With the support of people like you, ETAN organized the successful
2007 Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET). Through SOMET,
scores of volunteer observers from around the world and within
Timor-Leste observed three national elections in three months. The
people of Timor-Leste welcomed our solidarity to build their new nation,
and SOMET’s observations provided constructive input that improved
subsequent elections.
Recently, ETAN held its first Advocacy Days in three years. Thirty
activists from around the country hit the halls of Congress in April,
meeting with more than 100 House and Senate offices. Following our Hill
advocacy, 34 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, urging greater U.S. government commitment to justice for human
rights violations perpetrated against the people of Timor-Leste during
the Indonesian occupation.
Going forward, we plan to build on the energy created – in the
U.S. and Timor-Leste – by Advocacy Days and, especially, SOMET. With
your help, we can do this.
For the past two years, ETAN has had no permanent presence in
Washington, DC. ETAN hired temporary staff to make sure that SOMET and
Advocacy Days were a success. But to continue our work in support of
justice and democracy for Timor-Leste and Indonesia – and to build on
the energy emerging from SOMET and Advocacy Days –ETAN needs someone permanent to be our eyes and ears on the
ground in Washington. We plan to hire a part-time DC staffer to do
this, but we need your help to raise the required funds. Your generous
donation can help make this happen.
During the 10 years that ETAN had a Washington office, we were able
to develop and sustain many of ETAN’s most successful grassroots
campaigns. We
put Congress on record in support of self-determination for East
Timor;
succeeded in getting Congress to cut U.S. assistance for the
brutal Indonesian military, most recently blocking training for
its notorious Kopassus special forces;
generated multiple calls for justice for crimes against humanity
and other human rights violations in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and
West Papua;
helped to keep Timor-Leste free from impoverishing debt;
opposed the Australian government’s attempt to steal East
Timor’s petroleum resources, including by organizing members of
Congress to speak out during the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement
debate.
These campaigns would not have been nearly as successful without
dedicated Washington staff. ETAN’s Washington work has often helped
ignite grassroots mobilizations in support of Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
We are committed to again strengthening our organizing and national
advocacy base.
ETAN is unique in the U.S. We are the only voice of solidarity
dedicated to Timor-Leste on the national political scene. Further, we
are very often the leading voice speaking out for Indonesian human
rights in Washington.
SOMET Press
Conference, June 28, 2007 L-R: Jose Luis Oliveira (Association HAK), Elizabeth dos Reis (Bibi Bulak), Bronwyn Thomas
(SOMET), Jill Sternberg (ETAN), Santina Soares (La'o
Hamutuk), Tito (Concern). Photo by Charles Scheiner.
ETAN activists on Capitol Hill, April
2008. L-R: Charles Scheiner, Jill
Sternberg, and Aya Oktaviani Photo by Tristan Vazquez.
With long-time allies of Timor-Leste now heading critical committees
in the U.S. Congress, this is a critical moment to re-assert and expand
ETAN’s reach in Washington. With your support, we can gain greater
ground in furthering human rights protections and justice. This is an
opportunity we don’t want to miss. Please help us fund our Washington
staff position.
SOMET showed us how vitally important our sustained international
interest in Timor-Leste’s fledgling democracy is to the people of that
new nation. We invite you to help us grow and strengthen our base of
solidarity and our work in the U.S. capitol. We welcome your activist
and financial support.
Thank you very much for your consideration and
support.
In solidarity,
John M. Miller
National Coordinator
Karen Orenstein
Former Washington Coordinator
P.S. You can contribute safely through ETANbelow. Or you can
mail your donation. To support ETAN's
political advocacy work, write a check made out to "ETAN."
To support ETAN's educational efforts,
tax-deductible donations of more than $50 can be made out to
"A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN."
Please mail your donations to: East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network (ETAN), PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873.
To give
a U.S. tax-deductible donation by credit card
- click here:
Donations of any size for ETAN's political and advocacy work should
be made out to ETAN and are not tax-deductible.
Tax-deductible checks
for over $50 can also be made out to "AJ Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN"
and
will
be used to support our educational work.
Please mail all donations to:
East
Timor and Indonesia Action
Network
PO Box 21873 Brooklyn, NY
11202-1873