ATTENTION: CHIEF OF STAFF
The following letter was sent to the PM on the eve of his trip to Bali to
have talks with the Indonesian President on strategies to bring peace to
East Timor. If you have any queries please, contact Andy Alcock at the
addresses and numbers at then end of the letter:
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (S.A.) Inc.
Affiliated to the East Timor Relief Association, the Australian Coalition
for a Free East Timor and the Australian East Timor Network
Global Education Centre
first floor, Torrens House
220 Victoria Square,
ADELAIDE
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5000
25 APRIL 1999
Mr John Howard
PM of Australia
Parliament House
CANBERRA
AUSTRALIA
Dear Mr Howard
RE: HUMAN RIGHTS IN EAST TIMOR AND AUSTRALIA'S INTERESTS
Around Australia today, Australians commemorated those who fell in
struggles against oppression in many parts of the world. Record crowds were
reported. The nation paused to remember those who made sacrifices for
others.
Australians today were also reminded of the great sacrifices that the
people of East Timor made to support Australia during World War 2. At least
70,000 East Timorese died including 40,000 who were massacred by the
Japanese military in reprisal for giving support to Australian soldiers.
Especially moving was the account of Paddy Kenneally screened on SBS on
the eve of Anzac Day. He was a commander who served in Timor and who
believes he would not be alive today had it not been for the sacrifice of
the East Timorese.
Tonight, on the eve of your trip for talks with President Habibie, you
stated that people have to understand that you can only push for human
rights for the East Timorese in the context of Australia's interests.
You may not realise it, but those words you uttered sounded callous in the
extreme. This is especially so given that the militias that have been
recruited, paid and armed by the Indonesian dictatorship and whose
murderous activities are coordinated by the Indonesian army are still
committing massacres.
We wonder what you would you have said of a world leader if he or she had
made similar comments about victims of the nazi holocaust during World War
2? There are many Australians, who upon hearing your words, believe that
you are preparing them for yet another sell out of the East Timorese when
you are in Bali. We earnestly hope that this is not the case.
We also wonder how you have decided what our national interest is. One of
the major reasons why Australian governments over the past 25 years are not
trusted by people of goodwill around the world is because of their betrayal
of the East Timorese. Previous leaders also used the argument of national
interest when deciding to embark on the sell out of our courageous World
War 2 ally. They hoped to profit from East Timor's resources and by the
sale of arms and military equipment to the aggressor.
We urge you to consider that the overwhelming majority of Australians want
East Timor to be free of the Indonesian dictatorship that has brought much
bloodshed and suffering to the region over the past 35 years. These
Australians believe that it is in our national interest to have peace in
the region. Peace cannot exist in the Asia Pacific region when there is
exploitation, massive violations of human rights and genocide occurring in
three countries (East Timor, West Papua and Indonesia eg Acheh). The
Indonesian dictatorship is the guilty party in each case.
It is highly inappropriate and negligent under these circumstances for the
world community to allow Indonesia to be left to achieve peace and to
supervise a referendum. This weekend alone, reports from East Timor
indicate that the militias with the help of the Indonesian military have
murdered up to 100 civilians in Suai. Further, the regime has made it
abundantly clear that it is not interested in stopping the genocide or
allowing the East Timorese to make a free choice about their future.
We also believe that you are not sending an appropriate message to
President Habibie when you allow a criminal person like Basilio Araujo, the
major spokesperson for the Indonesian backed militias, to enter Australia
to attend a conference at the ANU Centre for Democratic Institutions.
Here is an irony indeed. Araujo will come to Australia supposedly to speak
about democracy while he is involved in a systematic campaign of mass
murder to deny a democratic process for the East Timorese people. He will
be here for the sole purpose of pushing integration.
We believe that the Australian Government needs to act much more strongly
to show that it sincerely wants the East Timorese to have a genuine act of
self determination. Therefore we call on you to:
1) Forbid Basilio Araujo from coming to Australia or if he does come to
Australia to have him detained and handed over to international authorities
to be investigated for crimes against humanity
2) Strongly urge Dr Habibie and Mr Alatas that their regime make immediate
moves to disband and disarm the militias and remove all Indonesian military
personnel from East Timor and that they will face economic sanctions unless
this happens
3) Stop all Australian military assistance and cooperation with Indonesia
and urge all nations to do the same
4) Call for the immediate despatch of a UN peace making force to East Timor
to achieve peace and rule of law
5) Immediately send economic and humanitarian aid to support the terrorised
population including surgical teams and urging other nations to do the same
6) Argue that any referendum on East Timor's future should occur only after
every militia has been disbanded and disarmed and every Indonesian
soldier has left the country
7) Urge for the immediate release of Xanana Gusmao in order that he may be
involved with the UN peace talks
8) Immediately revoke Australia's recognition of the illegal Indonesian
takeover of East Timor and the Timor Gap Treaty
9) Immediately thank the East Timorese people for their sacrifices in
support of Australia during World War 2 and officially apologise to them
for Australia's failure to help them while they faced genocide
If you take these steps, you will help to restore peace, justice and
security in East Timor and the region and Australia's image as a nation
that sincerely cares about justice.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Alcock
Information Officer
on behalf of
the Committee of the Campaign for an Independent East Timor SA Inc
Phone: 61 8 83710480 (home) 61 8 82053259 (work)
Pager: 61 8 84157467
Facsimile: 61 8 82236509
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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