Protest Kissinger - Monday, July 18, 2011, 5 - 7 pm New York City

Update: See photos from July and May demonstrations


He's Back! Spread the word!

Demonstrate against Henry Kissinger

Monday, July 18, 2011, 5 - 7 pm
Citi Building, 399 Park Ave. (btn. 53 & 54 Sts.), Manhattan


Join ETAN and other organizations in protesting Henry Kissinger's latest public appearance in New York. 

Photo by John M. Miller/ETAN

Remind people about Henry Kissinger's sordid and criminal history concerning East Timor, West Papua, Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.

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.

In addition to ETAN, initial sponsors of the protest include World Can't Wait , War Criminals Watch, and the War Resisters League.


Download and print out ETAN's Hold Kissinger Accountable leaflet to distribute. 


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

Please help spread the word

Read The Trial of Henry Kissinger 

by Christopher Hitchens

Paperback $12
Order from ETAN 

Are you interested in observing Timor's 2012 elections? Let us know.

ETAN wants to know if you and others are interested in being involved in an international solidarity election observation delegation to Timor-Leste next year. Presidential and parliamentary elections are planned for the first half of 2012. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering your time as an observer. Do you have experience and knowledge about Timor-Leste from your solidarity work -- or perhaps past election observing in Timor-Leste -- that provide the longer-view perspective that effective election monitoring requires?

ETAN has not yet decided whether we will organize an observer delegation for next year. Your response will help us with this decision. We want  if you might be interested in being involved, what your experience is, and what kind of time and resource commitments individuals and organizations might be able to offer to this effort. The prospects for financial support also will be an important consideration.

Timor-Leste NGOs are currently focusing on women's participation - especially as potential candidates - and the role of youth. The National NGO Forum has told us it may support international participation in the electoral process and has indicated it is looking for guidance on how to engage in the larger process, not just election day observation.

If you are interested, we very much want to hear your response to the following questions:

• Are you interested in volunteering your time for a minimum of three weeks, but ideally longer, for this purpose?
• Do you have experience and knowledge about Timor-Leste from your solidarity work, and perhaps past election observing in Timor-Leste, that would help you to offer the longer-view perspective that effective election monitoring requires?

We know that elections are but a small piece in the picture. Too often, democracy is narrowly and exclusively equated with elections. That said, many Timorese colleagues have expressed the need for international observers to assist the still new country in having fair and honest elections next year.

ETAN members have observed every election since 1999. During the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections, we played a major role in organizing for Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET), supporting 48 volunteers from 10 different countries. SOMET volunteers observed pre-election campaigning, election day voting, vote counting, and its aftermath. SOMET participated in a joint press conference after the election with several Timorese organizations.

If you are interested in being involved, should a delegation be organized, please let us know by e-mailing etan@etan.org.  Please share this email with others who might be interested in being involved. The more information we get now from those interested, the sooner we can plan and make a decision.

In solidarity, 

ETAN

ETAN Urges Secretary Clinton to Condition Security Assistance to Indonesia on Rights

As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travelled to Bali, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged her to condition U.S. security assistance to Indonesia on real improvements in human rights by Indonesia government and genuine accountability for violations of human rights. 

"The restoration of assistance to Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces announced a year ago should be reversed," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Kopassus training was meant to be the carrot to encourage respect for rights. There is no evidence it has done so. U.S. law bars cooperation with military and police units with such egregious human rights records. The U.S should set an example by following it's own law."


Read the full statement here

Good reads from ETAN

Order these and many other titles today

The Circle of Silence: A personal testimony before, during and after Balibo
by Shirley Shackleton


"If You Leave Us Here, We Will Die": How Genocide Was Stopped in East Timor
by Geoffrey Robinson


Balibo 
by Jill Jolliffe


Peace of Wall: Street Art from East Timor
by Chris Parkinson (foreword by Jose Ramos-Horta)

Step by Step: Women of East Timor, Stories of Resistance and Survival  
Edited by Jude Conway

Order these and many other titles today

West Papua Report July 2011 now out!

Read it here


Summary


U.S. Congressmember Eni Faleomavaega has been named the 2011 winner of the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award. The award is given annually by the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) to an individual or organization who has made significant contributions to the defense of human rights in West Papua. Congressmember Faleomavaega has long been active in the defense of human rights in West Papua, using his influential position in the U.S. House of Representatives to advance justice, good governance and development in West Papua. Thousands of workers at the Freeport McMoran mining complex in West Papua have gone on strike over wages, the firing of the union's leaders, and other Freeport union-busting efforts. The strike takes place at a time of continued security concerns arising in part from the recent murder of two senior Papuan Freeport officials, possibly with military involvement. 

Papuan human rights organizations and religious groups have called on the Government of Indonesia to address issues of injustice arising from security force assaults on Papuans and also to protect human rights defenders and journalists from attacks by security forces. An Indonesian government minister's visit to West Papua signals that a widely criticized development plan in the Merauke area is moving forward. Tapol notes that there has been no indication that Papuans whose lands will be seized for the project will be compensated. Amnesty International has appealed on behalf of a Papuan who was beaten by military personnel. Melanesian human rights and youth groups have issued an appeal on behalf of five Papuan youths detained since December 2010 for their roles in a peaceful protest. The Australian West Papua Association (AWPA) has called for Pacific Island Forum leaders to include the plight of West Papua on the agenda for their September 2011 meeting. The AWPA message also offers a harsh critique of Jakarta's "special autonomy" policy.


http://www.etan.org/issues/wpapua/2011/1107wpap.htm