Subject: STimes: Students convince selectmen to
support East Timor
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:28:05 -0500
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>12/22/98 The Standard-Times
Students convince selectmen to support people of East Timor By Danielle Duclos,
Standard-Times correspondent
DARTMOUTH [Massachusetts] -- Selectmen last night passed a resolution in support of
freedom for the people of East Timor. Students at Dartmouth High School have organized the
first High School Chapter of the East Timor Action Network. Nearly 20 high school and
middle school students met with selectmen last night to urge them to do all they could to
help the people of East Timor. The impassioned plea, which lasted about 20 minutes, moved
the selectmen to action.
"They're suffering, they're dying and they're being opressed and all they want is
a chance to speak," said Selectman Leonard Gonsalves. East Timor has been under
Indonesian control since it was granted Independence from Portugal in 1975. There have
been several massacres since that time and an estimated 200,000 East Timorise killed.
"It is one of the worst cases of genocide since World War II," stressed
Dartmouth High student Joe Sousa.
The United States until recently, has been one of the strongest backers of Indonesia,
at times training troops and selling them weapons. After eloquent speeches from Mr. Sousa
and fellow Dartmouth High student James Madden, a video was shown from an Australian news
agency of an East Timorisan protest. The five minute video showed in graphic detail the
violence and massacre inflicted on the Timorise by Indonesian soldiers. Haunting and
chilling, the video affected the selectmen and audience. "It's a good thing I can
blame my tears on my head cold," Selectman Enid Silva said.
In support of the student's effort last night was Congressman James McGovern,
D-Worcester, and state Reps. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, and John Quinn,
D-Dartmouth. "I was really inspired by what you had to say and the activism you are
demonstrating," Rep. McGovern told to the students. Rep. Cabral urged the passage of
the Cabral-Pacheco bill, which calls on the state to divest investments in Indonesia and
to halt contracts with Baystate companies which do business in Indonesia. "Our
federal government can do more than what they've done and they must do more," Rep.
Cabral said.
Because the resolution passed, Dartmouth has now joined Brookline and Cambridge in
resolutions supporting the cause of East Timor. They hope other towns will follow suit,
increasing pressure on lawmakers to reform current U.S. foreign policy.
"It's such a clear moral issue," Mr. Sousa said. "It shouldn't be
difficult from a congressional standpoint to take action on it." Students said they
will also be seeking to bring resolutions to other towns in the area, hoping to cause a
ground-swell of support among the local Portuguese-American community. Students say they
will also push for President Clinton to get involved in the peace negotiations and to
grant Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta a public meeting at the White House.
"They can do more by receiving Jose-Ramos Horta into the White House," said
Rep. Cabral. "That itself would be a tremendous message to the leaders of Indonesia
that we must resolve this issue once and for all,"
Below is the text of the resolution:
Dartmouth Town Resolution
Whereas Indonesia violently invaded East Timor on December 7, 1975, nine days after
East Timor declared its independence from Portugal;
Whereas 60,000 East Timorese died in the first weeks of the illegal Indonesian
occupation;
Whereas 200,000 people of a population of less than 700,000 (nearly one-third of the
population) have died as a result of the Indonesian occupation;
Whereas Indonesia's occupation has been one of arbitrary arrest, rape, torture, and
summary execution as documented by Amnesty International and the United States State
Department and there have further been reports of forced birth control and forced
abortions in East Timor;
Whereas the violent and brutal Indonesian occupation is ongoing as evidenced by the
massacre, conducted by the Indonesian military, of an estimated 273 East Timorese
protesters on November 12, 1991 in Dili, East Timor and by the reports concerning the
village of Alas, East Timor in which it is suspected that dozens of East Timorese were
killed by the Indonesian military between November 9 and November 19, 1998 and the village
remains sealed off to this day preventing outside contact so as to confirm such abuses
perpetuated upon the East Timorese.
Whereas the United Nations has condemned the Indonesian occupation in ten separate
resolutions;
Whereas after Indonesia grandly announced a major troop withdrawal from East Timor in
June of 1998, thousands of fresh Indonesian troops would arrive in East Timor in August of
1998;
Whereas East Timor's 1996 Nobel Laureates Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and Dr. Jose
Ramos-Horta have affirmed the severity and brutality of the ongoing Indonesian occupation;
Whereas the United States has played a negative role, in supporting the Indonesian
occupation, militarily, economically, and diplomatically; now therefore be it
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth condemns the brutal human rights abuses
perpetrated upon the East Timorese by the Indonesian government and military; and be it
further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth supports East Timor's right to self-determination
and supports an internationally supervised referendum on East Timor's political future, so
that the East Timorese may determine their own political future; and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth calls upon the United States to rectify its
involvement in regards to this injustice by
1. Taking a more active, determined and defined leadership role in supporting East
Timor's right to self-determination and basic human rights
2. Demonstrating clear and outspoken support for East Timor from President Clinton,
Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth and the State Department
3. Receiving Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta at the White House, so as to support the East
Timorese in their struggle for human rights as people and self-determination as a nation;
and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth calls for a UN monitored troop withdrawal of all
Indonesian soldiers from East Timor, and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth requests a permanent UN human rights observer in
East Timor; and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth demands Indonesia to free Xanana Gusmao and all
the other estimated 200 East Timorese political prisoners; and be it further
Resolved; That the town of Dartmouth asks its Congressional Representative, James P.
McGovern to cosponsor H.R. 4874 (The International Military Training Transparency and
Accountability Act) sponsored by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ); and be it further
Resolved; That the town of Dartmouth requests East Timorese, including members of the
Maubere Resistance Movement, participation in the UN sponsored tri-partite dialogue
between Portugal and Indonesia regarding the political future of East Timor; and be it
further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth calls upon President William Jefferson Clinton,
the State Department, Madeline Albright, Stanley Roth, our United States Senators, the
Honorable Edward M. Kennedy and the Honorable John Robert Kerry and our Congressional
Representative, the Honorable James P. McGovern to take active leadership roles and
strong, determined and steadfast action in advocating and seeking to realize these
resolutions; and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth encourages and advocates surrounding communities
and cities to pass similar resolutions supporting East Timor; and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth supports and advocates that our State
Representative John Quinn support any future state legislation condemning the illegal
Indonesian occupation of East Timor and supporting East Timor's right to
self-determination and basic human rights, including any such legislation sponsored by
Rep. Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford); and be it further
Resolved: That the town of Dartmouth advocates that our State Representative John Quinn
and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts support the East Timorese and take the leadership
steps necessary to ensure that the United States government supports, acts upon and works
to realize such said resolutions; and be it further
Resolved: That the Town Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a copy of this
resolution to President Clinton, Secretary of State Albright, Assistant Secretary of State
Stanley Roth, President Habibie of Indonesia, the Embassy to the United States of the
Republic of Indonesia and to the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and Nobel
Laureates Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta.
Back to January Menu
Main Postings Menu
Postings of Human Rights Violations in Timor |
