NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/9425

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From: [e-mail] (Rich Winkel)
Subject: WORLD LEADERS SIGN URGENT APPEAL FOR EAST TIMOR
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/** reg.easttimor: 351.0 **/
** Topic: Urgent ET appeal from VIP's to SG **
** Written  4:31 pm  Dec 16, 1992 by cscheiner in cdp:reg.easttimor **
WORLD LEADERS SIGN URGENT APPEAL FOR EAST TIMOR

Press Release, 16 December 1992

Fifty eminent church leaders, politicians and academics, including two Nobel
Peace Prize winners, have so far endorsed a joint statement on East Timor.
Signatories, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, call on the
United Nations Secretary General, the Portuguese and Indonesian governments,
and the international community for action to bring to an end the systematic
violations of human rights in East Timor.

Illegally annexed by Indonesia in 1975, since which time over one-third of
the original population has died at the hands of the Indonesian military,
East Timor has been terrorized by the Indonesian forces of occupation. The
signatories urge the United Nations to press for access to the occupied
territory for humanitarian and human rights organisations, foreign
journalists and independent observers. They call on Portugal to press for an
internationally supervised referendum and on the international community to
support peace initiatives in every way.

The Statement will be handed over by Mr Kan Akatani (International
Federation of East Timor, Japan) and Charles Scheiner (East Timor Action
Network, United States) at the United Nations building in New York on 16
December, on the eve of negotiations about occupied East Timor between
Portugal and Indonesia under UN auspices.

Those signing this urgent appeal are "acutely conscious that the Indonesian
army of occupation has launched a new wave of violence against the people of
East Timor, which has led to arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances and
summary executions."

In addition they believe there is no doubt that the statements of the
captured East Timorese leader, Xanana Gusmao, disseminated through the media
by the Indonesian armed forces, "were made under duress and in violation of
his fundamental rights as a protected person under the terms of the Fourth
Geneva Convention."

The delivery of this Statement is the start of a campaign to gather further
endorsements, which will culminate in February 1993 when it will be
presented to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

For further information, please contact
Charles Scheiner, East Timor Action Network/US
P.O. Box 1182, White Plains, NY 10602  USA
Tel. [phone]     Fax [phone]   Internet: [e-mail]

====================================

URGENT APPEAL ON THE SITUATION IN EAST TIMOR

(full text, original English)

Acutely conscious of the fact that the Indonesian army of occupation has
launched a new wave of violence against the people of East Timor, which has
led to arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances and summary executions,

Convinced that statements by the captured East Timorese leader, Xanana
Gusmao, which were disseminated through the media by the Indonesian armed
forces, were made under duress and in violation of his fundamental rights as
a protected person under the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention, thereby
incriminating himself, and shocked that the prisoner has even been deprived
the services of a lawyer,

Alarmed that human rights abuses and the isolation of the territory have
been intensified, in blatant disregard for International Law as well as for
the assurances given to international human rights institutions by the
Indonesian Government,

Firm in the belief that the question of East Timor can only be solved by
negotiations, with the involvement of all parties directly concerned, based
on respect for the rights of the people of East Timor, in particular their
right to self-determination,

WE CALL ON

* the Secretary General of the United Nations,
to continue to make every effort to end the systematic violation of human
rights in occupied East Timor, to gain access to the territory for
humanitarian and human rights organisations, as well as for foreign
journalists and independent observers, to work for the release of all
political prisoners, and in particular the release of the leader of the East
Timorese resistance movement, Xanana Gusmao;

* Portugal,
as the internationally-recognised Administering Power of the
non-self-governing territory of East Timor, to continue vigorously to defend
the rights of the people of East Timor, and in particular to press for an
internationally-supervised referendum;

*    Indonesia,
to end without delay the acts of violence being perpetrated against the
people of East Timor, to act in conformity with International Law and the
United Nations Charter in East Timor, in compliance with the obligations
which it has assumed as a member of the United Nations, and to open up the
territory and free all East Timorese political prisoners;

*    The international community,
to support in every way possible the efforts now under way to resolve the
conflict by means of negotiation, strictly respecting the rights and
obligations of each party, in accord with international norms.

