is fully covered with grants.
2.Congress should appropriate at least $25 million in economic assistance for East Timor in the FY03 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for important reconstruction and civil society efforts and the provision of vital services like education and healthcare, in addition to money designated for the financing gap.
3.The U.S. must work with the United Nations and its members to make sure that the job of preparing East Timor for self-rule is completed. Enough proper expertise and funds must be provided to ensure a smooth transition in government services and to train East Timorese to fully manage there own affairs.
see For a Debt-Free East Timor
http://etan.org/action/issues/nodebt.htm
III. Pentagon's relationship with Indonesia
The Pentagon has already succeeded in securing funding for a new Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program, which will likely train Indonesian military personnel, and plans to significantly increase engagement though other means. Important restrictions on military aid to Indonesia in the FY02 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act may be effectively nullified by these actions.
Indonesian armed forces are resisting accountability for atrocities in East Timor and continue to perpetrate systematic human rights violations throughout the archipelago. Murder, rape, and torture of civilians by the TNI and police are a regular occurrence. Rewarding the TNI with US assistance would condone serious rights violations. The United States' most important point of leverage to foster respect for human rights and accountability and encourage military reform - restrictions on U.S.-Indonesia military ties -- may be lost with little or nothing gained.
Recommended action:
1.Restrictions on US military assistance for Indonesia must be respected and renewed in the FY03 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.
2.The TNI should not receive defense articles, service, training, or other aid under the Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program or any other program at least until the Indonesian military meets Congressional conditions on military restrictions.
see U.S.-Indonesia Military Ties pages
http://etan.org/action/issues/miltie.htm
IV. Refugees
Although repatriation rates recently increased, approximately 55,000 East Timorese refugees continue to live in deplorable conditions in an environment of intimidation in Indonesia. The UN Secretary General has reported that hard-line militia may still pose a long-term threat to East Timor's peace and security. 1,600 of the over 2,000 children separated from their parents in the violence of 1999 through military and militia force or coercion remain separated from their families. Over 160 of the children have been sent to orphanages in Indonesia, where it is reported militia leaders are attempting to indoctrinate them to fight for the "reintegration" of East Timor into Indonesia.
Recommended action:
1.The U.S. government must escalate pressure on Indonesia to disarm and disband all militia, hold them accountable to the rule of law, and ensure security along the border with East Timor.
2.The UN must return to West Timor and work to ensure all refugees are able to leave the camps and make a free and informed decision to repatriate to East Timor or resettle in Indonesia.
3.The U.S. government must support prompt reunification of East Timorese children with their parents.
see ETAN refugee pages
http://www.etan.org/action/issues/refugee.htm
Brief overview of East Timor's history
1. East Timor was a Portuguese colony for some 400 years.
2. On December 7, 1975, the Indonesian military brutally invaded East Timor, occupying the country until 1999. In the early years of the occupation, the Indonesian military killed one-third of the population - 200,000 people - through murder, forced starvation, and other means. The years of occupation were riddled with massacres, programs of forced sterilization, hunger, and attempts at cultural annihilation. Tens of thousands suffered tremendous hardships to survive and resist the occupation.
3. The November 12, 1991Santa Cruz massacre - filmed and witnessed by foreign journalists -- sparked a global outcry and a flurry of diplomatic and grassroots activism in support of East Timor.
4. On August 30, 1999, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN-conducted popular consultation. 98.6% of the eligible population participated; 78.5% chose independence despite months of systematic terror and intimidation by the Indonesian military and its militia. After the result was announced, the Indonesian military and its militia retaliated by destroying the country: murdering some 2,000 East Timorese, displacing two-thirds of the population, raping hundreds of women and girls, and destroying over 70% of the country's infrastructure.
5. Since October 1999, the UN has administered East Timor. After independence, the UN will remain in East Timor but on a smaller scale.
6. In August 2001, 91.3% of eligible East Timorese participated in the first democratic, multiparty election for a Constituent Assembly, whose members wrote the country's first constitution. . The Constituent Assembly will become the first parliament after independence.
7. In April 2002, East Timor held its first-ever presidential election. Independence hero Xanana Gusmao won by a landslide. 86.3% of those eligible participated.
