<nettime> East Timor Digest (various -- long)

[nettimes_digestive_system <nettime-l@bbs.thing.net>]

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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}


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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


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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. YUNUS YOSFIAH
 Minister of Information
 Tel 62 21 3841972
 Fax 62 21 3849336

 +++niuswire

 PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government
 organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media
 workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability,
 censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region.
 Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at
 the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media, the Australian
 Centre for Independent Journalism, and Pactok Communications, in Sydney
 and Port Moresby.

 (c)1996-99 Copyright - All rights reserved.

 Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit
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 producers as indicated. Recipients should seek permission from the
 copyright owner for any publishing. Copyright owners not wishing their
 materials to be posted by PMW please contact us. The views expressed in
 material listed by PMW are not necessarily the views of PMW or its
 members.

 Recipients should rely on their own inquiries before making decisions
 based on material listed in PMW. Please copy appeals to PMW and
 acknowledge source.

 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

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