Wrong example

A intervention by by Teguh Santoso(a lecturer at Indonesia Islam University) on Western Sahara before the United Nations' Fourth Committee, avoids mentioning the most relevant Indonesian experience. Santoso told the committee (as summarized by the UN) that that "the dispute about Western Sahara was quite similar to what Indonesia had experienced in the last decade," without acknowledging that  Indonesia's December 1975 illegal invasion and occupation of East Timor, which is exactly parallel to Morocco's illegal invasion of Western Sahara.

Instead he refers to what he calls "a similar situation," which Indonesia had solved "peacefully through democratic circumstances. As a result, Aceh and Papua enjoyed special autonomy status. Only genuine democracy could solve the Western Sahara dispute, and the [Morocco's unilateral] special autonomy plan was an outcome of the high degree of democracy in Morocco."


However, a truly democratic plan would allow the Saharawi to exercise their right to self-determination. A free and fair vote under UN-supervision would allow them the choice of say autonomy under Morocco or independence. Morocco (with the diplomatic and other support of its close allies France and the U.S.) has done everything it can to undermine U.N. resolutions and plans for a vote. 


For many years, Indonesia did the same (also with U.S. support) to East Timor. Belatedly , the East Timorese people exercised their right to self-determination in 1999. In the face of threats of retaliation that were soon realized, they expressed their choice of independence.


As we wrote in 2009 in a submission to the Fourth Committee:

In doing so, the people of Timor-Leste exercised their inalienable right and expressed their "passionate yearning for freedom" described by the UN General Assembly nearly 50 years ago in its 1960 declaration (1514 (XV)) on decolonization, which unambiguously declared that "all peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine political status…"

We added: 

It should embarrass this institution – and all of you as representatives of United Nations member states – that this committee must continue to discuss the situation of Western Sahara. The discussion should have ended long ago, and its people should have exercised their right to self-determination.

October 2011 West Papua Report

Read the new West Papua Report here


Summary: Papuans will convene a third "National Congress," an historic convocation that follows congresses in 1961 and 2000. Military and police forces have attacked civilian homes, purportedly in pursuit of those responsible for an August incident that may have been staged. In the wake of growing violence, leading human rights organizations have called on the Indonesian government to "re-assess" its resort to military measures to address dissent in West Papua. The giant mining firm Freeport McMoran is facing growing pressure from labor and the government. The attention focused on Freeport has once more brought to light the enormous profits and tax revenues flowing from the mining operation. These riches stand in stark contrast to the grinding poverty endured by Papuans whose resources Freeport is exploiting. The UN Secretary General has publicly retreated from comments in which he appeared to recognize the need for the UN Decolonization Committee and the Human Rights Council to take up the denial of Papuan rights to self-determination and other violations of human rights.



  

Headlines with links from east-timor listserv now on Twitter

Headlines with links from ETAN's long-running east-timor English language news listserv are now available on Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/TimorNews


To receive postings via e-mail into your In Box subscribe here:





Info on ETAN's other listservs is here

	ETAN Cause on Facebook ETAN Group on Facebook
	ETAN on Twitter
	ETAN's Blog
	Order books, videos and other resources from ETAN

Timorese urges support for ETAN

Dear ETAN supporters and friends of Timor-Leste,

The years fly by, and soon we’ll observe the 20th anniversary of the founding of East Timor and IndonesiaAction Network (ETAN). ETAN started a month after the Santa Cruz massacre in November 1991, when hundreds of peaceful East Timorese protesters were shot down by Indonesian troops. When a few dozen peace and human rights activists held a vigil in front of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations on International Human Rights Day – December 10, 1991 – they didn’t plan to make a two-decade commitment. And none of them imagined that within eight years, Timor-Leste would be free of Indonesian troops, on the way to becoming a sovereign member of the international community.

ETAN’s work is still essential. The organization has lived for 20 years based on the dedicated activism and the generous support of people like you, who steadfastly believed and worked to support the right to self-determination, to justice and accountability, to human rights, and to social and economic justice for the people of Timor-Leste and Indonesia.

As a Timorese woman and a human rights activist, I know that ETAN’s work was crucial to freedom of my homeland.

I am writing you now to ask you to support ETAN with as generous a contribution as possible. 

I first learned about ETAN in 1998 when I attended the third summit of the Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor (APCET). Together with four other members of the underground student group RENETIL, I traveled to Thailand. It was my first trip abroad (apart from Indonesia), and it was my first opportunity to meet one of ETAN's founders, Charlie Scheiner. I heard first hand about ETAN’s impressive work.

Since that first encounter, I have had tremendous admiration and respect for ETAN and its members’ unshakable commitment to continue shining a light on justice and human rights in Timor-Leste and Indonesia. It is the only solidarity group which carries the mantle of upholding the rights of the people of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, working persistently and fearlessly to hold the world’s governments, especially the United States, to account for complicity in rights violations.

	Mica Barreto Soares (2nd from left) speaking at APCET conference in Bangkok, 1998. Photo by Jude Conway.

My brothers and sisters in Timor-Leste and Indonesia who continue to cry for justice still need ETAN’s clear and firm voice. ETAN is their mouthpiece from a distance! ETAN’s long track record speaks for itself as it has built relationships and made change at the United Nations, through four U.S. presidencies and in the halls of Congress. As Timor-Leste evolves, we are learning that building a new nation from the ashes of occupation, war and colonialism is as challenging as ending a foreign military occupation, and we continue to learn from and lean on ETAN, which looks ahead as it presses for accountability for past crimes.

