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<nettime> East Timor Digest (various -- long) |
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 01:38:15 -0400 Subject: Greens Release RE: East Timor, U.S. sponsored slaughter original author: Mitchel Cohen <mitchelcohen@mindspring.com> Dear Friends, A few days ago, the people of E. Timor voted overwhelmingly against remaining a colony of Indonesia. In that United Nations’ sponsored election, 78 percent of E. Timor’s people voted for independence. And Indonesia, the world’s 4th largest country, did what it has always done - it invaded. First came the paramilitary death squads, with heavy arms and ammunition supplied by the United States and Britain. Then came the kidnappings, lootings and murder. Then came the official Indonesian military, supposedly to “keep order,” with arms and helicopters supplied by the U.S. and Britain. And the bloodshed and mass looting continued. 200,000 East Timorese have now fled their homes. A senior officer at military headquarters said that nothing will be left for independent East Timor. When the 20,000 Indonesian police and soldiers based in the territory leave, inside reports inform us, they will blow up the main roads and bridges behind them -- with explosives sent by the U.S. and Britain. "Make no mistake, this is being directed from Jakarta," said a high-ranking Western official in the UN compound. "This is not a situation where a few gangs of rag-tag militia are out of control. As everybody here knows, it has been a military operation from start to finish." This morning, the United Nations announced that the situation was too dangerous for its personnel, and it was pulling them out by Friday. Thousands of people who had taken refuge in the UN compound are being left behind, according to independent journalist Allan Nairn, the last US-based reporter there. Reporting this morning on Democracy Now, Nairn said that these people will literally be slaughtered by Indonesia’s troops and paramilitary as soon as the Australian/UN transport helicopters leave. This is what genocide and “ethnic cleansing” really look like. Over the past generation, 1/3rd of the entire population has been murdered by the Indonesian military. My old friend Billy Nessen had been reporting from E. Timor and Indonesia for many months earlier this year, his reports on Democracy Now and his articles appearing Z Magazine. Now at the Columbia University School of Journalism where he’s just beginning his studies, I called him this morning and asked him to write a paragraph for this letter. He told me that many of his friends have already been murdered, and the sense of powerlessness we all have been feeling lately is driving him crazy. Here’s what he wrote: “My friends are being slaughtered in East Timor. Young, sweet earnest men and women I spent months with, boys and girls who had survived early years in the mountains after Indonesia invaded and then life in Dili and Baucaua in the clandestine movement. Many had already suffered electric shocks and water torture and bags of lye over their heads and metal bars shoved up the anus. Now they are falling. Executed in lines, outside burning homes and razed churches, by army and militias, their heads stuck atop stakes lining the road. Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands perhaps. I sit here, sobbing, filled with guilt for having left and rage and sadness. I find it hard to go on. Martin Luther King was wrong, the universe does not bend toward justice. Sebastian, Fernao, Jocinto, Maria, my dear Maria, forgive me.” The crisis in East Timor is a product of the United States and British governments which supply 90 percent of the weaponry for the Indonesian military. It is also a product of unlimited loans from the IMF and World Bank to shore up the economy and allow western corporations full reign there. Therefore, we demand: 1) President Clinton must order a complete cessation of arms flow to Indonesia immediately. It should have been done 35 years ago, but each president, including Clinton, felt it was more important to protect US corporate investments in sweatshops in Indonesia than to protect human rights in Indonesia and East Timor. 2) The International Monetary Fund and World Bank must contact the Indonesian regime immediately and cut off all economic assistance and loans. Indonesia is the recipient of $42 billion in IMF funds. Given the precarious economic situation in Indonesia today, without that money its economy would collapse. Economic cutoff might force Indonesia to “back off” E. Timor. 3) The US and western corporations must be held accountable for their complicity and support for the Indonesia regime. This includes: Mobil, Nike, Reebok, Ford, Shell. The UN should institute economic sanctions against Indonesia. The companies should be made targets, in addition to government embassies and consulates, for political protests. 4) Henry Kissinger, Adm. Blair, Walter Mondale (is he still alive?), Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Madeleine Albright, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and other US officials must be brought to trial as war criminals for their crimes against humanity, and specifically for their involvement in the ongoing slaughter of the Timorese people by the Indonesian client-state. Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford actually gave the go-ahead 25 years ago. As British reporter John Pilgar writes, Air Force One, carrying President Ford and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger, climbed out of Indonesian airspace the day the bloodbath began. "They came and gave Suharto the green light," Philip Liechty, the CIA desk officer in Jakarta at the time, told Pilgar. "The invasion was delayed two days so they could get the hell out. We were ordered to give the Indonesian military everything they wanted. I saw all the hard intelligence; the place was a free-fire zone. Women and children were herded into school buildings that were set alight - and all because we didn't want some little country being neutral or leftist at the United Nations." Ten years later, US Vice-President Walter Mondale, with the approval of President Carter, sent deadly military helicopters and ammunition to the Indonesian regime upon their request, to extirpate the Timor citizenry who had fled the soldiers and taken to the mountains. Over the weekend, I managed to grab onto US Senator from NY, Chuck Schumer, at the Carribbean Day festival. I questioned him about cutting off US military and financial aid to Indonesia. He said, “that’s a very good idea, especially with what the Indonesia government is doing in East Timor.” Of course, as a Congressperson and now as Senator he’s had many years to actually sponsor such a bill and hasn’t done so. Nevertheless, we need to lean on him and others to do so TODAY. What you can do: · CALL President Clinton’s comment hotline: (202) 456-1414. Follow the prompts so you can talk with a live person. Email: president@whitehouse.gov · CALL your senators and representative. Urge them to call Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Clinton, and Secretary of Defense William Cohen directly. The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121 or check www.congress.gov for contact information on individual offices. · CALL Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth at (202) 647-9596. Don't let the staff transfer you to the Indonesia desk. You want this message to reach Roth himself. The Indonesia desk officers are already doing what they can. · CALL US Mission to the UN. Peggy Kerry is the liasison to NGO's. Her number is (212)-415-4050 or (212)-415.4054. Also, email UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: ecu@un.org · CALL the press. Blast them for their pathetic coverage (especially the NY Times). Explain your concern about journalists pulling out of East Timor. Without international reporting, there will be even worse atrocities against East Timorese from the Indonesia military and paramilitaries. Reuters at 800-537-6865 Associated Press at 202-776-9400 Agence France Press (AFP) at 202-466-7890, 202-289-0700 Interpress (IPS) at 202-662-7160 CNN at 404-827-1500 BBC at 202-223-2050, 202-223-0110 New York Times at 212-556-1234 Washington Post at 202-334-7400 Mitchel Cohen Green Party of NY, & Greens / Green Party USA Background: from: The Internet Anti-Fascist Newsletter tallpaul@nyct.net (Paul Kniessel) Sept. 8, 1999 Indonesia is carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign in East Timor, hoping to drasctically reduce the Timorese population, possibly so that a new vote can be called sometime in the future. Tens of thousands of East Timorese have been forced across the border to West Timor. The response of the U.S. government is very instructive. During the last year, they have accused the Yugoslav government of Slobodan Milosevic of carrying out just such a campaign in Kosovo, the province of Serbia now occupied by NATO troops. The result of these accusations was the 72 day NATO bombing campaign of Yugoslavia, and the subsequent occupation of Kosovo by NATO troops. But the U.S. reaction to the situation in East Timor has been wholly different. While various administration spokespersons have mouthed support for East Timor, and criticized Indonesia, not one penny of U.S. aid has been stopped. Japan and Britian are also major aid suppliers to Indonesia, and this money is still flowing. Yugoslavia has been living under crippling sanctions for many years, supposedly because of human rights violations. Yet Indonesia, whose 24 year illegal occupation of East Timor has resulted in the deaths of one third of the population, is not under any kind of sanctions at all. In fact, it continues to trade with the developed world without any hindrance at all. Western multinationals have, of course, invested heavily in Indonesia, to exploit its cheap labor, and Indonesia is a major oil producer. The current Indonesian government came to power in a 1965 coup against a popular, nationalist government that had made an alliance with the Indonesian Communist Party. In the aftermath of the coup, 1 million Indonesians were murdered, and many of their names and addresses were supplied by the U.S. state department. The U.S. has strongly supported Indonesia since the coup, and the Pentagon has provided training and aid to the Indonesian military. The contrast between Indonesia and Yugoslavia is stark, and illustrative of the real U.S. position, which is to always defend its interests, and not give a damn about human rights. Whatever else Yugoslavia may have done, it is an independent country, and not willing to pay homage to Washington. This is its real crime, and not human rights violations. This concern for the lives and living standards of ordinary people is merely a cover for the avaricious appetite of US transnationals and their army in waiting, the Pentagon. Sydney Morning Herald Thursday, September 9, 1999 Fear and looting: life on the mean streets of Dili By LINDSAY MURDOCH in the United Nations compound, Dili The looting never stops. It's brazen now: soldiers, police and militia are stealing whatever they can carry. Dozens of trucks full with televisions, refrigerators and other household goods are parked on the road outside Dili's military headquarters, ready to make the seven-hour dash across East Timor to the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. United Nations officials who went under armed escort to Dili's wharf yesterday saw looted goods still wrapped waiting to be loaded aboard Indonesian ships. There were bikes, mattresses, coffee tables and countless other items. "All the good stuff like televisions apparently went early," said one of six UN officials to venture outside the besieged UN compound. UN officials have seen soldiers on motorbikes, men driving stolen UN vehicles and military trucks loaded with goods looted from shops, offices, hotels, homes and factories. "They intend to leave nothing behind," said one UN official. Indonesia's armed forces and their proxy militia have embarked on a campaign to steal everything of value from Dili and destroy all major infrastructure, including electricity plants, water supplies, the telephone networks and fuel storage supplies. Power, water and telephones were cut abruptly on Tuesday night. A