ATTENTION:
CHIEF OF STAFF
FRIENDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH EAST TIMOR
The following letter was sent to mr Jaime Gama, Portugal's Foreign Minister
and the President of the EU following the decision of that body to lift the
embargo against the Indonesian military.
The letter urges the EU to reimpose the embargo on all forms of military
cooperation with the Indonesian military (TNI) to halt further human rights
violations in the Asia and Pacific regions.
Please feel free to quote the contents of this communication to put further
pressure on the European Parliament.
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
19 January 2000
His Excellency, Mr Jaime Gama,
Foreign Minister of Portugal
President of the European Union,
Portugal
Your Excellency
RE: THE EU DECISION TO RESUME MILITARY COOPERATION WITH THE
INDONESIAN MILITARY
On the 10 January, we wrote to you and other world leaders explaining why
it was inappropriate and very dangerous for the peoples of the SE Asian and
the Pacific regions should the European Union agree to resume military
cooperation with the Indonesian military (TNI). Our reason for writing was
to highlight the fact that the TNI, as you would be aware, has committed
genocide and gross violations against human rights over the past 35 years
which continue today despite the change of government in Indonesia.
We were therefore appalled and bitterly disappointed to learn that the EU
has decided to resume the military cooperation with this evil killing
machine. It is our belief that many people of peace and goodwill around the
world will be outraged at the decision that you have taken.
The decision was evidently taken because the EU believed that the
restrictive measures imposed against the Indonesian regime in September
1999 were no longer necessary because of the change of government. It
further claimed that arms exports will be governed by the strict
implementation of an EU Code of Conduct to prevent their misuse .
On the contrary, the EU decision will further contribute to greater loss of
innocent lives, threaten the fragile Indonesian democracy and embolden the
murderous intentions of the highly criminal TNI. We are writing to you
again to respectfully ask you to consider the facts outlined below and to
rescind your lifting of the ban on military cooperation with the TNI.
Your decision comes at a time when the following events are occurring:
The UN estimates that between 120,000 - 170,000 East Timorese refugees are
still trapped in West Timor by the TNI and its militias. It is still using
military force to terrorise these refugees and to prevent their return to
East Timor.
INTERFET Commander Major General Peter Cosgrove has strongly criticised
Indonesian Commander in West Timor, Major General Kiki Syahnakri, for
allowing Indonesia's troops to continue to collude with militia gangs.
Major-General Peter Cosgrove also reported only two days ago that his
troops opened fire when they were attacked by TNI militiamen armed with
automatic guns and shotguns in three separate clashes in the enclave of
Oecusse.
The TNI is still intent in crushing independence movements in the
Melanesian country of West Papua and the territory of Acheh in northern
Sumatra.
There is communal strife in Ambon between Christians and Muslims believed
to be fomented by the TNI. The introduction of more TNI personnel is
predicted by observers to lead to even greater loss of life among of
Ambonese civilians as the generals use every strategy at their disposal to
undermine democracy in Indonesia
The TNI is intent on challenging the elected government of Abdurrahman
Wahid. The President has felt it necessary to rearrange senior military
postings to isolate those loyal to General Wiranto, the alleged instigator
of the increased brutality in East Timor in the lead up to the referendum
and the period after. His government is in a very tenuous situation.
[The US is so sure that that TNI generals intend to stage a coup that
Richard Holbrooke, the US Ambassador to the UN, gave a stern warning to
TNI generals not to attempt an overthrow of the democratic structures that
have recently been put in place in Indonesia].
A major disappointment about this premature lifting of the embargo is the
apparent prominent leadership role taken by Portugal in taking the
decision. This is very sad indeed given the courageous moral stance that
Portugal consistently took over the past two decades to oppose the illegal
and barbaric occupation of East Timor by the TNI.
Your decision will lead many to believe that you, like Britain, have
succumbed to the strategies of the arms manufacturers and have decided to
put their profits before human rights.
The world has come to expect the Blair Government to make strong statements
about human rights and then adopt policies that contribute to human rights
violations. Military aid to and cooperation with the TNI continued until a
few weeks before peacekeepers entered East Timor in late 1999. UK Foreign
Minister, John Battle, will shortly visit East Timor and Indonesia. It is
expected that he will be seeking to renew lucrative arms and military
equipment sales with the military which is the greatest threat to peace,
democracy and human rights in the region.
It was heartening to see that Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Jozias van
Aartsen has said that he wants to maintain an arms embargo on Indonesia.
The Netherlands has in the past provided military hardware to the
Indonesian regime.
In the interests of democracy, peace and social justice in the Asia and
Pacific regions, the Dutch position should have prevailed. We again implore
you to reimpose the embargo against the Indonesian military to prevent
further loss of life in this part of the world.
Yours sincerely
Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Information Officer
for
the Committee
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (South Australia) Inc
Phone: 61 8 83710480 (home) Facsimile: 61 8 82236509
Pager: 61 8 82734382 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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