Recently, as it has for years, ETAN opposed U.S. resumption of training for the Indonesian military’s notorious Kopassus special forces , that tortured and killed so many in my country and continues to oppress the people of West Papua. ETAN supported a Congressional letter calling for the freedom of West Papuan political prisoner, Filep Karma.

During the last few weeks, ETAN coordinated with Timor-Leste’s Movement against Debt, a statement against currently debt-free Timor taking out of loans.

If ETAN can raise enough resources, ETAN will coordinate an observer mission for the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections, as they did in 1999, 2001 and 2007. This is a critical time for Timor-Leste, and experienced, nonpartisan international observers will help solidify democracy in my young country be ensuring free and fair elections.

I recently completed two years in graduate school at Ohio University, and I relied on ETAN’s east-timor@riseup.net email list to keep up with events back home and with solidarity around the globe. Many of my Timorese friends also rely on this long-running and vital service, which has more than 2,500 readers in Timor-Leste and around the world.

For 20 years, ETAN has operated on a shoestring budget. Please join me in helping ETAN have a happy anniversary, so that it can continue its essential work. We need to keep ETAN strong. You can help by making a generous contribution to ETAN today.

Thank you!

Mica Barreto Soares
P.S. You can contribute safely through ETAN's website below. You can also mail your donation. To support ETAN’s advocacy work, write a check made out to “East Timor Action Network”. Tax-deductible donations of over $50, to support ETAN’s educational efforts only, can be made out to “A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN.” Please mail your donations to: ETAN, PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873. Thank you for your support.

How to Donate to ETAN  To support ETAN’s advocacy work, please make your check out to East Timor Action Network” and mail it to ETAN, PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 Donate by credit card (not tax-deductible) via PayPal - Give a U.S. tax-deductible donation by credit card - ______ Pledge a recurring donation by credit card via Paypal:Place Amount of Donation :  ($$$.¢¢) Please select the donation period: DailyWeeklyMonthly Yearly   Donations of any size for ETAN's political and advocacy work should be made out to ETAN and are not tax-deductible. Tax-deductible checks for more than $50 can also be made out to "AJ Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN" and  will only be used to support our educational work. Please mail your donation to:  ETAN PO Box 21873 Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USAThank you for your support.

Groups urge Timor-Leste not to take on debt

UPDATE (September 9, 2011): 20 additional groups have signed the statement. Complete list here.
If your organization wants to join this statement, contact us.

 Groups worldwide urge debt-free Timor-Leste not to borrow

Pending loans could endanger Timor's future

8 September 2011 - Timor-Leste and international organizations today urged "the government of Timor-Leste to keep the nation debt-free and refrain from borrowing money from international lenders.... to protect its future generations."

The groups argue that "Rather than repeat the mistakes of other developing countries that have struggled with debt during recent decades, Timor-Leste should learn from their experiences, which often inflicted great hardships on their people."

When Timor-Leste's oil and gas run out in less than 15 years, and debts still must be repaid, Timor-Leste's children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences.

The letter warns that, despite Timor-Leste's current petroleum wealth: "When Timor-Leste's oil and gas run out in less than 15 years, and debts still must be repaid, Timor-Leste's children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences."

The letter was initiated by Timor-Leste's Movimento Kontra Deve (Movement Against Debt, facilitated by La’o Hamutuk) and the U.S.-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). 

The full text of the statement in Tetum and English with a complete list of signers can be found on ETAN's website and http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/debt/2011/11ETANMKDStmt5Sep2011.htm .

The statement was endorsed by 117 137 organizations based in 28 32 countries. International networks with long experience in opposing onerous debt on developing countries are among the signers, including: Focus on the Global South, Jubilee South - Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, Third World Network and CADTM International (Committee for the Cancellation of Third World Debt).

Twenty groups in Timor-Leste signed the statement, including the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis (La’o Hamutuk), NGO Forum, Student Front, Community Leaders Forum, Haburas Foundation and ETADEP. Signing organizations from Timor-Leste’s southeast Asian neighbors include WALHI - Friends of the Earth Indonesia, Freedom from Debt Coalition ­ Philippines, International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) and EARTH (Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand).

Other signers include sustainable development advocates and groups that have long supported the people of Timor-Leste, such as Jubilee USA, the International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, Oil Change International (USA), Aidwatch (Australia), Friends of the Earth U.S., Bank Information Center (USA), Tapol (U.K.), CAFOD (U.K.), Japan East Timor Coalition, and the Free East Timor Foundation (VOT, Utrecht, the Netherlands).

Income from oil and gas provides 95% of Timor-Leste's state revenue, making the country the most petroleum-export dependent in the world. Although Timor-Leste has not yet borrowed funds from other countries or international financial institutions, the government has passed several laws to enable borrowing, including the 2009 Budget and Financial Management Law, as well as revisions to the Petroleum Fund Law and the new Public Debt Law both passed just two weeks ago. In early August, the Asia Development Bank posted information on its website about a proposed $8.15 million loan to Timor-Leste to upgrade the national road network.

The Movimento Kontra Deve is a coalition of civil society organizations in Timor-Leste opposed to the country taking out loans. ETAN (www.etan.org) is a 20-year old U.S.-based group working in solidarity with the people of Timor-Leste.

Additional background on Timor-Leste and borrowing can be found in 

English: http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/debt/09Borrowing.htm
Tetum: http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/debt/09BorrowingTe.htm