senior officer at military headquarters has been overheard to say that nothing will be left for independent East Timor. When up to 20,000 Indonesian police and soldiers based in the territory have fled, the main roads and bridges are expected to be detonated. "Make no mistake, this is being directed from Jakarta," said a high-ranking Western official in the UN compound. "This is not a situation where a few gangs of rag-tag militia are out of control. As everybody here knows, it has been a military operation from start to finish." UN officials estimate the damage bill will be billions of dollars. They say that it would take decades to rebuild the territory's basic infrastructure. For 24 hours a thick pall of smoke has hung over the almost deserted town. Throughout yesterday a dozen fires could be seen at any one time. Huge explosions are heard every hour or so, indicating the Indonesians are using incendiary bombs to set buildings ablaze. A UN storage depot less than one kilometre from the UN's headquarters was alight. UN vehicles were also burning. All commercial and many government buildings have been either looted or set alight. An entire block of central Dili is a smouldering ruin. The bakery where UN staff and journalists got the only fresh bread in town is gone. So too is the supermarket, the barber's shop, the bookshop and the clinic. The waterfront Hotel Turismo, which had been our home for many months, has been looted and the rooms and restaurant destroyed. All my belongings have been stolen: new digital camera, mobile telephone, clothes. Most colleagues in the UN compound are in the same position. The colonial home of East Timor's former governor apparently has been destroyed. It was a prime target because it was rented two months ago by the Herald. The militia made repeated threats to kill us. According to the UN all of the houses rented by foreigners have been looted and either wrecked or burnt. Fifty of them had been occupied by UN staff until everybody was forced to flee. A house rented by several Australian Federal Police officers was burnt overnight. "We've lost everything," one of them said. "I have no idea what has happened to the wonderful family that looked after us." We knew our house was doomed when the militia came around one night and painted a silver arrow on the fence, indicating it was marked for attack. The military commander's house next door is untouched. For days Dili has remained deserted except for rampaging militia, police or soldiers. A UN official described a group of dazed-looking people walking towards Dili's wharf, where more than 4,000 people waited for ships. Residents of Becora, an independence stronghold, said the militia and military went from door to door dragging people out who were hiding inside. They were loaded onto trucks at gunpoint. The UN has hundreds of reports of people being kidnapped and put on planes and ships against their will with nothing but the clothes they stand in. Some were even put on a ship departing for Irian Jaya. "The entire town has been cleansed of people," an official said. The doors of most houses have been left open by looters. Some residents who risked execution to return to their homes were seen picking through smouldering rubble yesterday. Militia, police and soldiers have been seen roaring along streets on motorbikes and in cars, many of them stolen. An American activist, Mr Allan Nairn, who sneaked past Indonesian soldiers guarding the UN compound at dawn, returned after three hours to say nearby houses were deserted. "One old man hiding out shared a plate of rice with me," he said. "I was just climbing over back fences and walking through people's living rooms. The doors were all open." When the militia eventually saw Mr Nairn, he wrapped a red and white cloth across his body, the colours of Indonesia's flag, and walked down the centre of the streets back to the compound. When the two-vehicle UN convoy arrived to check a food warehouse, militia started to gun the motors on the motorbikes they were riding shouting threats. A shot was fired at the departing convoy. A second five-vehicle UN convoy was confronted by a gang of 50 armed militia. A tense stand-off developed. Indonesian soldiers who were supposed to be providing security did nothing. The convoy managed to obtain a small amount of water before one of the militia smashed the rear window of a UN vehicle with a machete. The convoy dashed backed to the UN compound, where basic supplies of food and water are quickly running out. About 100 UN staff and 2,000 refugees sheltering in the compound have only a day or two of basic supplies left. "The warehouse is probably being looted and burnt at this moment," a UN official said. EMERGENCY ALERT Sept. 6, 1999 SEVERE VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN EAST TIMOR AS MOST FOREIGN REPORTERS EVACUATE MAKE 3 CALLS ... AND DEMONSTRATE! Less than 24 hours after the UN announced that more than 78% of registered voters in East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia, Indonesian military and paramilitary forces sharply escalated their campaign of terror. Remaining International Federation for East Timor observers report widespread shooting by both paramilitary forces and TNI (Indonesian military forces), including the Kopassus Special Forces, known for its atrocious human rights abuses. The Becora neighborhood of Dili has been particularly targeted, with 77 bodies reported scattered throughout the streets. Many children are among the dead. Paramilitary forces roam the streets of Dili unimpeded, while joint militia/army roadblocks block entrance to and exit from the capitol. The paramilitaries and TNI are systematically targeting buildings which house refugees. With the evacuation of UN staff and media from outlying towns, foreign observers are unable to confirm the extent of violence outside Dili, but it is believed to be severe. But, we do know that hundreds of houses have been burned and dozens killed in Maliana alone. Thousands more East Timorese are now refugees. The presence of foreign media is critical to report this horror to the world's governments. They must be encouraged to stay. Time has