From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese
Date: 25 Jul 92 15:05 PDT
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs July 25
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1591800209:000:12255
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!apakabar    Jul 25 15:05:00 1992


From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar>
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs July 25




     Kyodo, Jakarta, July 22 - The U.S.-based human rights group Asia 
Watch has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State James Baker urging 
him to raise human rights issues at a meeting with Southeast Asian 
foreign ministers starting Friday in Manila.
     In the letter, obtained Wednesday, Asia Watch asked Baker to
express specific concerns over the human rights situation in
Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor, and Burma.  The letter is dated
July 17.
     Indonesia and Thailand are members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which also groups Malaysia, Brunei,
the Phillipines, and Singapore.
     ASEAN foreign ministers end their two-day annual meeting
Wednesday and will follow it up Friday through Sunday with meetings
with ASEAN's so-called ''dialogue partners,'' including the U.S. and
Japan.
     Asia Watch said its primary concerns in Thailand relate to the
Thai military's continued close relations with the Khmer Rouge of
Cambodia and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) of
the military junta in Myanmar.
     It said the Thai military's business dealings with the Khmer
Rouge in gem-mining and logging provide the guerrilla group with the
financial support to continue fighting.
     Another primary concern is the failure to account fully for the
military bloody crackdown in Bangkok in May, the letter said.
     ''We urge you to discuss with the U.S. Department of Defense
the possibility of a freeze on high-level contacts between the Thai
and U.S. militaries and a ban on resumption of aid, weapons sales,
or joint exercises until an accounting has taken place and support
for the Khmer Rouge ceases,'' the letter said.
     On Indonesia, Asia Watch urged Baker to express concern at the
failure of the Indonesian government to account for the dead and
missing in East Timor and Aceh.
     Asia Watch concerns on East Timor relate to the November 12
killing of civilians last year.
     Aceh is a troubled Indonesian province in northern Sumatra
where there have been clashes between Indonesian troops and
a separatist movement seeking to form an independent Islamic state.
     Asia Watch also urged Baker to reiterate concern at the human
rights situation in Myanmar, raised at last year's ASEAN
postministerial meeting.



Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 351What really happened on 28 October
gn:tapolreg.easttimor 7:39 am  Jul 23, 1992

What really happened on 28 October?

The following article will appear in TAPOL Bulletin, No 112,
August 1992. In the absence of the possibility to carry out on-
the-spot investigations in Dili, some of the material contained
in the trial documents is invaluable.


WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON 28 OCTOBER?

Lawyers defending Francisco Miranda Branco have shed new light
on the incident in Motael Church on 28 October 1991, when
Sebastiao Gomes was killed. Their defence plea, read out in the
Dili district court on 23 May 1992, gives some very pertinent
facts. This account, slightly abridged below, highlights the need
for a thorough investigation to discover what triggered the
events on 12 November.

A religious dignitary believes that what happened on 12 November
has its roots in earlier events when a number of youths who felt
threatened sought refuge in Motael Church. Security officials
said they had nothing to fear and they should go home, but when
they did, they were threatened and others in their families were
threatened as well.

  On 5 October 1991, during the Army Day celebration, the
military commander, Brig-General Warouw, made a remark expressing
his dissatisfaction with this state of affairs.

  On 27 October in the late afternoon, according to the same
source, several people on motor-bikes who were shouting loudly,
rode round and round the church, occasionally throwing stones at
it. Soon after midnight, on 28 October, several people who were
also shouting, started throwing stones more persistently in the
direction of the church poly-clinic. The young people inside
rushed out to chase these trouble-makers off. It was not possible
to avoid a fight in which Sebastiao Gomes was involved. He was
shot by someone firing from the direction of the sea-front to the
north, as he came through the front gate. He fell to the ground,
hit by four or five bullets. Another bullet hit a tree in front
of the church; that bullet is still embedded in the tree. His
body was found in front of the church gate. An autopsy was
performed at the hospital and he was buried at Santa Cruz
Cemetery.

  An eye-witness added that at almost the same time, the body of
Afonso [Hendrigues] was found on the same road with injuries
inflicted by a sharp implement. It is not clear who killed him.
According to the eye-witness, the body of Afonso, who was known
in the community as an agent working for the security forces, was
lying about 20 metres from Sebastiao's body. Blood was smeared
several metres away from the body, to the west. There is strong
reason to believe that Afonso was not killed at the place where
the fighting took place but had been killed earlier, somewhere
else, and his body put in front of the church. This was done so
as to create the impression that he was killed with a sharp
implement used by youngsters taking refuge in the church.

  Local inhabitants who had been awakened by the continuous
ringing of church bells rushed out to see what had happened at
the church but were held back by security forces who were
standing guard in a radius of tens of metres from the church;
they told the people to go home.

  Brig.General Warouw's 5 October remarks and the fact that
troops were on guard to prevent people from getting near the
church have led people to suspect that the death of Sebastiao was
pre-arranged. Later, troops entered the church and carried out
a search. Some weeks later, reports appeared in the press that
a number of sharp implements, banners and other things had been
found hidden away in the church. The parish priest, Father
Alberto Ricardo da Silva, said he knew nothing about any such
things being found; he only saw them later when summoned by the
police. The police admitted that it was an 'oversight' on their
part not to draw up a record of confiscation.