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See also:
http://www.etan.org
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Indonesia 'Peacekeeper' Plan Sends the Wrong |
by Mike Jendrzejczyk
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 May 2002
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[It is not a coincidence that Bush pushes for closer ties with the Indonesian military just as East Timor achieves independence. ML]
Indonesia may be the next front in the U.S. war against terrorism in Southeast Asia. But terrorism is not at the root of Indonesia's most urgent troubles. And some U.S. proposals for fighting the war may worsen the problems they are meant to correct.
The Bush administration is asking Congress to provide $8million to train and equip a "domestic peacekeeping force" in Indonesia to suppress sectarian violence. The State Department argues that "rapid restoration of order will reduce tensions and weaken extremist groups, thus serving counter-terrorism goals in Indonesia and beyond." The funding request is buried in a special foreign aid bill due to be voted on as early as today.
How would such a force function? Would it promote military reform? Or would it strengthen the power of an increasingly confident and assertive army? The State Department says it would screen recruits to keep out human rights abusers and the unit's performance would be monitored by U.S. personnel. Yet the U.S. track record for trying to change the Indonesian military culture is spotty at best, and prosecutions of abusers are rare.
During my recent trip to Jakarta, violence exploded again in the province of Maluku. Three years of Muslim-Christian tensions, resulting in thousands of deaths, had subsided and a peace deal was signed in February. But the activities of a small group of Christian separatists combined with the agitation of a radical Muslim militia group, the Laskar Jihad, sparked renewed violence. Christian churches and homes were burned, civilian deaths mounted and gunmen carrying M-16s raised suspicions that Indonesian soldiers were involved.
The roots of the conflict in Maluku are complex, including political rivalries and economic tensions and charges of provocation by outside groups. The U.S. suspects that Laskar Jihad has links to Al Qaeda, but the causes of the violence are clearly domestic.
The Indonesian security forces have been slow to respond to the violence. The problem is not a lack of training and equipment; it's a lack of political will and the highly political role of the army.
None of the diplomats, business people or nongovernmental organizations I spoke with in Jakarta could imagine how a U.S.-trained force--outfitted with M-16s, helicopters, crowd control equipment and other hardware--would work in a hot spot such as Maluku or in Aceh, site of a secessionist war.
Above all, there is little faith in Indonesia's weak civilian institutions to exercise the kind of control needed to prevent a peacekeeping unit from becoming another abusive force like the army's special forces or the mobile police brigades. So why is the U.S. promoting this idea?
For months, senior Bush administration officials have urged President Megawati Sukarnoputri to crack down on suspected terrorist links. The latest initiative, combined with a second $8-million funding request to set up a counter-terrorism unit, is part of the same strategy.
The Pentagon is eager to reestablish relations with its Indonesian counterpart. Military cooperation with Indonesia was restricted by the Clinton administration after a rampage by army-sponsored militias in East Timor in 1999. Bush has lifted many restrictions, resuming high-level military contacts and commercial sales of nonlethal arms.
However, Congress made specific training programs and arms sales conditional in last year's foreign aid bill, requiring steps toward greater accountability for human rights abuses and civilian control of the military. The counter-terrorism agenda is being used as an excuse for subverting these conditions.
U.S. support for changing the role of the military is critical for the country's long-term democratic transition, but aid should be given only when it contributes to reform. This includes removing impunity for military personnel, putting security forces under effective civilian control and ending their shadowy role supporting militia groups and stimulating local and regional conflicts.
There is no quick fix in dealing with terrorism in Southeast Asia. A U.S.-funded "peacekeeping force" would send the wrong signal to those promoting basic reform and, worse, there is little prospect it would help keep the peace.
Mike Jendrzejczyk is Washington director for Asia Human Rights Watch.
Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com
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See also:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/index.php
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Madison IMC Reporter on East Timor Independence |
by Yohan via ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 May 2002
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More than 200,000 East Timorese celebrated their independence alongside foreign dignitaries at 12:01 A.M. Dili time. That's when Kofi Annan transferred executive power to Xanana Gusmao, the former Timorese freedom fighter who was elected after 23 years of brutal occupation under Indonesia. That occupation, led by soldiers trained by the U.S. military and enforced with U.S. arms, led to the deaths of more than 200,000 Timorese. Today marks a new beginning, as East Timor is finally free!