run out! TNI must withdraw immediately from East Timor. The paramilitaries must be immediately disbanded. The U.S. must offer full support for increased UN personnel and an expanded UN mission mandate. The UN must be granted control of administration and security in East Timor. The U.S. should cut off all military and financial assistance immediately! For more information, contact Karen at the New York ETAN office at 914-428-7299 or salama74@aol.com, or Brad Simpson at IFET at 773-255-7949. ACTION ALERT: U.S. ROLE MISSING FROM EAST TIMOR COVERAGE September 1, 1999 The ongoing story of East Timor's referendum on independence as received a moderate amount of coverage in the mainstream media. But news outlets have frequently failed to put the Timor story in a full and accurate context. For example, in reports from East Timor's capital, the Associated Press and some other news outlets continue to use the dateline "Dili, Indonesia," implying that Indonesia has a legitimate claim over East Timor. This formulation is comparable to a dateline of "Kuwait City, Iraq" in the months following Iraq's illegal annexation of Kuwait. The Washington Post (8/31/99) reported that Timorese were voting on "whether to remain a part of Indonesia." More importantly, many stories fail to note two crucial facts about East Timor's nearly 25-year struggle against Indonesian occupation. First, the Indonesian occupation has been extraordinarily bloody, resulting in the deaths of more than 200,000 Timorese, out of a pre-invasion population of approximately 600,000. A recent AP story noted that an "estimated 2,000 Indonesian troops have died fighting separatist guerrillas since Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975," but failed to note the massive numbers of Timorese who have perished. Others seemed to confuse the deaths caused by the occupation with those caused by the resistance movement. ABC News' Charles Gibson said that "It's been an extraordinary violent independence movement there with hundreds of thousands of people killed" (Good Morning America, 8/31/99). Secondly, news consumers are not informed that the U.S. backed Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in December 1975, just before the invasion was launched, where they were told of Suharto's plans to attack the island (Washington Post, 11/9/79). The following month, a State Department official told a major Australian newspaper (The Australian, 1/22/76) that "in terms of the bilateral relations between the U.S. and Indonesia, we are more or less condoning the incursion into East Timor... The United States wants to keep its relations with Indonesia close and friendly. We regard Indonesia as a friendly, non-aligned nation--a nation we do a lot of business with." Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was then the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations wrote in his memoirs (A Dangerous Place) that "the Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatever mea sures it undertook" to reverse the invasion. "This task was given to me and I carried it forward with no inconsiderable success," Moynihan reported. Finally, according to the State Department, 90 percent of the weapons used in the invasion came from the United States. Two years later, as the atrocities in East Timor were reaching a peak, President Jimmy Carter authorized an addition $112 million in weapons sales to Indonesia. ACTION: Please call on local and national news outlets to stop treating East Timor as a legitimate part of Indonesia. And ask them to include the facts about the consequences of the Indonesian invasion, as well as the role the U.S. has played in supporting the illegal occupation. To contact the Associated Press, write to: Associated Press Thomas Kent-- International Editor (212) 621-1655 mailto:info@ap.org Also, read FAIR's previous coverage of East Timor and Indonesia at: http://www.fair.org/international/east-timor.html Sept. 8 Briefly, Bishop Belo has been "removed" to "protective custody" in Comoro, Dili. His housed was torched and destroyed. Reports detailing attacks on orphanages are also coming out of Dili. Tonight, on the BBC, footage of hundreds of people fleeing militias and jumping over razor wire into the UN compound was broadcast. There is a forced refugee flow of around 150,000 persons, with larger numbers being predicted. Houses are being burned, the International Red Cross has been attacked. Most journalists have left East Timor. Thursday’s demonstration is only the first. We hope to have simultaneous demonstrations in different cities in the US by next week at the latest. If you have any suggestions, please make them. Call Michael Ede at (212) 206-1108. I s anyone willing to engage in civil disobedience? Does anyone have any suggestions about legal representation? Jakarta's godfathers by John Pilger Tuesday September 7, 1999 Having finally discovered East Timor, most of the media have now left, blaming a "descent into violence". The long, silent years mock these words. he descent began almost a quarter of a century ago when Indonesian special forces invaded the defenceless Portuguese colony. On December 7, 1975, a lone radio voice rose and fell in the static: "The soldiers are killing indiscriminately. Women and children are being shot in the streets. This is an appeal for international help. This is an SOS - please help us." No help came, because the western democracies were secret partners in a crime as great and enduring as any this century; proportionally, not even Pol Pot matched Suharto's spree. Air Force One, carrying President Ford and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger, climbed out of Indonesian airspace the day the bloodbath began. "They came and gave Suharto the green light," Philip Liechty, the CIA desk officer in Jakarta at the time, told me. "The invasion was delayed two days so they could get the hell out. We were ordered to give the Indonesian military everything they wanted. I saw all the hard intelligence; the place was a free-fire zone. Women and children were herded into school buildings that were set alight - and all because we didn't want some little country being neutral