25 years after the Santa Cruz massacre: Did corporations influence Western government policy?

25 years after the Santa Cruz massacre: did corporations influence Western government policy?

by David Webster

Digging into the archival records isn’t purely academic. It can tell us why governments make the decisions they did – and suggest ways to influence future government decisions.

The Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops shot a crowd of unarmed pro-independence protesters in East Timor (now independent Timor-Leste) serves as an example. Film footage captured by British journalist Max Stahl, along with reports from US journalists Allan Nairn and Amy Goodman, led to a wave of outrage and activism in Western countries which had supported Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor for years. As Timor-Leste president Taur Matan Ruak noted in his speech commemorating the 25 anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre: “The images recorded by those journalists and the articles they wrote travelled the world and spread news of the crime committed in Santa Cruz on 12 November 1991.”

Archival records show that governments were sensitive to this pressure and wanted to give the appearance of responding to it in some fashion.

But there was another, much more hidden lobby. Western corporations that were doing business – highly profitable business – in Indonesia also lobbied governments. Much of this was visible. The East Timor Action Network/US pointed to the role of US business lobbies and public relations firms, for instance. But it is difficult to track this lobbying and determine how intense it was.

Archives can help here. The Canadian government archives give one example. Other countries are likely to have a similar pattern of corporate lobbying visible. After the Santa Cruz massacre, as pressure for sanctions against the Indonesian military regime grew, business lobbied to prevent any effective action being taken by the government, calling instead for verbal pressure only.

Canadian companies lobbied hard for “business as usual” with Indonesia in the month after the massacre, the archival record indicates. There are many more letters on the Canadian government’s East Timor file from companies than is normal on foreign policy files. A few examples from November and December 1991 follow.

Power generation company Babcock and Wilcox wrote to Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, who had just declared Canada would do more on human rights. Saying they were expecting nearly a billion US dollars in business in the coming year, the company pleased for the government to do nothing that could harm these anticipated profits. The letter: babcock-1991-11-28.

That letter led to a stiff note from the Ontario International Corporation to the Canadian government’s Department of International Trade. The OIC was an agency of the government of Ontario, Canada’s largest province and home to Babcock and the largest number of corporate head offices in Canada. At the time, Ontario was governed by the New Democratic Party led by Premier Bob Rae. The OIC letter said that any reduction of Canadian aid would cause Indonesia to “invoke punitive counter measures which will severely threaten Canada’s (in large part, Ontario’s) commercial interests.” OIC letter: oic-1991-12-09

The Canadian ambassador to Indonesia invited Canadian business representatives in Jakarta to breakfast at her residence, to brief them on Canada’s plans to review aid to Indonesia as a means of human rights pressure over East Timor. This drew lobbying letters from the associations and representatives of Canadian companies operating in Indonesia. “If Canada chooses to be one of the first countries to cut off aid to Indonesia [it] will set back Canada’s position in Indonesia [and] have very serious economic consequences on Canadian companies,” wrote the Canadian Investment Advisor in Indonesia. (This letter is dated December 7, the 16th anniversary of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.) The Advisor’s letter: investment-advisor-1991-12-07

The Canadian Business Association in Jakarta sent a similar letter to Brian Mulroney. If Canada suspended aid without waiting for the findings of an internal Indonesian government inquiry into the Santa Cruz massacre, the Association wrote, “then Canada is guilty of meddling in the internal affairs of this country.” This was an odd conclusion, given that very few countries recognized Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor (certainly the United Nations did not). It was odder still in arguing that reducing or even reviewing Canadian aid programmes was a function of Indonesian sovereignty. The association argued that Canadian business in Indonesia was booming and that helped to advance human rights, and asked Ottawa to do nothing until the Indonesian internal inquiry was complete. CBA letter: cba-1991-12-06

Meanwhile in Ottawa, foreign minister Barbara McDougall met with the Canadian Exporters Association, the umbrella group for Canadian companies selling products to other countries. The influential CEA repeated its stance that political pressure for human rights overseas not interfere with Canadian trade. Nothing should be done to harm the “innocent” in Indonesia -a  group within which the CEA included Canadian companies there. Cutting Canadian aid to Indonesia, the CEA said, “would irreparably damage Canada’s long term dedicated and committed efforts to penetrate Indonesian-ASEAN markets.” In other words, for the CEA promoting human rights was fine, but protecting Canadian trade was more important. CEA letter: cea-1991-12-06

Another Canadian company, CAL, joined the lobby with letters to the ministers of foreign affairs, international trade, and international development. CAL expressed support for the idea of human rights but said cutting aid would risk $500-million of business the company expected in Indonesia in the coming five years. Instead, it called for a round table conversation among Canadians, with no concrete action taken for the moment. CAL letter: cal-1991-12-06

As the Canadian government prepared to review its aid programme to Indonesia, Canadian business interests mobilized to lobby against this plan. They had no objection to verbal expressions of concern to the Indonesian government, but they wanted to make sure that the Canadian government did not reduce its aid to Indonesia, for fear this would affect potential profit.

