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.

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 405

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

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;
2

•HCON 405 EH

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 scorchedearth campaign that resulted in displacement which, according to the United Nations and other independent re-
3

•HCON 405 EH

ports, 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
4

•HCON 405 EH

international community and the United States for increased economic and development assistance for the

fledgling nation: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) Congress—

4 (A) congratulates and honors the coura5 geous people of East Timor and their leaders;

6 (B) welcomes East Timor into the commu7 nity of nations as a sovereign state and looks

8 forward to working with East Timor as an

9 equal partner;

10 (C) supports United Nations and inter11 national efforts to support reconstruction and

12 development in East Timor, and United Na13 tions and international peacekeeping forces to

14 safeguard East Timor’s security;

15 (D) remains committed to working toward

16 a debt-free start to East Timor and just, sus17 tainable, and secure development programs as

18 well as adequate resources for the judicial sys19 tem for East Timor for the foreseeable future

20 beyond independence;

21 (E) expresses continued concern over de22 plorable humanitarian conditions and an envi-
5

•HCON 405 EH

1 ronment of intimidation among the East Timor2 ese refugees living in West Timor;

3 (F) strongly supports prompt, safe, vol4 untary repatriation and reintegration of East

5 Timorese refugees, in particular those East

6 Timorese still held in militia-controlled refugee

7 camps in West Timor, especially reunification

8 of East Timorese children separated from their

9 parents through coercion or force;

10 (G) expresses a commitment to maintain11 ing appropriate restrictions and prohibitions in

12 law on military assistance, training relations,

13 and technical support to the Indonesian Armed

14 Forces;

15 (H) acknowledges that a United Nations

16 International Commission of Inquiry found in

17 January 2000 that justice is ‘‘fundamental for

18 the future social and political stability of East

19 Timor’’, and remains deeply concerned about

20 the lack of justice in the region; and

21 (I) commends the President for imme22 diately extending to East Timor diplomatic re23 lations afforded to other sovereign nations, in24 cluding the establishment of an embassy in

25 East Timor; and
6

•HCON 405 EH

1 (2) it is the sense of Congress that the Presi2 dent and the Secretary of State should—

3 (A) maintain a level of United States as4 sistance for East Timor commensurate with the

5 challenges this new nation faces after independ6 ence;

7 (B) work to fund in a generous and re8 sponsible way East Timor’s financing gap in its

9 recurrent and development budgets, and coordi10 nate with other donors to ensure the budget

11 gap is addressed;

12 (C) focus bilateral assistance for East

13 Timor on the areas of employment creation, job

14 training, rural reconstruction, microenterprise,

15 environmental protection, health care, edu16 cation, refugee resettlement, reconciliation and

17 conflict resolution, and strengthening the role of

18 women in society;

19 (D) strongly urge the Indonesian Govern20 ment to step up efforts to disarm and disband

21 all militia, hold them accountable to the rule of

22 law, ensure stability along the border, and

23 promptly reunite East Timorese children sepa24 rated from their parents through coercion or

25 force; and
7

•HCON 405 EH

1 (E) review thoroughly information from

2 the East Timorese Commission for Reception,

3 Truth, and Reconciliation and use all diplo4 matic resources at their disposal to ensure that

5 those officials responsible for crimes against hu6 manity and war crimes against the East Timor7 ese people are held accountable and that the In8 donesian Government fully cooperates with the

9 East Timorese judicial system.

Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2002.

Attest:

Clerk.