or leftist at the United Nations." And all because western capital regarded Indonesia as a "prize". Having been tipped off about the invasion, the British ambassador cabled the foreign office that it was in Britain's interests for Indonesia to "absorb the territory as soon and as unobtrusively as possible". Since then, the foreign office has lied incessantly about East Timor -- not misled, lied. When the film I made with David Munro and Max Stahl, Death of a Nation, disclosed the extent to which the British were involved, especially the use of British Aerospace Hawk fighter aircraft in East Timor, officials of the south-east Asian department tried to denigrate and smear East Timorese witnesses to the Hawks' bombing raids, whose relatives had been killed and maimed by British cluster bombs. When Robin Cook's predecessor, David Owen, licensed the sale of the first Hawks to Indonesia in 1978, he dismissed reports of the East Timorese death toll, then well over 60,000 or 10% of the population, as "exaggerated". For almost 20 years, the BBC and the major western news agencies preferred to "cover" East Timor from Jakarta, which was like reporting on a Nazi-occupied country from Berlin. The coverage was minute; not offending the invader and keeping your visa became all-important. A Jakarta-based BBC correspondent told me that my film, made undercover in East Timor, had "made life very difficult for us here". In Whitehall, a refined system of flattery worked well. Senior broadcasters and commentators popped into the foreign office without any material favours expected. For them, the flattery and "access" were enough. Thus, both Tory and Labour governments, Indonesia's biggest weapons suppliers, were able to go about their business of complicity in genocide unchallenged, bar the efforts of a few honourable exceptions. More recently, the grotesque hypocrisy of Tony Blair weeping for the children of Dunblane, then sending machine guns that mow down children in East Timor, was ignored. So was Robin Cook's epic cynicism, allowing him to leap from telling parliament in 1994 that Hawk aircraft had been "observed on bombing runs in East Timor in most years since 1984" to denying his own words - to the public-relations stunt of an "ethical" foreign policy while his functionaries lied to journalists that no Hawks were operational in East Timor. Now that Hawks have been visible to all over East Timor, Baroness Symonds, who has the Orwellian title of defence procurement minister, insults the intelligence and humanity of Radio 4 listeners by lecturing a deferential James Naughtie on "rights". East Timor's tormentors should have British weapons because they "have a right under the United Nations charter to defend themselves". Moreover, "they have a right" to come to next week's British government-sponsored arms fair in Surrey, the biggest ever. Last year, her government approved the sale of £625bn in arms, a record never reached by the Tories and surpassed only by the US. Tomorrow, the East Timorese leader, Xanana Gusmao, is due to be released from house arrest in Jakarta. If he returns to his homeland, he is likely to be killed and the murder weapon is likely to be British; the Heckler and Koch rapid-firing gun, supplied to Indonesia's Kopassus gestapo by British Aerospace, is perfect for the job. All arms sales to Indonesia, by the way, are heavily subsidised by the British taxpayer. As for getting the Indonesians out of East Timor, their western godfathers can achieve a great deal if they want to. Blair has the power to freeze arms shipments. The US controls $45 billion underwriting Jakarta's collapsed economy. They always say they act in our name. So raise your voice now. {snip} Green Party of NY: dunleaenck@aol.com Green Party USA: gpusa@igc.org / (978) 682-4353 {snip} ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 15:57:19 -0400 From: Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher@igc.org> Subject: HOW THE UNITED STATES HAS SUPPORTED THE MILITIAS IN EAST TIMOR from: http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/ September 8, 1999 on Democracy NOW! Story: DEMOCRACY NOW! EXCLUSIVE: HOW THE UNITED STATES HAS SUPPORTED THE MILITIAS IN EAST TIMOR Today we bring listeners an exclusive story on the links between the Indonesian military, the militias that are conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in East Timor and the United States government. Journalist Allan Nairn, the only US journalist left in East Timor, has obtained classified documents and conducted interviews with intelligence officials from the US and Indonesia that show these connections. The information includes cables and other communication between the US and Indonesian military, personal telephone records of militia leader Eurico Gutierres and notes documenting military briefings by a senior US military official. Meanwhile, the United Nations announced this morning that it is pulling out all of its personnel from East Timor, a decision taken by secretary General Kofi Annan after the UN compound in Dili, where there are a thousand terrified refugees, suffered a virtual siege by the Indonesia-supported militias. Latest reports from Dili speak of a city in flames and rampant intimidation by death squads armed and supported by the Indonesian government. The UN pullout is a desperate blow for the East Timorese trying to seek protection from the violence. It also means that there will be few, if any, international observers in East Timor left as witnesses. Earlier, Indonesia rejected any early deployment of foreign forces in East Timor to quell the violence there, saying it is still capable of restoring peace to the territory. State Secretary Muladi made the announcement as a United Nations Security Council delegation arrived in Jakarta for urgent talks with the political and military leadership on how to end the bloodshed. Guest: Allan Nairn, Journalist in Dili, East Timor. Louis Proyect http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 10:05:21 +1200 From: Journ12 <robie_d@usp.ac.fj> Organization: Journalism, University of the South Pacific Subject: Pacific Media Watch/AJI on EAST TIMOR From: Journ12 <robie_d@usp.ac.fj> Journ12 wrote: Title -- 2356 EAST TIMOR: AJI reports Indonesian journalists missing Date -- 10 September 1999 Byline -- Media release Origin -- Pacific Media Watch Source -- Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, jurnalis@idola.net.id, 9/9/99 Status -- Unabridged ------------------- EAST TIMOR: AJI REPORTS INDONESIAN JOURNALISTS MISSING Note: This is an emergency English translation. The official one will be sent later The Alliance of Independent Journalists Jl. PAM Baru Raya No.16, Pejompongan, Jakarta 10210 Tel/fax: (62-21) 572-7018, E-mail: jurnalis@idola.net.id URGENT ACTION Following imposing of martial law in East Timor, some Indonesians reported missing, including journalists. They are people who decided not to leave ET when the sittuation worsening followed the announcement of ballot. They are: 1. Peter Rohe, a journalist of Jakarta based Suara Bangsa daily. He is one of a very few journalist who decided to stay when most journalists leaving ET for the extremly unsafe situation in ET after the announcement of the ballot. The last contact between him and his editor was Tuesday morning. And after, no contact can be made, and indeed, the telecommunication in ET controlled by the military who wold power after the martial law imposed. 2. Tri Agus Siswowohardjo, 33, also a former political prisoner, head of Monitoring Division of KIPER, member of AJI, stringer for some media 3. Joaquim Rohi, stringer for some media 4. Mindho Rajagoekgoek, 34, stringer for Radio Nederland 5. Yeni Rosa Damayanti, 34, a woman activist who was jailed under Soeharto era and lived in exile for years until Soeharto's resignation. She is the PR manager for solidamor (Solidarity for peace in ET), and koordinator for KIPER(Independent monitoring body for ET balot). 6. Adi Pratomo, 28 Head of operatioanl division of KIPER, student of National University, Jakarta. 7.Anthoy Listianto, volunteer of KIPER, assigned in Manufahi. 8. Yakob Rumbiak, a Papuan, a former political prisoners, served 13 years in prison, volunteer for KIPER in VIiqueque. Last contact of him with Solidamor was Tuesday (September 7) morning. All of them are missing, and according to some report, they were captured by military. The Alliance of Independent Journalist is calling solidarity action for them Jakarta, 7 September 1999 Ging Ginanjar Kordinator Divisi Advokasi CONTACT LIST to protest: PRESIDENT BURHANUDDIN jUSUF HABIBIE President of the Republic of Indonesia Istana Negara Gedung Binagraha Jl. Veteran Jakarta Pusat INDONESIA Fax: +62 21 345 7782 Telegram: President Habibie, Jakarta, Indonesia E-mail: habibie@ristek.go.id INDONESIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS Ali Alatas S.H Menteri Luar Negeri Jl. Medan Taman Pejambon No. 6 Jakarta INDONESIA Faxes: +62 21 360 541 / 360 517 / 380 5511 / 345 7782 / 724 5354 INDONESIAN MINISTER FOR DEFENCE FORCES General Wiranto Menteri Pertahanan Keamanan RI Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No 13-14 Jakarta 10110 INDONESIA Telephone: +62 21 366 184 Fax: +62 21 3845 178 RESORT MILITARY COMMAND (KOREM) Colonel Mohamed Noer Muis Markas KOREM 164/Wiradharma Dili EAST TIMOR Faxes: +62 390 321 624 Telegram: Colonel Muis, East Timor (Indonesia) COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF STATE OF MILITARY EMERGENCY OF EAST TIMOR Major General Kiki Syahnakri Pangdam IX/Udayana Markas Besar KODAM IX/Udayana Denpasar, Bali INDONESIA Telephone: +62 361 228 095 Telegram: Pangdam IX/Udayana, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia MILITIA LEADERS: BASILIO ARAUJO Dili EAST TIMOR Mob 62 811 384 631 Mob 62 812 919 7696 Tel 62 390 321 616 EURICO GUTERRES Dili EAST TIMOR Mob 62 812 846 627 Tel 62 390 312 061 Mob 62 812 422 45679 JOAO TAVARES Balibo/Maliana EAST TIMOR Mob 62 0894 91280 MOH. 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For further information, inquiries about joining the Pacific Media Watch listserve, articles for publication, and giving feedback contact Pacific Media Watch at: E-mail: niusedita@pactok.net.au or: bfmedia@peg.apc.org Fax: (+679) 30 5779 or (+612) 9660 1804 Mail: PO Box 9, Annandale, NSW 2038, Australia or, c/o Journalism, PO Box 1168, Suva, Fiji Website: http://www.pactok.net/docs/pmw/ -- David Robie Senior Lecturer and Coordinator Journalism Programme University of the South Pacific PO Box 1168, Suva, Fiji Tel: (679) 212685 Mobile: (679) 940 012 Fax: (679) 313238 Email: robie_d@usp.ac.fj Pacific Journalism Online website: http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/ David Robie's Cafe Pacific website: http://www.asiapac.org.fj/ "For governments which fear newspapers there is one consolation: We have known many instances where governments have taken over newspapers, but we have not known a single incident in which a newspaper has taken over a government." George Githii, onetime editor-in-chief of the Daily Nation, Kenya Pacific Media Watch: http://www.pactok.net.au/docs/pmw/ Check the Foreign Correspondent web page at http://www.uq.edu.au/jrn/fc/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, Interested people - graphic designers, CGIers, Flashers, etc... There is a need to build a small network of people to develop web/online content regarding East Timor. The site is www.freetimor.com Anyone who has time and who can help - please send their details and capabilities to sam@media.com.au Also please indicate resources available ... Many thanks, Sam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: [Fwd: ET: Refugee Humanitarian Crisis Spilled Over into West Timor + Indonesian NGO initiatives + Australian NGO Appeals] Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 07:01:20 +1000 From: Kerry Langer <Kerry.Langer@sci.monash.edu.au> Organization: Monash University To: decking@neither.apana.org.au Subject: ET: Refugee Humanitarian Crisis Spilled Over into West Timor + Indonesian NGO initiatives + Australian NGO Appeals Resent-Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 04:41:07 -0400 (EDT) Resent-From: public-list@neither.org Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 18:47:09 +1000 (GMT+1000) From: adamt@peg.apc.org (Adam Tiller ACF-PGAN) Almost all new initiatives in the modern world come first from NGOs, not from governments, and certainly not from the media. --- Fowarded Message --- URGENT MEMO ON HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN WEST TIMOR Pat Walsh, Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA), Melbourne Wednesday, 8 September 1999 The extreme violence and chaos in East Timor is creating refugee movements and humanitarian problems reminiscent of 1975, and has spilled over into Muslim West Timor. Urgent initiatives are needed to provide for the displaced and to protect human rights. 