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105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 258
Encouraging international resolution of the political status of East Timor.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 1, 1998
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. PORTER, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. SMITH of New
Jersey) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Encouraging international resolution of the political status
of East Timor.
Whereas the Indonesian financial collapse and political crisis
have revealed that Indonesian corruption and violent re-
pression are a serious threat to the stability of the inter-
national economy;
Whereas many nations and a wide range of international and
non-government organizations have called on President
Suharto to move forward with democratization in Indo-
nesia and self-determination in East Timor;
Whereas Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and has for
the past 22 years illegally occupied and systematically op-
pressed the people of East Timor;
HCON 258 IH1S
Whereas the Indonesian occupation has claimed the lives of
over 200,000 East Timorese, a third of the population,
since 1975, through military bombardment, torture and
killings, and starvation;
Whereas Indonesia’s invasion has been condemned in 8
United Nations General Assembly and 2 United Nations
Security Council resolutions;
Whereas on November 12, 1991, Indonesian troops opened
fire on thousands of peaceful mourners and demonstra-
tors at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, the capital of
East Timor, killing hundreds and wounding hundreds
more;
Whereas Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose
Ramos-Horta were awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize
for their courageous contribution to the East Timorese
struggle for human rights and self-determination;
Whereas both Nobel laureates have called for a United Na-
tions-supervised referendum in East Timor;
Whereas the National Council of Maubere Resistance has of-
fered a peace plan composed of gradual steps, including
a withdrawal of Indonesian troops, the release of Timor-
ese political prisoners, an end to torture, a period of lim-
ited autonomy, and a United Nations-supervised referen-
dum;
Whereas the United States co-sponsored a 1997 United Na-
tions Human Rights Commission Resolution calling for
Indonesia to comply with the directives of existing United
Nations resolutions regarding East Timor;
Whereas Indonesian human rights abuses continue in East
Timor, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extra-judicial
HCON 258 IH1S
executions and disappearances, and general political re-
pression;
Whereas Bishop Belo has stated that conditions in East
Timor have worsened since the awarding of the Nobel
Prize over one year ago;
Whereas United Nations-sponsored tripartite negotiations be-
tween the governments of Indonesia and Portugal have
offered renewed hope for a just, comprehensive, and
internationally acceptable settlement on the political sta-
tus of East Timor but have made little progress toward
that end; and
Whereas the ongoing all-inclusive intra-Timorese dialogue is
limited to nonpolitical topics and there has been no direct
Timorese participation in the United Nations-sponsored
tripartite talks: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the United States should—
(1) support an internationally supervised ref-
erendum to determine the political status of East
Timor;
(2) recognize the need for direct Timorese par-
ticipation in the United Nations-sponsored tripartite
talks; and
(3) work actively, through the United Nations
and with its allies, to realize the directives of exist-
ing United Nations resolutions on East Timor.
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