It would be surprising if the same was not happening in other Western countries with business interests in Indonesia. At the time, activists claimed that Western governments were putting trade ahead of human rights. A slice of the Canadian archival records, for one month in 1991, shows that yes, business was certainly lobbying hard to prevent strong pressure on Indonesia, and using arguments about profit to make their case.

see also

ETAN BACKGROUNDER: Santa Cruz Massacre

ETAN Urges  Justice for Victims of the Santa Cruz Massacre on 25th Anniversary

TLPres: Speech by President Taur Matan Ruak on the 25th Anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre

ETAN Links on Santa Cruz Massacre

About David Webster

Associate professor of History at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Past positions in Toronto, San Francisco and Regina, Saskatchewan. Author of Fire and the Full Moon: Canada and Indonesia in a Decolonizing World (UBC Press, 2009) and collection editor of East Timor: Testimony (Between the Lines, 2004).  Human rights advocacy on Timor-Leste and other regions bordering the Pacific. Research focuses include trans-Pacific interactions between Canada and Asia, the diplomacy of independence movements in Asia, and the histories of international organizations.

ETAN Urges Justice for Victims of the Santa Cruz Massacre on 25thAnniversary

http://etan.org/news/2016/11scruz.htm

Contact: John M. Miller, National Coordinator, ETAN
john@etan.org; +1-917-690-4391

ETAN Urges Justice for Victims of the Santa Cruz Massacre on 25^thAnniversary

Photo by Steve Cox, Generations of Resistance: East Timor

November 2016 - On the 25^th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urges the international community to commit to ending impunity for the human rights crimes committed during the occupation of Timor-Leste.  

"The victims of the Santa Cruz massacre have waited too long for justice," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. “Those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s illegal occupation need to be held accountable for their crimes.” 

"We believed that an international tribunal is needed to credibly try those responsible for the Santa Cruz massacre and other crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Indonesia during its illegal occupation of Timor-Leste," Miller added. 

The victims of the Santa Cruz massacre have waited too long for justice. Those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s illegal occupation need to be held accountable for their crimes.

On November 12, 1991, U.S-armed Indonesian troops opened fire on a peaceful pro-independence demonstration calling for self-determination and protesting atrocities committed by the Indonesian military. More than 271 East Timorese were killed or died soon after and an equal number disappeared and are believed to be dead. 

The 1991 massacre -- witnessed and filmed by foreign journalists -- was a major turning point in Timor-Leste's struggle for liberation. 

During more than two decades of U.S.-backed occupation, Indonesian soldiers committed serious crimes with impunity, taking as many as 184,000 Timorese lives and torturing, raping, and displacing countless others. Timor-Leste became independent in 2002.

"The East Timorese people will need to know the where  the bodies of their relatives and friends are," said Miller. "Impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities prevents both Timor-Leste and Indonesia from consolidating the rule of law as they transition from military dictatorship to democracy." 

While some deeply flawed processes have prosecuted some involved in crimes committed in 1999, those responsible for giving the orders to torture, rape, and kill have yet to be brought to justice. Those from countries such as the United States, Britain, and Australia that actively aided in these crimes by providing weapons, training, and political support have yet to be held accountable.

ETAN continues to call on President Joko Widodo to fulfill his campaign promise to address human rights violations committed during and after the Suharto dictatorship, including by establishing credible judicial processes to investigate killings like the Santa Cruz massacre. 

For more on the Santa Cruz massacre see ETAN’s backgrounder here:http://etan.org/factsheets/santa_cruz.htm

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) was founded in 199 following the Santa Cruz massacre. ETAN supports democracy, human rights and justice in Timor-Leste, West Papua and Indonesia. Website: www.etan.org Twitter: @etan009.

