ATTENTION:
CHIEF OF STAFF
FRIENDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH EAST TIMOR
The following appeal was made to the world leaders listed below in an
effort to continue the embargo on all forms of military cooperation with
the Indonesian military (TNI).
This action is taken in cooperation with TAPOL which sent out an appeal for
action on 6 January 2000.
Please feel free to quote the contents of this communication to put further
pressure on the European Parliament, the US, Australia and the UK who have
been foremost in cooperating with the Indonesian military.
In solidarity
Andy Alcock
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (South Australia) Inc.
(Affiliated to the International Federation for East Timor, the East Timor
Relief Association, the Free Timor Coalition and the Australian Coalition
for a Free East Timor)
c/o Development Education Centre first floor 220 Victoria Square
ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5000
His Excellency, Mr Jaime Gama,
Foreign Minister of Portugal
President of the European Union, Portugal.
Mr Bill Clinton
President of the US
White House
Washington DC
Mr Tony Blair
PM of Great Britain
House of Commons
Westminster, UK
Mr John Howard
PM of Australia
Parliament House, Canberra
Mr Kofi Annan
Secretary General of the UN
New York
Your Excellencies
RE:
EXTENSION OF EMBARGO ON ALL ARMS SALES AND MILITARY TIES WITH INDONESIA
The European Union embargo on arms sales and military ties with Indonesia
expires on 17 January. During this week, the European Council of
Ministers will have to decide whether to extend the embargo. We are
writing to you to extend this embargo as the Indonesian military is still
committing human right violations in the SE Asian region.
In early September last year, the Australian Government and the Clinton
Administration announced that they were cutting all military ties with
Indonesia and placing embargos on all military supplies to the Indonesian
armed forces (TNI).
Shortly after, the European Union introduced a four-month embargo on all
military sales to Indonesia and suspended military cooperation, effective
from 16 September. At last, the world's main suppliers of military
equipment to Indonesia had conceded it was necessary to halt arms sales,
after having ignored demands for an embargo for over two decades.
They acted at a time when it was no longer possible to ignore the barbaric
behaviour of the TNI. The actions that resulted in the embargo included the
increased slaughter of innocent civilians, a scorched earth policy and the
forced migration of almost the entire population.
These crimes were orchestrated by senior Indonesian officers to take
revenge against the people of East Timor for courageously voting for
independence in the August referendum.
Since then, Indonesia has relinquished its claim to East Timor, which is
now under a transitional UN administration. The arms industry is clearly
hoping that this will signal the all-clear for a resumption of arms sales
to Indonesia after 17 January.
In a statement to the Dutch Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign
Affairs on 5 November, Nobel Peace Laureate and CNRT's Vice-President Dr
Jos� Ramos-Horta called for the extension of the embargo: 'An embargo is
necessary until TNI becomes subordinated to democratic control', he said.
If governments allow the resumption of arms exports and military
cooperation to the TNI, it will send a signal to them that the world
considers that they have reformed. It will give legitimacy to the continued
repression that the TNI continues to practice in West Papua, Acheh, Ambon,
the Maluku Islands and in West Timor. It should be noted that in West
Timor, the TNI and its militias, are terrorising up to 170,000 East
Timorese refugees who are still trapped there.
Apart from the military repression, the TNI exerts a harmful influence on
Indonesia's political system, despite the fact that the country is now
governed by a democratically elected government for the first time in about
40 years. At the present, the armed forces leadership is challenging the
elected government by intimidating the new leaders and seeking to impose
martial law in several regions.
We are heartened by the fact that the European Parliament in December
carried a resolution calling on the Council of Ministers to extend the
embargo beyond 17 January 2000.
Until the TNI shows respect for Indonesia's democracy, ceases its gross
violations against human rights across the archipelago and cooperates with
the investigations into the terror organised in East Timor around the
referendum, there can be no justification for the arms embargo to be lifted
or for any sort of military cooperation with the Indonesian armed forces to
be resumed.
We strongly urge you to support the European Parliament resolution and
continue to impose the embargo until:
all East Timorese refugees in West Timor who wish to return home have done
so
the major culprits for mass murders and other crimes against human rights
in East Timor, West Papua and Indonesia have been brought to justice and
expelled from the ranks of the military
the TNI has proved that it has become subordinate to the elected Government
of Indonesia and ceases to behave as a criminal repressive force
If you continue the ban, you will make a positive contribution to
decreasing the level of repression in the SE Asian and Pacific regions. The
peoples of these regions have suffered greatly at the hands of the TNI for
too long. Your action can help to end this.
Yours sincerely
Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Information Officer
for
the Committee
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (South Australia) Inc
Phone: 61 8 83710480 (home) Pager: 61 8 82734382
Facsimile: 61 8 82236509
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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