Listen to mp3 (1.3 megs): http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/madison/051902johan.mp3
Listen to Realaudio: http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/madison/051902johan.ram
Some (or all) of this was carried on Democracy Now! today. |
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U.S. House of Representatives Unanimously Congratulates East Timor |
by ETAN via ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 May 2002
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Endorses Continued Restrictions on U.S.-Indonesia Military Ties, Pledges Continued Support for New Nation, Expresses Concern about Lack of Justice
NEW YORK - May 21 - The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 405, see text below) congratulating the people of East Timor on their independence and welcoming the new nation as an "equal partner" in the community of nations.
"Congressional support has been key to East Timor achieving this week's independence. We are pleased that Congress remains committed to supporting the new nation," said Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN).
The resolution calls for maintaining "a level of United States assistance for East Timor commensurate with the challenges this new nation faces after independence."
The House also urged the Bush administration "to ensure that those officials responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes against the East Timorese people are held accountable and that the Indonesian Government fully cooperates with the East Timorese judicial system."
The House expressed its commitment to "maintaining appropriate restrictions and prohibitions in law on military assistance, training relations, and technical support to the Indonesian Armed Forces." Military ties between the U.S. and Indonesia were suspended in 1999 as Indonesian troops and their militia proxies were leveling East Timor following its overwhelming vote for independence.
The resolution highlights the need for repatriation of East Timorese refugees, especially those held in militia-controlled refugee camps in Indonesian West Timor, and calls on the administration to press Indonesia to disarm and disband the militia and ensure security along the border.
Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Jim McGovern (D-MA), and Tom Lantos (D-CA) delivered speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of the resolution.
Smith said it "addresses the serious challenges" East Timor faces, including, "development of a stable economy, holding accountable those who carried out crimes against humanity and genocide during Indonesia's reign of terror, and caring for those many victims who still suffer tremendously from the scars of war and poverty."
Smith added that he "will be pressing my friends on the Appropriations Committees for a higher level of funding" than requested by the Bush administration for FY 2003.
Rep. Lantos said, "Standing up for human rights and democracy in East Timor was the right and moral course of action.And as a result of the bravery of the East Timorese people and concerted international pressure, we stand here today welcoming East Timor as the first new nation of the 21st Century."
Kennedy told the House that, "After decades of tremendous suffering under military occupation, we need to give generously to East Timor to ensure that children are guaranteed a quality education, adequate health care and shelter, and that other needs for a decent standard of living are met."
Representative Jim McGovern said, "The international community, along with East Timor, must also find a way to bring to justice those accountable for the campaign of violence leading up to and following the 1999 referendum."
In addition to Smith, Kennedy, McGovern, and Lantos, Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jose Serrano (D-NY) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) co-sponsored the resolution.
Senators Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) have introduced a similar resolution in the Senate, S.Con.Res. 109.
For over a decade, the East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) has supported self-determination and human rights for East Timor. It continues to work in support human dignity for the people of East Timor by advocating for democracy, sustainable development, social, legal, and economic justice and human rights, including women's rights. More information can be found at www.etan.org.
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107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 405
Concurrent resolution commemorating the independence of East Timor and commending the President for promptly establishing diplomatic relations with East Timor.''
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 14, 2002
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. FRANK, and Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Commemorating the independence of East Timor and expressing the sense of Congress that the President should establish diplomatic relations with East Timor.