Remembering Michael Ratner

Remembering Michael Ratner

Democracy Now! Suing Dictators Around the World:
A Look at How Michael Ratner Helped Reshape Human Rights Law

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network is saddened to learn of the death of human rights attorney and ETAN supporter Michael Ratner, 72. Michael was at the forefront of many legal struggles for justice both within the U.S. and internationally. He served as President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he pioneered the use of universal jurisdiction and U.S. law to bring rights violators to justice.

In 1994, Michael and CCR successfully sued Major-General Sintong Panjaitan for his role in the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre of more than 270 East Timorese. A U.S. District Court ordered the general to pay substantial compensatory and punitive damages to Helen Todd, the mother of Kamal Bamadhaj, the only non-East Timorese killed that day. Later, also with the help of Michael and CCR, several East Timorese sued Indonesian General Johny Lumintang for his role in the military and militia violence which surrounded the 1999 vote on independence. After hearing testimony from the East Timorese and experts, a U.S. magistrate entered a large judgement against the general that was later over-turned on a technicality.

Michael also inspired one of ETAN's most unique actions. Under a long-existing procedure, we requested a temporary street renaming supporting Timor-Leste near the Indonesian consulate in New York. After we were turned down on overtly political grounds, CCR sued the city on our behalf. On July 17, 1999, ETAN dedicated a street sign naming 68th Street "East Timor Way."

Speaking at a discussion organized in 2001 by ETAN on the 10th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, Michael reflected on the success of the Timor's drive for independence. "These struggles can be won," he said. "It's a lesson we can all take away from this."

We thank Michael for his dedication, inspiration, and tenacity. Our condolences to his family,friends and colleagues.

More about Michael Ratner

Video: Suing Dictators Around the World: A Look at How Michael Ratner Helped Reshape Human Rights Law, Democracy Now! May 12, 2016

Michael Ratner, Lawyer Who Won Rights for Guantánamo Prisoners, Dies at 72, New York Times,
May 11, 2016

PUBLIC LIVES; Still Tilting at Windmills, and Fighting for Rights, New York Times,  August 2, 2002

Prabowo on Santa Cruz massacre, being a fascist dictator

Journalist Allan Nairn writes up his notes from a conversation with former Kopassus head Prabowo Subianto, now candidate for Indonesian president. Bahasa Indonesia version of article: "Apa saya cukup punya nyali," tanya Prabowo, "apa saya siap jika disebut 'diktator fasis'?"

Nairn writes that "Prabowo talked about fascism, democracy, army massacre policy, and his long, close relationship with the Pentagon and US intelligence."

Some excerpts:

On November 11, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, Timor-Leste:

"Prabowo's complaint was not with the fact that the army had murdered civilians, but rather that they had done so in front of me and other witnesses who were then able to report the massacre and mobilize the outside world.

"'Santa Cruz killed us politically!,' Prabowo exclaimed. 'It was the defeat!' 

"'You don't massacre civilians in front of the world press,'" General Prabowo said. 'Maybe commanders do it in villages where no one will ever know, but not in the provincial capital'!"

On Leadership:

"He mentioned Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf.

"Musharraf had arrested his country's civilian prime minister and imposed dictatorship. 

"Prabowo said he admired him greatly.

"Prabowo ruminated on whether he could measure up, whether he could be an Indonesian Musharraf.

"'Do I have the guts,' Prabowo asked, 'am I ready to be called a fascist dictator?'"

ETAN on anniversary of Santa Cruz massacre

November 12 is the 22nd anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre. On November 12, 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on a memorial procession - turned into a peaceful pro-independence demonstration - at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. More than 270 mostly-young Timorese were murdered.

As we have often noted, the media coverage of the massacre was a key turning point in Timor's long struggle for independence. It led to the founding of ETAN and similar groups, energize UN and Portuguese diplomacy, and led to some sanctions on Indonesia. In the U.S., ETAN built on the initial cut-off of military training for the Indonesian military. Eventually, all military assistance was cut off in 1999 as Indonesian troops and militia ransacked the Timor in the aftermath of the historic vote that led to independence.

On the 20th anniversary of the massacre ETAN observed that:

"While Timor-Leste is now independent, its people will not be able to overcome their tragic past without knowing what was done with their relatives’ and friends’ bodies. Ongoing impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities keeps the East Timorese and Indonesian people from consolidating their democracies and moving on with their lives."

Much remains to be done. A year ago, we noted that:

"Impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities prevents both countries from consolidating the rule of law as they transition from  military dictatorship do democracy."

