---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Precedence: bulk COUNT DOWN TO REFERENDUM: VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN EAST TIMOR As East Timor Nears Historic Referendum, Paramilitary Violence Escalates 54 NGO Representatives Send Letter to Clinton, Press Conference and DC Events to Commemorate Vote Scheduled for August 30 On Monday, August 30, some 450,000 registered voters in East Timor will participate in a referendum to choose between autonomy within Indonesia or independence. After 24 years of brutal military occupation, few doubt that the vast majority will opt for independence if conditions for the vote are free and fair. But just days before the long-awaited referendum, the people of East Timor face escalating paramilitary threats, intimidation and outright attacks. Independent international observers from the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) and other projects, and UN mission staff have also been threatened in a macabre series of recent events. To further maintain U.S. and international focus on East Timor in these critical days before and immediately following the vote, when Indonesian military-backed paramilitaries have threatened "a bloodbath" in East Timor, the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) has scheduled a series of Washington events. When voting begins on Sunday evening at 9 pm, human rights advocates will gather at the Indonesian Embassy (2020 Mass Avenue NW) for a candlelight vigil. Speakers will include Dr. Dan Murphy recently deported from Indonesia after spending 9 months victims of paramilitary attacks in East Timor. On August 30th at the National Press Club, Dr. Dan Murphy will join a recently returned UN-accredited observer from the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) and Lynn Fredriksson of the East Timor Action Network. Their press conference will analyze the events of the day in East Timor, as the vote is completed. On the eve of East Timor's vote, 54 representatives of human rights and religious non-governmental organizations have written President Clinton strongly urging him to do more for East Timor. Their letter encouraged the President to "strictly hold Indonesia to all of its obligations under the May 5 UN agreement." They stated: "All paramilitary units should be contained and disarmed immediately. Indonesian military units should be returned to barracks, and a genuine and monitored troop withdrawal should begin immediately. Nothing short of these measures will ensure post-vote violence can be avoided." They called on President Clinton to speak out publicly to prevent further violence, and asked that U.S. threats to military and financial assistance to Indonesia, if they don't secure the vote in East Timor, be made explicit. For further events or to schedule interviews with Dr. Dan Murphy, East Timorese Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, observers currently in East Timor and others, please contact the East Timor Action Network at the contact information above. ----------------------------------------------- East Timor Action Network 110 Maryland Avenue NE #30 Washington, DC 20002 202-544-6911; 202-546-5103 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED], www.etan.org ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 28 Aug 1999 jam 11:27:49 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
