[asia-apec 1872] House Resolution Supports Independent East Timor

[John M. Miller]

Contact: Karen Orenstein, 202-544-6911
John M. Miller, 718-5967668; mobile: 917-690-4391

For Immediate Release

U.S. House of Representatives Unanimously Congratulates East Timor

Endorses and Continued Restriction on U.S.-Indonesia Military Ties, Pledges 
Continued Support for New Nation, Expresses Concern about Lack of Justice

May 21, 2002 -- The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a 
resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 405, see text below) congratulating 
the people of East Timor on their independence and welcoming the new nation 
as an "equal partner" in the community of nations.

"Congressional support has been key to East Timor achieving this week's 
independence. We are pleased that Congress remains committed to supporting 
the new nation," said Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator of the East 
Timor Action Network (ETAN).

The resolution calls for maintaining "a level of United States assistance 
for East Timor commensurate with the challenges this new nation faces after 
independence."

The House also urged the Bush administration "to ensure that those 
officials responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes against 
the East Timorese people are held accountable and that the Indonesian 
Government fully cooperates with the East Timorese judicial system."

The House expressed its commitment to "maintaining appropriate restrictions 
and prohibitions in law on military assistance, training relations, and 
technical support to the Indonesian Armed Forces." Military ties between 
the U.S. and Indonesia were suspended in 1999 as Indonesian troops and 
their militia proxies were leveling East Timor following its overwhelming 
vote for independence.

The resolution highlights the need for repatriation of East Timorese 
refugees, especially those held in militia-controlled refugee camps in 
Indonesian West Timor, and calls on the administration to press Indonesia 
to disarm and disband the militia and ensure security along the border.

Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Jim McGovern 
(D-MA), and Tom Lantos (D-CA) delivered speeches on the floor of the House 
of Representatives in support of the resolution.

Smith said it "addresses the serious challenges" East Timor faces, 
including, "development of a stable economy, holding accountable those who 
carried out crimes against humanity and genocide during Indonesia's reign 
of terror, and caring for those many victims who still suffer tremendously 
from the scars of war and poverty."

Smith added that he "will be pressing my friends on the Appropriations 
Committees for a higher level of funding" than requested by the Bush 
administration for FY 2003.

Rep. Lantos said, "Standing up for human rights and democracy in East Timor 
was the right and moral course of action.And as a result of the bravery of 
the East Timorese people and concerted international pressure, we stand 
here today welcoming East Timor as the first new nation of the 21st Century."

Kennedy told the House that, "After decades of tremendous suffering under 
military occupation, we need to give generously to East Timor to ensure 
that children are guaranteed a quality education, adequate health care and 
shelter, and that other needs for a decent standard of living are met."

Representative Jim McGovern said, "The international community, along with 
East Timor, must also find a way to bring to justice those accountable for 
the campaign of violence leading up to and following the 1999 referendum."

In addition to Smith, Kennedy, McGovern, and Lantos, Joseph Crowley (D-NY), 
Barney Frank (D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jose Serrano (D-NY) and Frank 
Wolf (R-VA) co-sponsored the resolution.

Senators Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) have introduced 
a similar resolution in the Senate, S.Con.Res. 109.

For over a decade, the East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) has supported 
self-determination and human rights for East Timor. It continues to work in 
support human dignity for the people of East Timor by advocating for 
democracy, sustainable development, social, legal, and economic justice and 
human rights, including women's rights. More information can be found at 
www.etan.org.

-30-

-----------------


107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION


H. CON. RES. 405

Concurrent resolution commemorating the independence of East Timor and 
commending the President for promptly establishing diplomatic relations 
with East Timor.''


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 14, 2002

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. FRANK, 
and Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commemorating the independence of East Timor and expressing the sense of 
Congress that the President should establish diplomatic relations with East 
Timor.

Whereas on May 20, 2002, East Timor became the first new country of the 
millennium;


Whereas the perseverance and strength of the East Timorese people in the 
face of daunting challenges has inspired the people of the United States 
and around the world;

Whereas in 1974 Portugal acknowledged the right of its colonies, including 
East Timor, to self-determination, including independence;

Whereas East Timor has been under United Nations administration since 
October 1999 during which time international peacekeeping forces, 
supplemented by forces of the United States Group for East Timor (USGET), 
have worked to stabilize East Timor and provide for its national security;

Whereas the people of East Timor exercised their long-sought right of 
self-determination on August 30, 1999, when 98.6 percent of the eligible 
population voted, and 78.5 percent chose independence in a United 
Nations-administered popular consultation despite systematic terror and 
intimidation by the Indonesian military and its militia;