We continued to to urge the U.S. Congress and the Obama administration to respond to the recommendations of Timor-Leste's Commission for Truth, Reception and Reconciliation, especially "its calls for an international tribunal to try perpetrators of crimes against humanity during the Indonesian occupation, reparations from Indonesia and other countries that supported the occupation, and restrictions on foreign assistance to the Indonesian military."

And we urged the U.S. and others to press Indonesia "to immediately release all information that can help identify and locate those who were killed or disappeared during the occupation,."

For more information on the massacre see http://etan.org/timor/SntaCRUZ.htm. ETAN on the web: http://www.etan.org. Twitter: etan009

Help keep ETAN strong ­ Please give to our end of year fundraising drive today!

John M. Miller
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network

December 2012

ETAN's John M. Miller and Charles Scheiner (right) receive Order of Timor from President Taur Matan Ruak (center).

Dear Friends,

I had the privilege of attending last May’s official ceremony in Dili on the tenth anniversary of Timor-Leste’s hard won restoration of independence. Timor-Leste inaugurated its newly-elected President as fireworks exploded in celebration.

Two days later, I was honored to accept on ETAN's behalf the Order of Timor-Leste -- the nation's highest honor. Timor-Leste's just-inaugurated President Taur Matan Ruak presented the award to ETAN (and to ETAN co-founder Charles Scheiner for his individual efforts) as the nation's thanks for our work in support of the country's liberation. I am proud of the part we played in the Timorese struggle for independence and since. We could not have done it without your steadfast support.

The medal now has pride of place in ETAN's Brooklyn, NY office, reminding us of all that we have accomplished over the years. The honor also reminds us of how much many East Timorese relied on our support. During my visit, people repeatedly told me of their faith and confidence that ETAN will continue to provide support and solidarity for their fledgling nation.

I am writing to urge you to give generously so that ETAN can continue to support human rights, justice and accountability, democracy, and an equitable and sustainable future for Timor-Leste. Our work is only possible with your support.

ETAN began as the East Timor Action Network soon after the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre when Indonesian troops -- firing their U.S.-supplied weapons -- killed peaceful demonstrators. Hundreds of young Timorese were murdered, and the eyewitness accounts from that day inspired us to action. ETAN's relentless grassroots pressure persuaded the U.S. Congress to end taxpayer-funded training for Indonesian soldiers in the United States and eventually changed U.S. policy from support of Indonesia's illegal occupation to support for Timor's right to self-determination.

ETAN is "A voice of reason, criticizing the administration's reluctance to address ongoing human rights violations and escalating oppression in West Papua and against religious minorities throughout Indonesia." -- Noam Chomsky

East Timor is now the independent Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and we remain committed to supporting its people in pursuing justice not only for the victims of the Santa Cruz massacre, but for all the victims of the U.S.-backed Indonesian invasion and occupation. We continue to highlight the complicity of U.S. government officials in the oppression of the people of Timor-Leste, West Papua, and elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago, including the still-active Henry Kissinger, who gave a green light to the invasion of Timor-Leste.

Just last month, a now-high ranking State Department official recalled her time as a human rights officer in Washington more than a decade ago. She described ETAN as “punching above its weight” in revealing ongoing Pentagon training of Indonesian soldiers, leading Congress and the State Department to cancel the program. She said that she often uses ETAN as an example of effective citizen action, and that our work in the 1990s has had lasting, worldwide impact in curtailing U.S. training for armies which violate human rights.

In 2005, we changed our name to the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network to emphasize our support for human rights and democracy in Indonesia, where U.S. engagement with the military and police has encouraged them to resist accountability. In the past year, the U.S.-created and trained Detachment 88 has been engaged in a number of rights violations in West Papua and elsewhere. ETAN continues to oppose the administration’s efforts to re-engage with the Indonesian military’s notorious Kopassus special forces and plans to sell Indonesia’s deadly Apache attack helicopters.

2012 commemoration of Santa Cruz massacre, Dili. Photo by Manuela Leong Pereira via Facebook.

We continue to work with the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT), helping to produce the respected monthly West Papua Report. We work with WPAT and others in supporting human rights and peaceful solutions in the region.

Noam Chomsky has called us "a voice of reason, criticizing the administration's reluctance to address ongoing human rights violations and escalating oppression in West Papua and against religious minorities throughout Indonesia."

Our information sharing and networking provide vital links among activists and others around the world. Our long-running east-timor@riseup.net email list keeps an expanding list of more than 3000 direct subscribers – including journalists, policy makers, East Timorese officials, activists and students -- informed with news and analysis of events affecting Timor-Leste and on solidarity around the globe.

