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Returning to a scene of rape
East Timor's dream of freedom fades as violence prevailsBy Christine Morrissey
They came so close to their dream of freedom on August 30. Scarred by almost a quarter of a century of violence, 78.5 percent of East Timor registered electorates voted for independence from the unruly Indonesian government two weeks ago. But within 24 hours of the UN-sponsored referendum, pro-Indonesia militias squashed the Timorese's victory glee with an onslaught of machine gunfire. Once again, the tiny island of East Timor spiraled into a state of unrelenting agony and terror.The circumstances remain grim. An estimated 200,000 people-a quarter of East Timor's population-have fled their homes. Militias have ravaged and burned Timor's capital, Dili. As most foreigners evacuate and a skeleton crew of 335 U.N. staffers remains trapped in Dili, relief aid has virtually ended. There is no food available for emergency distribution. And the fate of the refugees remains unknown.
It seems as if the Indonesian paramilitary has employed Nanking-style torture tactics against the Timorese. For example, in a church in Suai this week, nearly 100 men, women, and children were hacked to death as a priest begged on his knees for a militia gang to spare their lives. And in another incident, a refugee reported seeing the decapitated heads of pro-independence activists on sticks decorating the road.
Xanana Gusmao, a pro-independence leader, said to the Los Angeles Times this week, "I don't know what the death toll is. But I am quite certain what is happening there is horrifying." And there is no sign of the horror letting up. Indonesian President Habibie refuses to accept international peacekeeping efforts in Timor.
What can we do in America? Since the 1970s, the U.S. has pumped more investment into Indonesia than into any other Southeast Asian country. The Clinton Administration cut military aid to the Habibie regime last week. So, the U.S. needs to sever its financial and commercial investments immediately.
Make the call
Cutting support starts with you! Call your senators and representative. Urge them to contact President Clinton at 202-456-2461 (fax), Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at 202-647-529, and Secretary of Defense William Cohen at 703-695-5261. Also, call Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth at 202-647-9596. Make sure your message reaches Roth's mailbox, not the Indonesian desk. The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121.In addition to making phone calls, you can boycott such Indonesian manufacture-based U.S. companies as Nike and Levi Strauss. The Indonesian minimum wage is less than $2 a day; the working conditions are horrifying.
East Timor's hope for freedom can be restored as quickly as the pro-Indonesian militias rebuked it two weeks ago. America must take the helm of liberation efforts. By making a phone call or boycotting a commercial enterprise, you will deliver East Timor's dream of long-lasting liberty and, once and for all, silence their terror
History of East Timor
Indonesia's annexation of East Timor led to one of the world's most horrific-and largely overlooked-genocides in history. Since the 1975 invasion, over one-third (200,000) of Timor's indigenous population was murdered. Not until Indonesian forces gunned down 250 people during a memorial service in Dili in 1991 was their suffering reported in the Western media. An American journalist captured the horrific event known as the Santa Cruz Massacre on film, showing that the guns used in the attack were American-made M-16 rifles.The tiny country of East Timor is once again at odds with its neighbor, Indonesia
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