Lao Hamutuk asks on the east-timor list "Why are TL VIPs in China?"

After spending all last Monday in Parliament successfully defending his placing Timor-Leste's "national interest" above legal and Constitutional limitations, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão -- together with the Ministers of Finance, Infrastructure, and Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for Natural Resources, and the head of Timor-Leste's armed forces, headed to China to participate in a Western China trade fair and visit a shipyard (see press release below).

This is a high-level group for a relatively unimportant activity, but there are other reasons to go to China.

Perhaps the visit is related to the new Budget and Financial Management Law which Parliament passed on 24 September. In addition to outlining how the State Budget is to be approved (the General State Budget for 2010 will be sent to Parliament this week), this law allows the Minister of Finance to borrow money from governments like China, without any Parliamentary or public oversight of the terms or repayment of the loan (see NGO commentary at http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/09FONGTILSubOrsJesFin18SepEn.pdf ).

...

La'o Hamutuk doesn't yet have confirmed information that the six high Timor-Leste officials went to China to borrow money, but the timing of the visit, together with the demonstrated policies of this government to spend far more than the sustainable level recommended by the Petroleum Fund law, give us reason for concern.

If they have more time, the Ministers can look into the apparently stalled $385 million Heavy Oil Power project, awarded last year to Chinese Nuclear Industry Construction Company #22. Much of this year's $85 million budget line for this project has been reallocated to the Referendum Package of small local infrastructure projects. However, if the flagship power project of the government "year of infrastructure" is ever to be realized, something must be done. (See http://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/Power/08PowerPlant.htm .)

La'o Hamutuk welcomes more information about these issues from any source, and encourages people to pay close attention.

Sumatra Earthquate and Indonesia's International Debt

Former ETAN field organizer and former Jubilee USA staffer writes from Indonesia on the Sumatra earthquake for Jubilee's Blog the Debt.

Some excerpts:

Indonesian government officials have estimated that at least $600 million will be needed to repair basic infrastructure damaged by the earthquake. Countries around the world have pledged and sent humanitarian assistance, but it is not enough to enable Indonesia to rebuild. Meanwhile, Indonesia continues to send almost $9 billion every year to foreign governments and international financial institutions in payment on its foreign debt....

Jubilee colleagues in Indonesia, including the Koalisi Anti-Utang (KAU/Anti-Debt Coalition) are calling on the Indonesian government to reallocate the money currently slated for debt repayment to finance reconstruction and to prepare for future disasters. They are also urging the Indonesian government not to take on new loans to finance disaster response.

ETAN on Western Sahara

excerpts from Statement on Western Sahara Prepared for Delivery to the United Nations Fourth Committee, United Nations, New York, October 2009

...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.

The parallels between the situations of Timor-Leste and Western Sahara are clear. In 1975, within weeks, larger neighbors, defying international law and the UN Charter, invaded both countries as they were on the verge of decolonization. For decades, Morocco and Indonesia continued to brutally occupy and illegally exploit the resources of Timor-Leste and Western Sahara in defiance of UN resolutions. The invaders received weapons and diplomatic support from the United States and other powerful countries. Both colonies remained on the General Assembly agenda as non-self-governing territories. Both invasions were clearly condemned by the Security Council. Both peoples suffered horrendous human rights crimes, including torture, disappearances, displacement, and rape. Those who organized and ordered these crimes have yet to be brought to justice. This only encourages others to defy international law....

We urge Morocco and its allies to end their delaying tactics. The United Nations and its member states should fulfill its promise to support decolonization worldwide and more forward with Western Sahara's referendum

There is a truism: "Justice delayed is justice denied." The paraphrase, "Self-determination delayed is self-determination denied," is certainly as true. The people of Timor-Leste had their right self-determination denied for nearly two and one-half decades. The people of Western Sahara have been denied their rights for 34 years and counting. They should not have to wait any longer.

UPDATE: ETAN now carries the book International Law and the Question of Western Sahara, which includes a chapter on West Papua and several on the parallels between Timor-Leste and Western Sahara. Go here for more information on how to order.

SOA Watch victory

Congratulations to SOA Watch on its partial Congressional victory.

The U.S. Congress has approved legislative language opposing the negative practices and secrecy at the School of the Americas (SOA), now renamed WHINSEC. The Defense Authorization bill includes

language [that] requires that the Secretary of Defense [to] release the names of students and instructors [at the at the SOA/WHINSEC] but with two clarifications: names are only released for FY 2009 and FY 2010, and the Secretary of Defense can waive this provision should it be deemed to be in the national interest.

SOA Watch writes:

While the release of names for FY 2009 and FY 2010 is a welcome first step, the decision by the conference committee to maintain secrecy about who has attended the SOA/ WHINSEC for the past 4 years raises a red flag about what the Pentagon may be hiding. From FY 2005 to FY 2008, hundreds of serious human rights crimes, including the San José de Apartadó massacre among many others, implicated Latin American military officials throughout the region. The gap in knowledge about what role U.S. military training played in the practices of Latin American militaries for 4 years undermines the pursuit of a just foreign policy by denying the public and Congress the very information they need to make important foreign policy decisions.

In addition, the waiver granted to the Pentagon to deny the release of this vital information in the name of national interest ignores the many reasons why it is in the national interest for public disclosure of SOA/ WHINSEC graduates and instructors. What could be more of a national interest than human rights, democracy and transparency?!

More information on SOA Watch can be found here

West Papua Report - October 2009

full report here

West Papua Report - October 2009

Summary: Famine continues to kill villagers in a broad swath of the Papuan hinterland. The Government response to the crisis has been to deny that famine is occurring and to provide inadequate assistance to address what it contends is only an outbreak of disease. Respected academics have launched a public discussion of the impact of Indonesia's four-plus decades of control in West Papua and whether its policies there constitute genocide. Papuans continue to call for an internationally mediated, senior-level dialogue with Jakarta about West Papua's past and its future. Demonstrators have urged the release of Papuans arrested for peaceful political dissent. Meanwhile, other activists have been arrested or are facing arrest. An international firm, collaborating with an Indonesian company, has announced plans to transform a vast area of forest near Merauke into wood chips. A South Korean daily has published an account of West Papua's annexation by Indonesia which it describes as a "betrayal" of the Papuans by the international community. Additional evidence has surfaced of the human cost of the Indonesian military's continuing "sweep" operations in the Papuan hinterlands. Confusion reigns in Indonesia's response to months of attacks targeting the operations of PT Freeport and its personnel.