One list subscriber recently thanked us for "the excellent work you have been doing these last years in keeping all people interested in Timor-Leste's present and future duly informed. Your objectivity and professionalism, providing an essential space for everybody to express itself freely has been a great contribution to consolidate Timor-Leste's emerging democracy. It is an example of how to give voice to the civil society and others at relatively low costs, an example that many other countries should follow."

ETAN works with advocacy and human rights organizations in Timor-Leste, West Papua, Indonesia and elsewhere, because together we are stronger.

This past year, we placed international volunteers with local groups in Dili, to assist their monitoring of national elections in Timor-Leste.  

As we continue our crucial work, we face a number of challenges. ETAN has never been very large or well-funded. We have become skilled at doing a lot with relatively limited human and financial resources. However, we have lost opportunities and with your help we could be doing more.

Many in Timor-Leste and Indonesia continue to expect a lot from ETAN. I know, because I often receive their requests for information and pleas for action. With your help, we can better respond to their requests and needs. We have many ideas for possible projects, but we need your help to gather the necessary resources to implement them.

I hope you will support ETAN. Please give generously now to help strengthen ETAN as we meet the challenges of the coming years. Thank you!

A luta continua,

John M. Miller
National Coordinator, ETAN

P.S. Please consider becoming an ETAN sustainer by making a monthly donation by credit card. Help put ETAN on a firmer financial footing: information here. 

How to Donate to ETAN

You can donate safely by credit card through ETAN's website below (http://etan.org/etan/2012-13appeal.htm#online). Or you can mail your donation. To support ETAN's political advocacy work, write a check made out to ETAN. For ETANs educational efforts, U.S. tax-deductible donations of over $50 can be made out to A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN. Please mail your donations to: East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873.

Santa Cruz massacre 21 years on

A day late, but we were busy distributing ETAN's media release on the Santa Cruz massacre anniversary.

Here is the link to ETAN's release: http://etan.org/news/2012/11scruz.htm and an excerpt:

"As the latest UN mission ends, promises of justice remain unfulfilled," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "The UN should state clearly that there can be no impunity for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Indonesia's invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste from 1975-1999." 

"The East Timorese people can not fully overcome their past until they know the fate of the bodies of their relatives and friends," said Miller. "Impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities prevents both countries from consolidating the rule of law as they transition from  military dictatorship do democracy." 

2012 commemoration of Santa Cruz massacre, Dili.
 Photo by Manuela Leong Pereira via Facebook

 ANTI (Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal) and Amnesty International issued a joint statement. The groups concluded:

Together, ANTI and Amnesty International demand that the UN and the governments of Timor-Leste and Indonesia take responsibility to ensure justice for crimes against humanity and human rights violations which took place in Timor-Leste between 1975 and 1999. They must ensure that victims of the Santa Cruz massacre, and all those who suffered during the Indonesian occupation and in the context of the 1999 independence referendum, have access to justice, truth and reparation. Continued inaction will further entrench a culture of impunity, and leave a dark stain on the UN's record in Timor-Leste.

ETAN National Coordinator reflects on 20 years of ETAN

Read additional reflections on ETAN's 20th Anniversary

John M. Miller, ETAN National Coordinator

Reflecting on ETAN at 20

On November 12, 1991, Indonesia troops carrying U.S. supplied weapons gunned down peaceful East Timorese demonstration at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery. And I can still recall vividly the tremor in Amy Goodman's voice in her first reports to Pacifica's WBAI radio here in New York, where she was News Director. Those reports inspired several of us who knew each other from organizing campaigns to begin meeting in New York. Out of those meetings ETAN began.

One detail from those reports was especially striking. Amy and Allan Nairn (also from New York) attributed their survival to the fact that they had waved their U.S. passports at the troops that were assaulting them. The journalists were from the same country that the soldiers' weapons came from.

Amy and Allan were the two U.S. eyewitnesses to the massacre and shared their knowledge with our fledgling group. Our first demonstration was on Human Rights Day 1991 at the Indonesian Mission to the UN. Many more were to follow.

Reports of the massacre sparked organizing efforts in cities throughout the U.S. Soon enough, there was ETAN/Rhode Island and ETAN/Los Angeles, then Madison, DC, and San Francisco. Gradually, we found each other and consolidated into ETAN/U.S. (We borrowed our initials - with their blessing - from Canada's East Timor Alert Network.)