Whereas the East Timorese people again demonstrated their strong commitment 
to democracy when 91.3 percent of eligible voters peacefully participated 
in East Timor's first democratic, multiparty election for a Constituent 
Assembly on August 30, 2001, and when 86.3 percent of those eligible 
participated in the first presidential election on April 14, 2002;

Whereas East Timor adopted a constitution in March 2002; Whereas East Timor 
is emerging from over 400 years of colonial domination and a 24-year period 
of occupation by the Indonesian military;

Whereas, as the people of East Timor move proudly toward independence, many 
still struggle to recover from the scars of the military occupation and the 
1999 scorched earth campaign that resulted in displacement which, according 
to the United Nations and other independent reports, exceeded 500,000 in 
number and widespread death, rape, and other mistreatment of women, family 
separation, and large refugee populations and the destruction of 70 percent 
of the country's infrastructure;

Whereas efforts are ongoing by East Timorese officials and others to seek 
justice for the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been 
perpetrated in recent years, efforts which include the work of the United 
Nations Serious Crimes Investigation Unit and the East Timorese Commission 
for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation to document and assess 
responsibility for these crimes;

Whereas recommendations by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission 
and the United Nations Security Council to investigate and prosecute senior 
Indonesian military and civilian officials for their roles in promoting the 
1999 anti-independence violence in East Timor have not yet been fully 
implemented;

Whereas, although the people of East Timor are working toward a plan for 
vigorous economic growth and development, the Government of East Timor 
faces a substantial shortfall in its recurrent and development budgets over 
the first 3 years of independence, and is seeking to fill the gap in full 
with grants from donor countries;

Whereas a large percentage of the population of East Timor lives below the 
poverty line with inadequate access to health care and education, the 
unemployment rate in East Timor is estimated at 80 percent, and the life 
expectancy in East Timor is only 57 years; and

Whereas Nobel Peace Laureate Carlos Ximenes Belo, Roman Catholic Bishop of 
Dili, East Timor, has appealed to the international community and the 
United States for increased economic and development assistance for the 
fledgling nation: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of 
Representatives (the Senate 1 concurring), That

(1) Congress

(A) congratulates and honors the courageous people of East Timor and their 
leaders;

(B) welcomes East Timor into the community of nations as a sovereign state 
and looks forward to working with East Timor as an equal partner;

(C) supports United Nations and international efforts to support 
reconstruction and development in East Timor, and United Nations and 
international peacekeeping forces to safeguard East Timor's security;

(D) remains committed to working toward a debt-free start to East Timor and 
just, sustainable, and secure development programs as well as adequate 
resources for the judicial system for East Timor for the foreseeable future 
beyond independence;

(E) expresses continued concern over deplorable humanitarian conditions and 
an environment of intimidation among the East Timorese refugees living in 
West Timor;

(F) strongly supports prompt, safe, voluntary repatriation and 
reintegration of East Timorese refugees, in particular those East Timorese 
still held in militia-controlled refugee camps in West Timor, especially 
reunification of East Timorese children separated from their parents 
through coercion or force;

(G) expresses a commitment to maintaining appropriate restrictions and 
prohibitions in law on military assistance, training relations, and 
technical support to the Indonesian Armed Forces;

(H) acknowledges that a United Nations International Commission of Inquiry 
found in January 2000 that justice is ''fundamental for the future social 
and political stability of East Timor'', and remains deeply concerned about 
the lack of justice in the region; and (I) commends the President for 
immediately extending to East Timor diplomatic relations afforded to other 
sovereign nations, including the establishment of an embassy in East Timor; and

(2) it is the sense of Congress that the President and the Secretary of 
State should

(A) maintain a level of United States assistance for East Timor 
commensurate with the challenges this new nation faces after independence;

(B) work to fund in a generous and responsible way East Timor's financing 
gap in its recurrent and development budgets, and coordinate with other 
donors to ensure the budget gap is addressed;

(C) focus bilateral assistance for East Timor on the areas of employment 
creation, job training, rural reconstruction, microenterprise, 
environmental protection, health care, education, refugee resettlement, 
reconciliation and conflict resolution, and strengthening the role of women 
in society;

(D) strongly urge the Indonesian Government to step up efforts to disarm 
and disband all militia, hold them accountable to the rule of law, ensure 
stability along the border, and promptly reunite East Timorese children 
separated from their parents through coercion or force; and

(E) review thoroughly information from the East Timorese Commission for 
Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation and use all diplomatic resources at 
their disposal to ensure that those officials responsible for crimes 
against humanity and war crimes against the East Timorese people are held 
accountable and that the Indonesian Government fully cooperates with the 
East Timorese judicial system.




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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

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