1. Current situation It is very difficult to establish the facts. Following are some aspects: * Kompas (today) reported 46,600 refugees in West Timor. Few aid agencies are believed to have been able to visit camps. The numbers are expected to continue increasing. * ACFOA contacts in Kupang put refugee numbers at Noelbaki (about 29 km from Kupang) at 11,000. Militias control this camp. Local NGOs cannot visit and yesterday Kompas reported that three aid workers (said to be Australian and Dutch) were badly beaten and their car burned when trying to deliver rice for UNHCR at Noelbaki camp. * Media report a 'milk run' of 'thousands' of refugees arriving by truck, ship and plane from East Timor. * The mood in West Timor is very hostile to Westerners and journalists who are being advised locally to stay indoors. Tourists are leaving. * Militias have accompanied the refugees, have compiled lists of names and are active in Kupang. Pro-independence East Timorese feel unsafe and are trying to leave. Pro and anti-integration supporters are being thrown together, heightening the possibilities of intimidation and violence. A refugee who arrived in Kupang today by boat reports 4 pro-independence supporters being executed en route from Dili and tossed overboard. * There are also reports of a large area east of Atambua being cleared of inhabitants leading to speculation that concentration camps are being established. 2. Agencies on the ground á AusAID made a recent assessment visit to West Timor before the ballot and will presumably report on this visit at this Friday's briefing for Australian agencies in Canberra. á ICRC has a delegate currently in West Timor organising the distribution of aid. á The UNHCR representative for Asia-Pacific was in West Timor yesterday surveying the situation. á World Vision Australia has launched an appeal and relief activities are being launched in the border areas of West Timor. World Vision has relief supplies in Kupang and 1400MT of rice en route from Jakarta. Suppliers in Darwin have also been contacted with a view to procurement. á Austcare will mount an aid appeal this week for Caritas assistance to the internally displaced. á Oxfam Australia (CAA) is monitoring the situation and providing assistance through Kupang. The Oxfam representative in Atambua puts Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) estimates at 30,000 there. á Local agencies in West Timor include the following - BK3S (Umbrella body, Kupang) - Yayasan Alpha Omega (Kupang) - Yayasan Pikul (Kupang. Tel 62 380 826 712) - Posko Kupang (also working in Atambua. Tel 62 380 827 817) - Pusat Informasi Rakyat (PIR, Kupang) - Tananua (Kupang) - Yayasan Masyarakat Sejahtera (Yasmara, Kupang) - Geomeno (Kefa, near Atambua) - Yayasan Timor Membangun (Kefa) - Catholic Church Delsos - Protestant Church agencies Because of the threats and hostility to 'white' personnel, it may be necessary to try to monitor and deliver assistance through these local NGOs and networks. 3. Recommendations In general, all emergency humanitarian and human rights agencies who have been operating in East Timor should be encouraged to provide emergency assistance to IDPs in West Timor. This might involve re-deployment of expatriate staff who have been forced to leave East Timor and are now in Darwin or elsewhere. -- Agencies attending the AusAID consultation in Canberra on Friday to ask AusAID to provide assistance and, if necessary and possible, to make another assessment visit. -- An international NGO delegation of aid and human rights organisations be put together at the INFID Conference (Bali, next week) to make an assessment visit to West Timor following the conference. -- UNHCR to be encouraged to establish an urgent program in West Timor. UNHCR acted as lead agency on humanitarian affairs in East Timor and has a large office in Jakarta. -- Possible redeployment to West Timor of ICRC staff forcibly removed from East Timor and now in Darwin. -- Encourage human rights organisations to be encouraged to monitor and report on human rights in West Timor. -- Support local NGOs and Churches in West Timor to provide aid. It is generally recommended that human rights experts should be permitted to enter East Timor with the international peacekeeping force, if and when that happens. The sacking of East Timor and vandalising of its people should be comprehensively and independently documented as in Kosovo when NATO troops entered after the cessation of the bombing campaign. Pat Walsh 8 September tat.wtimor.doc --- Received: from spoke.minihub.org (spoke.minihub.org [203.43.84.21]) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 17:21:41 +1000 To: ACFOA Members From: Sharmini <ssherrard@acfoa.asn.au> Subject: NGO activity on East Timor Dear AETWG and AIWG members, Attached please find a statement released yesterday by Indonesian NGOs concerning East Timor, an ACFOA press release concerning the statement, and an updated list of NGOs running appeals for East Timor. Regards, Carson for Pat Walsh --- text of INFIDSTA.doc --- NEWS FAX 9 September 1999 35/99 INDONESIAN GROUPS CALL FOR PEACEKEEPERS FOR EAST TIMOR The Australian Council for Overseas Aid is concerned at mounting anti-Indonesian sentiment in Australia as a result of the situation in East Timor. We have just received a press statement issued by a coalition of Indonesia's leading non-government organisations. The signatories represent a range of sectors and religions, led by the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), a peak body coordinating national and international NGO activity in Indonesia. These organisations urge