We seized the chance to speak out, something that East Timorese could only do at great risk. One early ETAN leaflet bluntly stated that East Timorese could be shot for attending a demonstration, but that we in the United States could at much less risk support them. A simple recitation of the facts was all that was needed to convince many that the U.S. bore substantial responsibility for a grave injustice and that we needed to take responsibility for changing our own country's policies.

ETAN's John M. Miller (with bullhorn) speaks at the Indonesian consulate in Manhattan, January 2000. Protests also took place that day in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Washington, DC.

We built on the efforts of others who had been working on the issues, some since 1975, many in church groups and Congress. But we brought our own energy and new ideas, at times a confrontational approach.

Early on, we determined to be non-partisan (working with people and politicians with a wide-range of views on other subjects). After all, U.S. presidents of both parties had supported Indonesia. We embraced a wide range of tactics from lobbying and letter-writing to supporting lawsuits against Indonesian generals. We spoke inside (and outside) the UN and organized countless demonstrations at Indonesia's diplomatic offices around the U.S. In New York, there were two and we probably have had an equal number of protests at the consulate and mission to the UN. Several hundred were arrested in civil disobedience sit-ins. We organized international election observers in 1999, 2001, and 2007. We successfully sued New York City to have the street in front of the Indonesian consulate temporarily renamed "East Timor Way" in 1999.

We always tried to be accurate; the situation was dire enough not to need exaggeration. This approach has helped us build credibility with the media, officials and others that carries through to today.

Our initial focus was on gaining self-determination for East Timor. Our political strategy was ambitious, but simple. We saw the Indonesian military as crucial to the occupation. The U.S. was the military's chief benefactor, and we set out to sever that relationship. Indonesia would value its ties to the U.S. more than its continued occupation of East Timor. Events would bear out this analysis - more quickly than many of us imagined in late 1991.

We won a quick victory when Congress barred Indonesia from IMET military training in May 1992, in response to our pressure. At the time, few other countries were barred from IMET. We learned that while East Timor wasn't on the radar of many, a few voices from a congressional district or state could sway many members of Congress. Some of them became staunch supporters of East Timorese rights.

In the end, there were very few floor votes directly on East Timor and we lost several of them. But each time East Timor was debated on the floor of congress or in committee, more were educated and more concessions were extracted. Bans on the transfer of categories of military weapons and police equipment were imposed throughout the 1990s, either by the administration (always under Congressional pressure) or Congress.  Indonesia's dictator Suharto twice refused training or weapons in a fit of pique over U.S. criticism of repression in East Timor. Finally in September 1999, responding to a global outcry at Indonesia's destruction after the East Timorese chose independence, President Clinton announced a full cut off of security assistance. The Indonesian military quickly agreed to honor the result of the August 30 UN-organized referendum and withdraw.

We seized the chance to speak out, something that East Timorese could only do so at great risk. One early ETAN leaflet bluntly stated that East Timorese could be shot for attending a demonstration, but that we in the United States could at much less risk support them.

The Congressional and public pressure that contributed to East Timor's independence came from years of organizing within U.S. and the tenacity of the East Timorese people in asserting their rights. ETAN initially built a base of support by borrowing lists from national groups, including the War Resisters League of which I and Charles Scheiner, another ETAN founder, are long time members. These groups allowed us to call their members just once (Brown University students did most of the calling). We also gathered initial support from sign up sheets at talks by Allan, Amy and others and by petitioning at showings of  the documentary "Manufacturing Consent," which features early ETAN supporter Noam Chomsky and includes a substantial section on East Timor.

In the early 1990s, the online organizing was coming into its own as an activist tool, both as a source of information and a way to spur action and activism. The internet enabled us to quickly link up with like-minded groups and individuals to compare information and share strategy. East Timorese leaders abroad were soon in touch and offered encouragement. We in turn supported their activities in the U.S. and at the UN as best we could.We stayed current with events and activities through the reg.easttimor e-mail listserv, begun by Tapol in Britain the previous year. We soon became major contributors to the list and over time took over the major responsibility for the list, now officially the east-timor list. (People often confuse the list with ETAN the organization at times, to our frustration.). In 1999, when I first went to East Timor to observe the referendum, many Timorese knew my name because of my many posts to the listserv. With access to the internet limited, items from the list would be printed out and passed around. Occasionally, I had to explain that I hadn't written most of them, just forwarded the news, analysis and reports from activists and others. Even now, much of my morning is taken up with the list, which has more subscribers than ever (more than 2600 at last count). 