Whereas on May 20, 2002, East Timor became the first new country of the millennium;
Whereas the perseverance and strength of the East Timorese people in the face of daunting challenges has inspired the people of the United States and around the world;
Whereas in 1974 Portugal acknowledged the right of its colonies, including East Timor, to self-determination, including independence;
Whereas East Timor has been under United Nations administration since October 1999 during which time international peacekeeping forces, supplemented by forces of the United States Group for East Timor (USGET), have worked to stabilize East Timor and provide for its national security;
Whereas the people of East Timor exercised their long-sought right of self-determination on August 30, 1999, when 98.6 percent of the eligible population voted, and 78.5 percent chose independence in a United Nations-administered popular consultation despite systematic terror and intimidation by the Indonesian military and its militia;
Whereas the East Timorese people again demonstrated their strong commitment to democracy when 91.3 percent of eligible voters peacefully participated in East Timor's first democratic, multiparty election for a Constituent Assembly on August 30, 2001, and when 86.3 percent of those eligible participated in the first presidential election on April 14, 2002;
Whereas East Timor adopted a constitution in March 2002; Whereas East Timor is emerging from over 400 years of colonial domination and a 24-year period of occupation by the Indonesian military;
Whereas, as the people of East Timor move proudly toward independence, many still struggle to recover from the scars of the military occupation and the 1999 scorched earth campaign that resulted in displacement which, according to the United Nations and other independent reports, exceeded 500,000 in number and widespread death, rape, and other mistreatment of women, family separation, and large refugee populations and the destruction of 70 percent of the country's infrastructure;
Whereas efforts are ongoing by East Timorese officials and others to seek justice for the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been perpetrated in recent years, efforts which include the work of the United Nations Serious Crimes Investigation Unit and the East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation to document and assess responsibility for these crimes;
Whereas recommendations by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Security Council to investigate and prosecute senior Indonesian military and civilian officials for their roles in promoting the 1999 anti-independence violence in East Timor have not yet been fully implemented;
Whereas, although the people of East Timor are working toward a plan for vigorous economic growth and development, the Government of East Timor faces a substantial shortfall in its recurrent and development budgets over the first 3 years of independence, and is seeking to fill the gap in full with grants from donor countries;
Whereas a large percentage of the population of East Timor lives below the poverty line with inadequate access to health care and education, the unemployment rate in East Timor is estimated at 80 percent, and the life expectancy in East Timor is only 57 years; and
Whereas Nobel Peace Laureate Carlos Ximenes Belo, Roman Catholic Bishop of Dili, East Timor, has appealed to the international community and the United States for increased economic and development assistance for the fledgling nation: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 1 concurring), That
(1) Congress
(A) congratulates and honors the courageous people of East Timor and their leaders;
(B) welcomes East Timor into the community of nations as a sovereign state and looks forward to working with East Timor as an equal partner;
(C) supports United Nations and international efforts to support reconstruction and development in East Timor, and United Nations and international peacekeeping forces to safeguard East Timor's security;
(D) remains committed to working toward a debt-free start to East Timor and just, sustainable, and secure development programs as well as adequate resources for the judicial system for East Timor for the foreseeable future beyond independence;
(E) expresses continued concern over deplorable humanitarian conditions and an environment of intimidation among the East Timorese refugees living in West Timor;
(F) strongly supports prompt, safe, voluntary repatriation and reintegration of East Timorese refugees, in particular those East Timorese still held in militia-controlled refugee camps in West Timor, especially reunification of East Timorese children separated from their parents through coercion or force;
(G) expresses a commitment to maintaining appropriate restrictions and prohibitions in law on military assistance, training relations, and technical support to the Indonesian Armed Forces;
(H) acknowledges that a United Nations International Commission of Inquiry found in January 2000 that justice is ''fundamental for the future social and political stability of East Timor'', and remains deeply concerned about the lack of justice in the region; and (I) commends the President for immediately extending to East Timor diplomatic relations afforded to other sovereign nations, including the establishment of an embassy in East Timor; and
(2) it is the sense of Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should
(A) maintain a level of United States assistance for East Timor commensurate with the challenges this new nation faces after independence;
(B) work to fund in a generous and responsible way East Timor's financing gap in its recurrent and development budgets, and coordinate with other donors to ensure the budget gap is addressed;
(C) focus bilateral assistance for East Timor on the areas of employment creation, job training, rural reconstruction, microenterprise, environmental protection, health care, education, refugee resettlement, reconciliation and conflict resolution, and strengthening the role of women in society;
(D) strongly urge the Indonesian Government to step up efforts to disarm and disband all militia, hold them accountable to the rule of law, ensure stability along the border, and promptly reunite East Timorese children separated from their parents through coercion or force; and
(E) review thoroughly information from the East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation and use all diplomatic resources at their disposal to ensure that those officials responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes against the East Timorese people are held accountable and that the Indonesian Government fully cooperates with the East Timorese judicial system.
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