AND WE EXPRESS

To the people of East Timor our heartfelt sympathy and support at this
moment of profound tribulation and pain. We commit ourselves to doing
everything in our power to ensure that the people of East Timor will be
guaranteed the right to life, the right to peace and the right to justice,
which is their entitlement.

SIGNATORIES TO THE URGENT APPEAL ON THE SITUATION IN EAST TIMOR

As of 16 December, 1992

Additional names will be presented to the UN Human Rights Commission in
February, 1993.

Japan:

Joseph Atsumi Misue, Catholic Bishop of Hiroshima
Aloisius Nobuo Soma, Bishop of Nagoya, President of Japanese Catholic
     Council for Justice and Peace
Hitoshi Motojima, Mayor of Nagasaki
Giichi Nomura, Chairperson, The Ainu Association of Hokkaido
Choichi Kaba, Representative, Ainu People's Political Alliance
Wataru Takeuchi, Ainu Cultural Association
Komyoji Suzuki, General Secretary, International Network of Engaged
     Buddhists, Japan
Kinhide Mushakoji, Professor, Meiji Gakuen University, former Vice Rector
     of the U.N. University
Ohtori Kurino, Former Japanese Ambassador to Syria and Cambodia, President
     of International Federation for East Timor
Ken Arimitsu, Secretary General of the Foundation for Human Rights in Asia
Ichiyo Muto, Co-president of Pacific Asia Resource Center (Tokyo)
Yoko Kitagawa, Co-president of Pacific Asia Resource Center (Tokyo)
Hideaki Uemura, Director of Citizens' Diplomacy Center
Reiko Koishi, Coordinator, Akatombo Association
Ryuichi Matsushita, writer
Kaoru Okano, Professor, Meiji University
Masao Yamaguchi, Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, former
     President of Japan Anthropology Society
Ikuro Shimada, former Professor of Geology, Shimane University
Tatsuro Matsumae, House of Councillors, Social Democratic Party
Yasuko Takemura, House of Councillors, Social Democratic Party
Takayoshi Wada, House of Councillors, Komeito
Hyosuke Kujiraoka, House of Representatives, Liberal Democratic Party
Saneyoshi Furugen, House of Representatives, Communist Party
Hiromi Okazaki, House of Representatives, Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Tomiko Okazaki, House of Representatives, SDP
Torao Takazawa, House of Representatives, SDP
Shuo Matsubara House of Representatives, SDP
Takako Doi, House of Representatives, SDP
Satsuki Eda, House of Representatives, President, United Social Democratic
     Party
Petrus Shirayanagi, Archbishop of Tokyo
Francis Xavier K. Shimamoto, Archbishop of Nagasaki

United States:

Rt. Rev. Paul Moore Jr., retired Episcopal Bishop of New York
Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Benedict Anderson, Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor, Cornell University
Dave Karp, Mayor, San Leandro (CA), Board member of U.S. Conference of Mayors

United Kingdom:

Mairead Corragan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Winner (Northern Ireland)
Dr. Donald English, Chairman, World Methodist Council.
Rev. David Deeks, General Secretary, Division of Social Responsibility,
     Methodist Church (UK)
Lord Rea
Lord Avebury, Chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
Peter Carey, Professor, Oxford University
Ken Coates, Chair, Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament

Other:

Desmond Tutu, Archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, South Africa
Maria Barroso (the wife of Mario Soares), Honorary Chair of Portuguese
     UNICEF Committee
Gordon C. Mwangi, Professor, President of  Human Rights in Action, Kenya
Patalesio P. Finau, S.M.D.D., Bishop, President of Tonga Development
     Commission
Dermot O'Mahony, Bishop and President of Pax Christi (Republic of Ireland)
Kim Myong Shik, poet, Director of Asia, Africa, Latin America Research
     Institute (Republic of Korea)

Submitted by
* Free East Timor Japan Coalition
* British Coalition for East Timor
* East Timor Action Network, United States
* Comissao para os Direitos do Povo Maubere, Portugal

Members of the International Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations
for East Timor, c/o Kure YWCA. 1-3 Saiwai-cho, Kure, Hiroshima 737 Japan.

** End of text from cdp:reg.easttimor **