Help ETAN celebrate our 20th Anniversary. Donate today!

With your help, we can put ETAN on a firmer footing for the future.  Please give generously in this anniversary year. In doing so, you can help strengthen ETAN to meet the challenges of the coming years. Read Noam Chomsky on 20 years of ETAN

Reflections on 20th Anniversary of Santa Cruz Massacre

worth reading:

Reflections for the Progressive Student Group: Twenty Year Santa Cruz Commemoration at Dili University


By Charles Scheiner, ETAN and La’o Hamutuk

excerpt: 

[T]he foreigners responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the Timorese people have not been held accountable. 

These were international crimes – the Indonesian invasion of Portuguese Timor (RDTL after 28 November 1975, but Indonesian aggression started before that) violated international law, as dud the thousands of massacres, tortures, rapes, killings and other crimes that were part of the occupation. When people are ordered or paid by one government to commit crimes against people in another country, those are international crimes. When other governments, including my own, give political, military, diplomatic or financial support to these crimes, they also become criminals.

Read the rest

see also

On 20th Anniversary of Timor Massacre, Rights Network Urges Justice, ETAN Says U.S. and UN Must Act

Remembering the Santa Cruz Massacre: A guide to recent commentary and some archival resources on this landmark event (November 2011)

On 20th Anniversary of Timor Massacre, ETAN Urges Justice

U.S. and UN Must Act

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller, +1-718-596-7668; mobile: +1-917-690-4391, john@etan.org

November 12, 2011 - On the 20th anniversary of the infamous massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called for the U.S. and other governments and the United Nations to commit to justice for the victims and their families. The 1991 massacre -- witnessed and filmed by foreign journalists -- was a major turning point in Timor-Leste's struggle for liberation.

"When we saw and heard about the Indonesian military shooting down hundreds of peaceful, unarmed student protesters, we knew we had to do something to stop the killing. The Santa Cruz massacre inspired many around the world to work for justice for the East Timorese people," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "It directly led to the founding of ETAN in the United States, and to our commitment to work for self-determination for Timor-Leste by changing U.S. government policies which had supported the Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation."

"Justice for all those killed, tortured, raped and forced to flee Indonesia’s brutal occupation has been delayed too long," he added.

Many in Timor-Leste are focused on learning the location of their relatives’ graves. The remains of many of the victims have not been found.

“While Timor-Leste is now independent, its people will not be able to overcome their tragic past without knowing what was done with their relatives’ and friends’ bodies. Ongoing impunity for decades of systematic Indonesian military and police atrocities keeps the Timorese and Indonesian people from consolidating their democracies and moving on with their lives,” said Miller. "ETAN will not rest until justice is done."

When we saw and heard about the Indonesian military shooting down hundreds of peaceful, unarmed student protesters, we knew we had to do something to stop the killing.

ETAN urged Congress and the Obama administration to respond to the recommendations of Timor-Leste's Commission for Truth, Reception and Reconciliation, including its calls for an international tribunal to try perpetrators of crimes against humanity during the Indonesian occupation, reparations from Indonesia and other countries that supported the occupation, and restrictions on foreign assistance to the Indonesian military.

"President Obama should urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately release all information that can help identify and locate those who were disappeared during the occupation,” said Miller. The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the coming weeks.

"Obama must restrict U.S. military assistance until the Indonesian generals and political leaders who organized and directed numerous crimes during the 24-years of illegal occupation are credibly tried," Miller added.

Background On November 12, 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on a memorial procession - turned into a peaceful pro-independence demonstration - at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. More than 270 mostly-young Timorese were murdered. Unlike previous mass atrocities committed during Indonesia's 24-year occupation, the massacre was witnessed by the NY-based Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn and other international journalists. Their first-hand reports, video and photographs were shown worldwide. The Santa Cruz massacre galvanized international support for Timor-Leste and was the catalyst for congressional action to stem the flow of U.S. weapons and other assistance for Indonesia’s security forces.

The response from people across the United States to the U.S. government’s complicity in the oppression of the East Timorese  – was so compelling that they had to keep working. One year later, grassroots pressure persuaded the U.S. Congress to terminate taxpayer-funded training for Indonesian soldiers in the United States.

