Jokowi: War criminal Wiranto is not fit to be Indonesia coordinating minister

Graphic via LBH Jakarta

Indonesian President Jokowi has abandoned all pretense to concern about accountability and justice for human rights crimes. Sign ETAN's petition opposing Wiranto as coordinating minister. 

On July 27, 2016, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo appointed indicted war criminal Gen. Wiranto Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs. A presidential spokesperson told the Jakarta Post that Wiranto "well-tested and was experienced in resolving various assignments, especially during the transition period from the New Order to the Reform era in the late 1990s." In 2003, he was indicted by a UN-backed court for his role in the security -force violence during Timor-Leste's independence referendum.

Wiranto is responsible through acts of omission and commission for the gravest violations of human right in East Timor and Indonesia.  Read more here.

See also statement by ETAN, Tapol, Watch Indonesia!: Appointment of General  Wiranto as Minister confirms the deep-rooted impunity in Indonesia

Coming New York Events by ETAN

Saturday, September 27, 2014, 6:30 pm
exhibit on display until Sunday, October 5

Timor-Leste Past and Present: Talks and an Exhibitwith Frederic Durand, Charles Scheiner and Jill Sternberg

The Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

nearby subways: A, C, G (Hoyt Schermerhorn);  2, 3 (Hoyt St.);  2,3,4,5 (Nevins St.), F, G (Bergen)

Frederic Durand, an historian who has focused on East Timor (Timor-Leste) for many years, has put together an bilingual (Portuguese and English) exhibit on Timorese history that has not been shown yet in the U.S. titled "Timor-Leste: A New State with Century-Old Roots in World History." He is flying over from Paris to introduce the exhibit, which will be on display at The Brooklyn Commons for a week following his talk on Saturday night. Charles Scheiner and Jill Sternberg are long-time East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) activists; they recently returned to U.S. after years of living and working in Timor-Leste. They will speak about current issues and challenges a dozen years after independence.

Contact ETAN or 718-596-7668 for more info.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1470640623220795/

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Thursday, October 2, 2014 7 pm - 10:30 pm

He's Back! Demonstrate against Henry Kissinger!
92nd St. Y, 92nd Street and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan

Kissinger has another book to hawk. Join ETAN and other organizations in protesting Kissinger's appearance at the 92nd St. Y.

Come and remind people about Kissinger's sordid history concerning Timor-Leste (East Timor), West Papua, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.

Call the 'Y and ask them why they are hosting an accused war criminal and treating him as a respectable commentator on international affairs. Urge them to cancel the event. Call the Y: 212-415-5500.

On December 6, 1975, then Secretary of State Kissinger and President Gerald Ford visited Jakarta. At their meeting, Ford gave Indonesia's dictator Suharto an explicit go ahead for the invasion of East Timor and Indonesia invaded the next day. According to East Timor's Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) up to 180,000 died as a direct result of the illegal invasion and occupation. Declassified and leaked documents show that Kissinger understood that Suharto was balking at invading, concerned that the U.S. would cut off its supply of weapons and military training. Kissinger guaranteed continuation of weapons shipments. According to Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation as many as 180,000 people died as a result. For more on Kissinger's role in East Timor click here. Kissinger is currently out promoting his latest book World Order. 92nd St. Y event page ishere

In addition to ETAN, initial sponsors of the protest include War Criminals Watch, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and NYC War Resisters League. Let us know if your organization would like to sponsor.

Contact ETAN - 718-596-7668 for more information or to help out.

Event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/343200435847269/?ref=22

more on Kissinger here

Protest Henry Kissinger! April 24 in NYC

Protest Henry Kissinger!

When: April 24, 2014 5:30 p.m.

Where: Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave. @ 55 St., New York, NY
Near E, M, 6, 4, 5, N, Q, R, B, D, 1 subway stops & cross town buses via 57th or 50th 

Join ETAN and other organizations in protesting Henry Kissinger's appearance at the Central Synagogue as he shares "his candid perspective on Israel, current challenges in the Middle East, and his more than 60 years as a policymaker and trusted advisor in matters of foreign affairs." 

Sponsoring organizations include: ETAN, War Resisters League/NYC, War Criminals Watch/World Can't Wait, Brooklyn For Peace, and Veterans For Peace NYC Chapter 34; more to come. Let us know if your organization wants to co-sponsor.
Come and remind people about Henry Kissinger's sordid history concerning East Timor (Timor-Leste), West Papua, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.
More information here

Facebook page

West Papua Report April 2013

West Papua Report April 2013
Challenges in West Papua, New Roads, Military Impunity, Freeport, New Governor, MSG


CONTENTS: This edition of the West Papua Report offers the PERSPECTIVE of a longtime observer of West Papua who recently traveled to the Central Highlands, who reports the growing militarization of the region and the negative impact of that military build up on human rights and in stoking rising communal tensions. In UPDATE we note that the Indonesian military will shortly begin a massive road project which will likely service military rather than Papuan interests. New contract negotiations between the central government and the Freeport-McMoRan mining operation are proceeding absent West Papuan participation and without regard for their interests. The new Governor of Papua province appears not to understand problems of development and security facing the region. Papuans have again called for an end to the presence of the notorious "Special Forces" (Kopassus) in their homeland.  Indonesian and international calls for an end to the impunity accorded Indonesian military leaders and personnel for human rights abuses are growing. That impunity gives license to continuing abuse and criminal activity by the military. WPNCL pressed it case to have West Papua join the Melanesia Support Group at a meeting with Fiji Prime Minister Banimarama. CHRONICLE highlights two first-hand accounts of the Wamena area and a review of Eben Kirksey's Freedom in Entangled Worlds: West Papua and the Architecture of Global Power.

We couldn't resist - Kissinger false alarm

Fairness and Accuracy in Media (FAIR) posted this on their blog. 

As they write: "Turns out it was a false alarm; the noted Peace Prize winner was a guest, talking about another war criminal."

More on Kissinger and Indonesia/East Timor here.