[asia-apec 1862] Call justice for for the women of East Timor

[John M. Miller]

For Immediate Release
May 13, 2002

Contact:
Diane Farsetta, 608-663-5431
John M. Miller, 718-5967668; mobile: 917-690-4391
Women Worldwide Call For an International Tribunal For East Timor

Officials, Scholars And Activists Say Justice For Crimes Against Timorese 
Women Needed Now

Women from across the world said today that an international tribunal was 
the only way to hold accountable those most responsible for crimes against 
humanity committed in East Timor.

More than 125 women from 14 countries and 22 U.S. states signed the 
statement, which was released by the East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) 
less than a week before East Timor becomes the first new nation of the 
millennium.

“The Indonesian [ad hoc Human Rights] court will not adequately address 
cases of gender violence and the systematic targeting of women and 
children, among other serious crimes,” asserts the statement, which is 
signed by such well-known women as activist Gloria Steinem; actor Susan 
Sarandon and playwright Eve Ensler; Judith Shapiro, President of Barnard 
College; authors Naomi Klein and Susan Brownmiller; Jessica Neuwirth, 
President of Equality Now; Eleanor Smeal of Feminist Majority; author and 
organizer Vandana Shiva of India; and human rights defender Sister Dianna 
Ortiz. Three members of Congress, Representatives Tammy Baldwin (WI), 
Barbara Lee (CA) and Cynthia McKinney (GA), also signed.

“This strong showing of international women’s solidarity recognizes the 
suffering of East Timorese women during the Indonesian military occupation, 
while paying tribute to the long tradition of women working for justice and 
peace,” said ETAN field organizer Diane Farsetta. “The wide range of 
signatories, including members of Congress, authors, actors and 
activists  demonstrates the strong consensus on this important issue.”

The statement was initiated by women’s groups in East Timor and begins by 
quoting REDE, the East Timorese Women’s Network: “Of all the victims of 
Indonesian military violence the greatest suffering was borne by women, who 
up to this time, have not met with the justice they hoped for.”

In 1975, the Indonesian military illegally invaded and occupied East Timor; 
more than one-third of East Timor’s population was killed. Women were 
specifically targeted by the Indonesian military with rape, kidnapping and 
torture, as well as forced “marriage” and sterilization. In 1999, over 98 
percent of eligible East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence in 
a UN-organized referendum. After the results were announced, the Indonesian 
military and its militias carried out a brutal scorched-earth campaign in 
retaliation, killing at least 2,000 people, raping hundreds of women and 
girls, displacing some 600,000 people, and destroying more than 75 percent 
of the country’s infrastructure. An international peacekeeping force 
finally restored stability a month later, and the UN has administered the 
territory since then. On May 20, East Timor becomes fully independent.

Investigations by the UN and the Indonesian government’s own human rights 
commission found the Indonesian military responsible for 1999’s atrocities. 
UN commissions and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson have 
called for an international human rights tribunal to be established for 
East Timor. Seeking to avoid international action, the Indonesian 
government promised to hold its own trials. Its ad hoc Human Rights Court 
on East Timor began hearing cases last March. However, Indonesian and 
international human rights groups have sharply criticized the court. The 
International Crisis Group recently reported that the process is so 
problematic it may “trivialize
 the concept of crimes against humanity in 
Indonesia.”

The women’s statement released today by ETAN recalls the advance made “last 
year by the decision of the International Tribunal for the Former 
Yugoslavia
 classify[ing] rape as a crime against humanity,” and adds, 
“atrocities committed against the people of East Timor deserve no less 
attention.”

“The release of the statement soon after Mother’s Day and just one week 
before East Timor’s independence is very fitting,” added Farsetta. “We hope 
this strong stand taken by women around the world will be heeded by the 
Security Council and world governments. The mothers of East Timor deserve 
the peace only justice can give them, and the international community has 
an obligation to welcome the birth of the world’s newest country with a 
renewed commitment to justice.”

The East Timor Action Network/U.S. is a nationwide grassroots human rights 
organization, which has worked for self-determination, human rights and 
justice for East Timor for the past ten years. The full women’s statement 
and list of signatories can be found on ETAN’s website at 
www.etan.org/news/2002a/02women.htm.

-30-

-----------------------------------
Justice for East Timor Demands an International Tribunal

A Statement from Women’s Studies Scholars,
Women Leaders and Feminist Organizations

“An International Tribunal is the most pressing demand in the interests of 
justice. Of all the victims of Indonesian military violence the greatest 
suffering was borne by women, who up to this time, have not met with the 
justice they hoped for.”
from a statement by the East Timorese Women’s Network, June 2001

We join with our East Timorese sisters in calling for an international 
tribunal for East Timor.

We urge the United Nations Security Council to establish an international 
tribunal for East Timor without delay. The East Timorese people have waited 
far too long for the architects and perpetrators of the atrocities 
committed against them to be brought to justice. Over two years have passed 
since the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor 
called for an international human rights tribunal. During that time, it has 
become clear that only an international tribunal can hold accountable the 
high-ranking Indonesian military, police and government officials most 
responsible for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor.

When Indonesia illegally invaded and occupied East Timor in 1975, it began 
a genocidal campaign that lasted nearly a quarter-century. During the first 
five years of the occupation, some 200,000 people  one-third of the 
pre-invasion population  were killed. The occupation specifically targeted 
women in several ways, including the following:

*       Rape and “forced marriage” to military personnel were used to 
terrorize and control East Timorese women, to punish pro-independence 
families, and to reward Indonesian soldiers. A study of gender violence in 
1999 by the Communication Forum for East Timorese Women (FOKUPERS) found 
many acts of rape were “planned, organized, and sustained  militia and 
soldiers conniving together to abduct women and share them like chattel; 
or, in some cases, forcibly taking women across the border into 
[Indonesian] West Timor where the women were raped daily and made to 
perform household chores.” Tragically, the women among the estimated 60,000 
East Timorese still in Indonesian refugee camps remain vulnerable to sexual 
assault by militia and military members.

*       East Timorese women were forcibly sterilized by the Indonesian 
military under the guise of “family planning”. It is estimated that tens of 
thousands of women were injected with contraceptives without their 
consent  sometimes even without their knowledge  and never with adequate 
follow-up care.

*       An unknown number of East Timorese children were kidnapped and 
raised in Indonesia as Indonesian citizens, a practice that continues 
today. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has confirmed 240 
cases of East Timorese children being taken from their parents by militia 
in Indonesian refugee camps since 1999; according to the UN, as many as 
2,000 children may be held captive currently.

In the face of such suffering, it is truly reprehensible that the world 
community has knowingly placed its faith in an unacceptable alternative to 
an international tribunal  the Indonesian ad hoc Human Rights Court for 
East Timor. Due to its many flaws, the Indonesian court will not adequately 
address cases of gender violence and the systematic targeting of women and 
children, among other serious crimes.

International justice was significantly advanced last year by the decision 
of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to classify rape as 
a crime against humanity. But the world community cannot stop there. 
Atrocities committed against the people of East Timor deserve no less 
attention than those committed against peoples of other nations. An 
international tribunal for East Timor, with a mandate covering the entire 
Indonesian occupation, must be established now to redress the most heinous 
crimes committed against the women and men of East Timor. Otherwise, 
international justice will appear weak and conditional, rule of law will be 
undermined, and the people of the world’s newest nation will have good 
reason to lose faith in the world community.




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John M. Miller         Internet: john at etan.org

Media & Outreach Coordinator
East Timor Action Network: 10 Years for Self-Determination & Justice

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Support ETAN, make a secure financial contribution: 
http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet
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