the Indonesian Government to accept the outcome of the popular consultation on East Timor, and call on the UN Security Council to urgently decide to send peacekeeping troops to East Timor. They also call for a lifting of martial law in East Timor and for the Government of Indonesia to stop the violence and arrest armed militias. Janet Hunt, Executive Director of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid, welcomed the statement and said, " A statement like this highlights the fact that many ordinary Indonesians do not accept this military action in East Timor, and abhor the increasing reassertion of military power in Jakarta. The democratisation of Indonesia is very fragile at this time." "Simplistic anti-Indonesian sentiments are misguided. Let us be clear that it is military power in Indonesia which is the problem, not the people of that country." "Many Indonesians showed support for the Timorese people by acting as civilian ballot observers." Two page statement attached Contact: Janet Hunt : (02) 6285 1816 (w); (02) 6281 0252; 0411 868 174 (mob) --- text of NGOJoint.doc --- NGO Joint Statement on East Timor INFID, ELSAM, KALYANAMITRA, YLBHI, LERAI, KPI-KD, SPRIM, Crisis Centre PGI, Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia, PWI Reformasi, JKLPK, FORTILOS, TRUK, P3M, Aliansi Jurnalis Indonesia The Secretary General of the United Nations has announced the result of the East Timor Popular Consultation on September 4, 1999, which clearly shows that the majority of East Timorese (79%) opted for independence. The result of the direct ballot demonstrates that 344,580 people or 79% of East Timorese opted for independence, and the remaining 21% or 94,388 East Timorese wanted special autonomy. The people of Indonesia and the Government of Indonesia should respect the result of the popular consultation. The Government of Indonesia should take necessary steps to comply with the New York Agreement, signed on May 5, 1999, which is legally binding. Article 6 of the New York Agreement states: "If the Secretary General determines, on the basis of the result of the popular consultation and in accordance with this Agreement, that the proposed constitutional framework for special autonomy is not acceptable to the East Timorese People, the Government of Indonesia shall take the constitutional steps necessary to terminate its links with East Timor, thus restoring under Indonesian law the status of East Timor held prior to 17 July 1976, and the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal and the Secretary-General shall agree on arrangements for a peaceful and orderly transfer of authority in East Timor to the United Nations. The Secretary - General shall, subject to the appropriate legislative mandate, initiate the procedure enabling East Timor to begin a process of transition towards independence." However, after the result of the ballot was announced, violence in East Timor escalated. More than one hundred people were killed, many were wounded and thousands have left East Timor and many more are still fleeing in fear of the violence. The violence was as such that volunteers and journalists who were monitoring the popular consultation had to also leave East Timor. On September 7, 1999, The Chief Commander of the Armed Forces, General Wiranto, declares martial law in East Timor. The escalation of violence and declaration of martial law clearly show the inability of the Indonesian Government and the Indonesian Armed Forces to restore peace and order in East Timor. Based on these facts, we call that: 1. The Secretary General of the United Nations immediately hold a Security Council meeting to decide on the sending of Peace Keeping Forces to East Timor; 2. The Government of Indonesia should take concrete steps to stop the violence in East Timor and shows its sincerity and neutrality to act as a facilitator in this transition period in East Timor. This should be done by complying with the New York Agreement and be materialised in concrete actions by arresting armed militias who created and provoked the violence in East Timor. 3. The Indonesian Armed Forces and the Government of Indonesia should immediately lift the martial law in East Timor. We would like to remind the Indonesian Government that East Timor has been stated as non-self-governing territory ever since Popular Consultation to determine the future of East Timor was announced on April 21, 1999, which would be carried out under the supervision of the United Nations Peace Commission. Therefore, the declaration of martial law in East Timor is a violation. Signed and released in Jakarta, September 8, 1999 by: INFID, ELSAM, KALYANAMITRA, YLBHI, LERAI, KPI-KD, SPRIM, Crisis Centre PGI, Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia, PWI Reformasi, JKLPK, FORTILOS, TRUK, P3M, Aliansi Jurnalis Indonesia Translation of ACRONYMS/NAMES (added by ACFOA) The International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), Kalyanamitra, Women's Advocacy Forum, The Legal Aid Foundation of Indonesia (YLBHI) The Institute for Ethnic Conflict Resolution (LERAI) East Timor Support Group (KPI-KD), the Protestant Church Crisis Centre (Crisis Centre PGI) Reformed Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI Reformasi), Christian Workers Support Network(JKLPK) The East Timor Solidarity Forum (Fortilos) The Volunteers Team for Humanity (TRUK) The Moslem Schools Development Association (P3M) The Independent Journalists Alliance. --- text of NGOAPPEA.doc --- NGO APPEALS FOR EAST TIMOR Updated 9/9/99 (16:16 AEST) Tax deductible cash donations are being accepted by many NGOs including: -- ADRA Australia 1800 242 372 -- Apheda (Union Aid Abroad) 1300 362 223 (9am-5pm) -- AFAP/Timor Aid 1800 007 308 -- Austcare 1800 244 450 -- Australian Baptist World Aid (02) 94511199 -- Australian Red Cross 1800 811 700 -- Australian Volunteers International (03) 9279 1788 -- CARE Australia 1800 020 046 -- Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam in Australia 1800 034 034 -- Caritas Australia 1800 024 413 -- National Council of Churches in Australia 800 025 101 -- World Vision 13 32 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net