Call to disarm East Timor militias The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, April 7th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** In a satellite interview on March 27, Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's independence leader, called on the Australian Government to take action to ensure that the pro-Indonesian militias are disarmed to prevent further loss of life in his country. "Given recent events in East Timor, this is a request that should be taken seriously by Australia and other western governments if they do not wish to be branded as hypocritical", said Andy Alcock, Information Officer of the Campaign for an Independent East Timor (South Australia). Since the fall of Suharto, the Indonesian regime has been continually increasing its troops numbers and is frantically arming the pro-Indonesian militia groupings that are still causing terror and committing crimes against humanity in Timor. Thousands of Indonesian special forces soldiers have been flooding across East Timor's western border in recent months, according to reports in "The Age". The paper's sources include both Australian intelligence and witnesses in East Timor. Many of the troops seen crossing into East Timor have been heavily armed. Most have returned to West Timor without weapons. "It is obvious that the Indonesian leadership is attempting to subvert the will of the East Timorese as they prepare to make a decision about their nation's future", said Mr Alcock. "It is, therefore, highly inappropriate and callously criminal of Australia, other western governments and the UN to expect that the Indonesian regime which has caused many human rights abuses in East Timor should be left with the responsibility for keeping the peace and providing humanitarian aid to the tiny nation's suffering people. "It should be remembered that western aid personnel reported many years ago that the major thrust of Indonesian health [programs] appeared to be sterilisation of East Timorese women without their knowledge. Further, many East Timorese women have reported that their healthy new born babies have died under mysterious circumstances in Indonesian hospitals in East Timor. "Trusting Indonesia with a humanitarian role in East Timor is akin to putting trust in Nazi Germany during World War II to provide health and welfare programs to those peoples and groups that it liquidated." Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, said Mr Alcock, must explain why Australian Governments, including the Howard administration, have aided and abetted the indonesian regime militarily for 24 years. Indonesia has been responsible for genocide in both West Papua and East Timor which has seen approximately a third of the population in each country being wiped out during that time. Australia has resumed training programs for the indonesian military. "This explains why the Howard Government has not been actively promoting peace keeping in East Timor and encouraging the Indonesian military to continue its murderous presence", said Mr Alcock. The East Timorese are calling for a halt to the western military cooperation with Indonesia and for effective peace keeping and humanitarian aid programs to be provided to prevent further slaughter. -- 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