One month after the massacre, on International Human Rights Day (December 10), a few dozen concerned people picketed in front of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations in New York City. Although they did not intend to start an ongoing movement, the Timorese cause – and the response from people across the United States to the government’s complicity in the oppression of the East Timorese – was so compelling that they had to keep working. One year later, grassroots pressure persuaded the U.S. Congress to terminate taxpayer-funded training for Indonesian soldiers in the United States, the first of many legislative victories which eventually moved Washington from supporting to opposing the murderous occupation.

In a recent statement, ANTI (Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal), demanded that the United Nations Security Council "cut the chain of impunity in Timor-Leste and other countries' by establishing a credible International Tribunal in order to judge the principal perpetrators of serious crimes and crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation."

During more than two decades of occupation of Timor-Leste, Indonesian soldiers committed serious crimes with impunity, taking as many as 184,000 Timorese lives and torturing, raping and displacing countless others. Timor-Leste became independent in 2002.

Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation researched and documented the nation’s experiences during the occupation. The Commission’s comprehensive 2,500-page report recommended establishment of an international criminal tribunal and also advocated that countries (including the U.S.) which backed the occupation and corporations which sold weapons to Indonesia during that period should pay reparations to victims. The Commission urged the international community not to support Indonesia's military until it was thoroughly reformed and respectful of human rights.

Indonesia has agreed to provide information about the fate of the disappeared but has failed to do so. The joint Timor-Leste-Indonesia Commission on Truth and Friendship recommended the creation of a Commission for Disappeared Persons "to acquire information about the fate of disappeared people and cooperate to gather data and provide information to their families." Work on this issue has been repeatedly thwarted by Indonesia.

ETAN was formed in reaction to the Santa Cruz massacre. The U.S.-based organization, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this December 10, advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information on the massacre see http://etan.org/timor/SntaCRUZ.htm or ETAN's web site:http://www.etan.org.

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see also

Human Rights & Justice page

Indonesian General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin Not Fit for Civilian Defense Post

Contact: John M. Miller, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), +1-718-596-7668;

The appointment of Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin as Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Defense undermines human rights accountability and civilian control of the military, said the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).

"This is Suharto redux, leaving the military in charge of itself" said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Sjamsuddin appointment clearly demonstrates that the 'reformer' President Yudhoyono would rather reward former military colleagues than hold them accountable. This sets back the limited efforts to bring the Indonesian military under civilian control."

"Sjafrie is a poster boy for the argument that U.S. military training does noth instill respect for human rights in Indonesian officers, especially those belonging to Kopassus," said Miller. The Obama administration is currently considering resuming training of Kopassus.

General Sjamsuddin has spent most of his career in Indonesian military's brutal Kopassus special forces. Trained in the U.S. in 1985 and Australia in 1993, he is accused of coordinating several of the most notorious events in East Timor, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and the post-referendum violence in 1999. He was military commander in Jakarta at the time troops opened fire on protesters in May 1998.

Human rights groups in Indonesia have protested Sjamsuddin appointment citing his human rights record. They also point out that the appointment violates Indonesian law, which prohibits the promotion of active duty soldiers to political posts.

"Sjamsuddin not only defends the military's system of territorial command, he has little understanding of the need for civilian supremacy over the military," said Miller.

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Tempo Semanal english language video reports

Tempo Semanal has just posted several English-language video news reports. All of them can be accessed  from their blog.

From Tempo's description of its report on the protests over the PNTL killing of Kuta late last year:

A young man was shot dead by police (PNTL) in Dili on December 28 2009. Unrest and tension on the streets followed the tragic death with calls for control of PNTL officers. Security of the government and ministers was increased during the period and President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao mediated upset family members. Jose Belo reports for Tempo Semanal.

 Another covers the burial of a victim of the Santa Cruz massacre. Several bodies were found and recently identified as having been killed at Santa Cruz cemetery 18 years ago.



Two additional report involve an interview with the Minister of Tourism and end of the year demands from contractors for payment from the government.

Santa Cruz Massacre Anniversary

Today is anniversary of Santa Cruz massacre. Hundreds of peaceful protesters were killed by Indonesian troops. The killings were filmed and alerted the world about East Timor. ETAN was founded soon after.

Associated Press reports on today's commemoration in Dili:

Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers clutched photos of dead relatives on Thursday, holding flowers and candles as they set out from the Motael Catholic church singing Hymns, saying prayers and weeping.

"My son is still missing," said 71-year-old Maria Lourenca, whose boy Antonio was a junior high school student at the time. "I want justice for his death. He was too young. The Indonesian soldiers who shot him should be punished."

For background information about the massacre go here.