From: cscheiner@igc.apc.org (Charles Scheiner)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese
Subject: Act to protect captured Xanana
Date: 21 Nov 92 06:29:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1591800229:000:6358
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cscheiner    Nov 20 22:29:00 1992


to:   East Timor Supporters
from: Charlie Scheiner, ETAN/US
re:   Responses to Xanana Gusmao capture
date: 20 November

Antara (the Indonesian press agency) reported Xanana Gusmao's capture at 6
am today, Indonesian time. The arrest of the East Timorese resistance leader
was also announced by Indonesian army communique. The Antara report was
relayed by Kyodo News Service and the BBC. It has not been confirmed by any
independent source.

The Indonesian government may be deterred from torturing and killing him if
they are made aware of international public and governmental attention.
Please fax or call the following immediately (the following are fax numbers):

* President Suharto, Jakarta 62/21-36-7781, 62/21-36-7782, 62/21-36-0501
* UN Secretary-General Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, NY  1/212-963-4879

For people living in the U.S.:
* US Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, DC  202-647-7120
* Your Senators and Representatives (phone 202-224-3121).

The Portuguese government has already issued statements, which are appended 
to this action alert.  Amnesty International, TAPOL, and other organizations 
have put out similar calls to this one.

Make one or more of the following points when talking with government
leaders or the media:

* Urge the Indonesian military and government to treat Xanana Gusmao in
compliance with international conventions against torture and arbitrary
execution. They could move him to a third country to help insure his safety.

* Now that Jakarta knows where Xanana is, he should participate in the
UN- sponsored talks on East Timor between Indonesia and Portugal that will
continue next month. Indonesia should allow a popular plebiscite on East
Timor's future without losing face.

* The situation in East Timor will be extremely tense, with both the
Timorese people and the Indonesian troops under stress. The army could try
to eliminate anti-integration sentiment once and for all. In light of
recently increasing repression and the new governor's statement that a
thousand people should have been killed at Santa Cruz last year,
international pressure may be the only way to prevent a further bloodbath.
If the situation threatens to get out of control, the United Nations could
intervene to help keep the peace. If Xanana is tortured or killed, military
repression and mass killings could get even worse.

* Xanana's capture (if true) is not the end of the East Timorese struggle
for self-determination. The resistance is more than one person; it is
supported by the overwhelming majority of the East Timorese people. By
comparison, Nelson Mandela's imprisonment did not mean the end of the South
African struggle, it meant the beginning of a campaign which culminated in
his release and his ability to work openly for majority rule.

Please send copies of any statements or responses to the East Timor Action
Network.

East Timor Action Network - U.S.
P.O. Box 1182, White Plains, NY 10602 USA
Tel. (914)428-7299    fax:(914)428-7383
email: CSCHEINER@IGC.APC.ORG
----------------------------

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL

20 November 1992

Full text, original language English, received from the Mission of Portugal
to the UN in New York.

According to reports which have just been received, the Indonesian
authorities, which are illegally occupying the territory of East Timor, have
this morning in Dili captured the leader of the Timorese resistance, Xanana
Gusmao.

Xanana Gusmao has symbolized, through his courage and tenacity revealed in
the carrying out of a struggle involving great risks and in adverse
circumstances, the determination with which the people of East Timor have
opposed the brutal Indonesian occupation.

The Portuguese government appeals to the international community for it to
act, without delay, in achieving the freedom and insuring the physical
integrity of Xanana Gusmao and guarantting that his rights as a human being
be completely respected by the authorities of Indonesia.

Portugal reaffirms its determination in continuing its actions in defence of
the rights and liberties of the people of East Timor, including that of
being permitted to freely choose its political future, a right which they
have been denied, and without which it will not be possible to bring to an
end the intolerable situation which prevails in the territory.

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

PRESIDENT SOARES PHONES BOUTROS-GHALI TO ASK HIM TO INTERCEDE ON BEHALF OF 
XANANA GUSMAO

Source: Lusa, the Portuguese News Agency
Date: 20 November 1992
Dateline: Lisbon
Original language: Portuguese
Unabridged

The President of the Republic, Mario Soares, today telephoned the 
Secretary-General of the UN to ask the United Nations to intercede in order 
to protect Xusmao Gusmoa from being tortured.

In a statement to the press in Lisbon, Soares said that he was deeply 
concerned about the possibility that the leader of the East Timorese 
resistance might be tortured or maltreated by the Indonesian armed forces.

The head of state expressed the conviction that the international pressure 
and reactions that have greeted the announcement of the arrest of Xanana 
Gusmao will help to protect the resistance leader.

President Soares expressed the nation's solidarity with Xanana Gusmao, 
adding that Portugal is prepared to receive the resistance leader, in the 
event that he is released by the Jakarta authorities.

The Portuguese President also said that he had received the report of Xanana 
Gusmao's arrest "with emotion and sorrow".

According to a Reuter report from Lisbon, President Soares called for the 
release of Xanana in an interview with Portugal radio, TSF.

"It is necessary for all people of the world to watch closely and to exert 
pressure for Xanana Gusmao to be set free and to be treated wqith humanity 
and respect," the President said. He went on:

"The Indonesians are people who have no respect for human beings, it is a 
fierce dictatorship and they are very likely to torture Xanana Gusmao. 
Xanana Gusmao is a man of courage and a man of determination who was 
struggling for the independence of his country. I have great admiration for 
the Timorese leader."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese