Dear Friends
There will be a rally in Adelaide as part of the ACTU Solidarity Day
for East Timor on 27 May. The details are below. Union, church, aid,
solidarity and community groups are welcome to participate.
BACKGROUND
As you would be aware, militias that have been recruited, armed,
trained, paid and coordinated by the Indonesian military are roaming
East Timor at will. Since the end of last year, these psychopaths who
have been drugged to the eyeballs, have killed hundreds of people.
Almost every day, we hear of another community that has been
terrorised due to the activities of these groups and their Indonesian
military masters.
Their victims have been raped, tortured, disembowelled, shot, hacked
or bludgeoned to death. East Timor is suffering a neo nazi nightmare
and the international response to this tragic situation is
underwhelming. The UN intends to send a team of 600 to organise a
referendum so that the East Timores can determine their future.
Of the 600 personnel, 300 will be police officers who may or may not
be armed. This team is expected to restore security so that the
referendum can occur without terror and intimidation. In effect,
these police officers will be expected to control several thousand
lawless militias and the Indonesian military which still has between
15-20,000 personnel illegally occupying East Timor. David Wimshurst,
the spokesperson for the UN Mission in East Timor, has called for a
more credible peacemaking mission as has former Australian army
general, Ted Serong.
It should also be remembered that the Indonesian military occupation
during nearly 24 years has led to the deaths of about 300,000 or over
a third of the East Timorese population. This is genocide or ethnic
cleansing at its worst. It is therefore irresponsible in the extreme
to expect this army to control the militias and restore peace. David
Wimshurst personally reported seeing militias being trained by an
Indonesian officer on 21 May in Atsabe while investigating the recent
militia killings in Ataro.
In spite of this situation inside East Timor, some western
governments continue military cooperation with the Indonesian regime.
These countries include Australia, the US and the UK. Only 2 weeks
ago, the British Government sent 2 Hawk Attack military aircraft to
the Indonesian regime. These planes have contributed greatly to the
genocide in East Timor and West Papua (or Irian Jaya as it is called
by the colonisers).
It is essential that we urge as many as possible to support the ACTU
Day of Solidarity with East Timor to urge the Australian Government
to take a more responsible and compassionate approach to achieving
peace and justice in our region.
DETAILS OF ACTION:
The action in Adelaide is being organised by the United Trades
Labour Council, the Campaign for an Independent East Timor (SA) Inc,
Amnesty International and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and
East Timor.
RALLY:
12.30 pm Thursday 27 May 1999
Outside Garuda Office
76 Waymouth St
ADELAIDE
Speakers from Amnesty, union, church, aid, solidarity groups
PLANNING MEETING
There will be a planning meeting for interested unions and community
groups
at 12 noon Monday 21 May 1999
Board Room
United Trades Labour Council
Trades Hall
11 South Tce, Adelaide
AIMS OF THE SOLIDARITY ACTION:
are to stop the killing in East Timor by:
* calling on the Australian Government to work for a UN peacemaking
mission in East Timor that is adequate to:
- monitor and control the Indonesian army
- ensure that the militias are disarmed and disbanded
- prevent attacks by the militias and the Indonesian army on the
distribution
of food and medical aid
-ensure the integrity of the 8 August 1999 ballot
* ensuring the right of the East Timorese to vote on their future free of
terror
violence
* calling for the urgent distribution of food medical supplies in East
Timor
* putting pressure on the Indonesian government to:
- disarm disband the militias
- withdraw the Indonesian army from East Timor
* calling on UN member nations to halt all military cooperation with
Indonesia
* calling for wider union industrial and community action if Indonesia does
not take
steps to halt the violence by disarming the militias and withdrawing its
army from
East Timor
* calling on unions, community groups and their individual members to
contribute
urgently to provide food and medical supplies to meet the desperate
humanitarian
needs in East Timor
In solidarity
Viva Timor Leste
Chris White
Secretary
United Trades Labour Council
Andy Alcock
Information Officer
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (SA) Inc
LL.SE
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