  Another aspect confirmed by Fr Ricardo is that an escaped
prisoner, known to his friends as 'Aliong' had taken refuge in
the church. This gave the security forces an excuse to enter the
church in the days prior to 28 October in order to search for
him. According to another version, Aliong was 'let out' and told
to take refuge in the church some days before 28 October to give
the security forces an excuse to search the church. [This is
undoubtedly the man who escaped from prison with Jose Antonio
Joaquim Galucho, whose wife is shortly to go on trial.]


Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 352London demo to protest sentences
gn:tapolreg.easttimor 3:56 pm  Jul 23, 1992

            SAVAGE SENTENCES ARE UNJUST AND ILLEGAL:
       DEMONSTRATION AGAINST MILITARY REGIME OF INDONESIA

All are welcome to attend the demonstration, organised by the
British Coalition for East Timor (BCET) and Tapol (Indonesia Human
Rights Campaign), to protest against the sentences passed against
East Timorese citizens by Indonesian authorities. A letter of
protest will be submitted to the Indonesian Embassy.

DETAILS OF THE DEMONSTRATION
Date: Thursday 30 July 1992
Time: 11.00 onwards
Venue: Indonesian Embassy, 38 Grosvenor Square, London, W1
(Enquiries to gn:tapol welcome)

Savage sentences have been meted out to the East Timorese who
took part in the peaceful demonstration in Dili, East Timor on
12 November 1991, where hundreds of East Timorese were massacred
by Indonesian troops.  Gregorio da Cunha Saldanha, a 24 year old
former civil servant, was sentenced to life imprisonment at the
end of June 1992 for alleged subversion: subversion amounting to
no more than attending a peaceful demonstration.  Harsh sentences
of between 6 and 15 years have been handed down to Timorese
students who protested the Dili massacre through a peaceful
demonstration in Jakarta on 19 November 1991.

Yet, those who perpetrated the Dili massacre, the officers of the
Indonesian Armed Forces, have escaped justice: not one officer
has been tried for organising and executing the massacre.  Ten
lower rank officers, who admitted opening fire on the Timorese
in Dili, were tried for "disciplinary" offences and given
sentences from only 8 to 20 months.

The Draconian sentences are unjust and inequitable.  The
murderers remain unpunished while innocent people have either
been killed or imprisoned for disproportionate periods which in
no way reflect their "crime": peaceful demonstration calling for
self-determination.  In fact, the legality of the trials in
Jakarta, and therefore the sentences, is extremely dubious.
Trying the defendants under Indonesian Law is contrary to the
Indonesian Constitution of 1945 due to the illegal annexation of
East Timor in 1975 by Indonesia after the country had already
declared independence.  The numerous UN Resolutions calling for
the withdrawal of Indonesia from East Timor reinforce this
argument.

The UK Government is tacitly condoning the human rights abuses
in East Timor.  Since the 1980s, the UK has been the second
largest supplier of military aircraft, naval vessels and advanced
weapons systems to Indonesia.  In the wake of the massacre in
Dii, British Aerospace is close to signing a deal for 40 Hawk
trainer/fighter aircraft worth more than PS600mn.  Hawk aircraft
have been seen in use in East Timor.  Selling anything to the
Indonesian armed forces signals British condonation of the
Indonesian crimes against humanity. More concretely, the deal
violates the European Parliament resolution passed in the wake
of the massacre (December 1991) calling for the UN and the EC to
ban arms sales to Indonesia.


Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 353Ontario (Canada( ET conference
web:etanreg.easttimor 5:55 pm  Jul 23, 1992

Ontario Regional East Timor Conference

Saturday, August 1, 12 Noon-5 p.m.
519 Church Street Community Centre, Toronto

All supporters of East Timor are invited to attend an afternoon
meeting of East Timor Alert Network members and supporters in
Toronto on Saturday, August 1 at the 519 Church Street Community
Centre. The conference will be a forum to plan future activities, let
East Timor activists know the latest news from East Timor and what's
happening internationally, nationally, and locally, and to meet others
working in support of East Timor from across the province.

The 519 is located in downtown Toronto, on Church just north of
Wellesley. If coming by car, drive downtown via the QEW highway,
take the Jarvis Street exit, turn left at Wellesley, then take the first
right on to Church. The 519 is the big building with a rainbow
painted on the side. By public transit, go to Wellesley subway station,
then walk east a couple of blocks to Church, turn left and walk
another half block to the 519.

If you need a place to stay on Friday or Saturday night, let us
know and we can arrange a few billets.

If you need more information on anything, call David Webster at
(416) 539-9589, or Maggie Helwig or Mary Hutchinson at (416) 531-
6154. Hope to see you at the conference!


Proposed Agenda

12:00-12:30 Introductions, Go-around

12:30-1:00 Update on the current situation in East Timor
(Ab Barreto Soares, CNRM representative to Canada)

1:00-1:30 Update on international actions
(Li-lien Gibbons, ETAN/Vancouver)

1:30-2:00Update on national lobbying etc.
(Peter Monet, ETAN/Ottawa)

2:00-2:30 Updates on local activities (please come prepared to
inform others about what you've been doing in your community)

2:30-3:00 BREAK

3:00-4:45 Campaigns discussion
(Proposed activities include a fall speaker/film tour
of southern Ontario universities; a civil disobedience action in Ottawa
on Nov. 12; university divestment campaigns; Bata Shoes boycott;
petition campaign for 200,000 signatures; open letter;  media
focus....)

We will also be arranging a group dinner/social for those able to stay
later.