Here's an update on the People's Inquiry. Pilger endorses inquiry into Australia's wrong policy on East Timor John Pilger, internationally acclaimed film-maker and journalist, has endorsed a campaign to call Australian foreign policy makers to account for their part in the genocide in East Timor over the last 24 years. ``The part played by the Australian foreign policy establishment in the suffering of East Timor is one of the monumental scandals of the late 20th century. It involves four prime ministers, two foreign ministers, a clutch of senior ambassadors and their echoes in the media. Together, they appeased and collaborated with the perpetrators of a crime proportionally greater than of Pol Pot and Hitler's Nazis'', said Pilger. ``They equated the interests of great power and money with the `national interest', and they gave not a damn for a people too whom they, like all Australians, at the very least owed a blood debt. Their record urgently requires independent inquiry and disclosure.'' Pilger is well known for his outspoken criticism of western government policy, in particular Australia's, on East Timor. His hard hitting films on the subject, Death of a Nation and its sequel The Timor Conspiracy have mercilessly revealed the cooperation of the US and Britain with Australia in permitting, even supporting the genocide of the East Timorese by the Indonesian military regime. Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) has launched a People's Inquiry into Australian governments' ``special relationship'' with Indonesia and its role in the genocide in East Timor. Around the country, a series of public hearings will hear evidence against 24 years of bi-partisan foreign policy which betrayed the East Timorese people's demands for independence and the majority of Australians who disagreed that Australian business interests with the Indonesian generals and elites should be given priority status. It was only when the Australian government sat on its hands while Indonesia launched its post-ballot scorched earth policy in East Timor, that many Australians saw the extent of the government's complicity. This is what fueled the anger at the mass rallies and demonstrations across the country which forced the Howard to jeopardise its cosy relationship with Jakarta and move to help the Timorese independence forces. ASIET believes that Australian governments should be forced to pay a high price for such profits-first foreign policy and this campaign is designed to reinforce that fact. East Timorese activists, former government officials, aid workers and others directly affected by this wrong policy are invited to take part in this campaign. ASIET is calling on interested people to submit their testimonies or statements to its home page address set up at <http://www.asiet.org.au/>. The campaign's national sponsors are: Susan Connolly RSJ (Mary MacKillop Institute of East Timorese Studies); Helen Jarvis (Consultant on documentation on Cambodia Genocide Program, associate professor, University of NSW); Jacob Varghese (National Union of Students); Tim Anderson (Sydney University lecturer); Bruce Haigh (former diplomat); Max Lane (ASIET national chairperson, Democratic Socialist Party); Naldo Rai (East Timorese activist and writer, former Falantil guerrilla); Vince Jones (Musician); Lynette Dumble (International Coordinator, Global Sisterhood Network; associate senior research fellow, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne); Shirley Shackleton; Wendy Robertson (Resistance); Anteiro da Silva (East Timorese Student Solidarity Council); Dr Margaret Perrott (Veteran peace activist, South Coast, NSW); and Tim Gooden (CPSU, ACT Government section secretary). Local sponsors are also being sought, and interested people should contact ASIET (see contact details at the bottom of this e-mail message). According to Pilger, ``The investigation proposed by ASIET, bringing together all those with evidence, is both timely and extremely important, because it can be assumed, sadly, that any `official' inquiry will limit its terms of reference to protect the reputations of establishment figures. The point is, unless we understand fully the Australian role in Suharto's great crime, its repetition is virtually assured in Aceh, West Papua and elsewhere.'' Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) PO Box 458 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Tel: 61 (0)2 9690 1032 Fax: 61 (0)2 9690 1381 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.asiet.org.au/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
