NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/6458

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From: [e-mail] (Richard R Koch)
Subject: EAST TIMOR SENATE VOTE TUESDAY
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East Timor Action Network/US
PO Box 1182, White Plains, NY 10602 [phone]  fax[phone]
[e-mail]

SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE TO VOTE ON EAST TIMOR THIS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

After intensive lobbying from the Bush administration, corporate
interests, and the Indonesian government, some Senators may be moving to
restore military training for Indonesia to the 1993 Foreign Aid bill. We
need to counter that pressure.

In June, the House unanimously deleted $2.3 million for the IMET program
to protest wanton killings in East Timor. For the first time in the
17-year Indonesian occupation, Congress began to cut funds to stop the
genocide that has killed one-third of the East Timorese population.

The Indonesian government has enlisted American corporations that do
business there, especially General Electric and AT&T, to lobby Senators
to keep bringing Indonesian military officers here for training. They
want a weak resolution, with easily met conditions, instead of the strong
message sent by the House of Representatives.

The House had it right -- the American people and our elected
Representatives aren't beholden to corporate blood money earned in
exchange for the training and weapons given by U.S. taxpayers to the
Suharto regime. The IMET program for 1993 should be cut unconditionally.
Only after Indonesia complies with U.N. resolutions for withdrawal, human
rights, and self-determination, should military aid be resumed. Other
U.S. aid for Indonesia should also be suspended, pending improvements in
the situation.

Whatever happens in the Subcommittee, there will be a debate on the Senate
floor in the next few weeks.

CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY.

You can reach them through the Capitol switchboard, [phone].

Urge them to support an unconditional cut in military training. In the
ten months since the Santa Cruz massacre, Jakarta has shown no intention
to change its policies, to admit what happened last November 12 and
punish those responsible, or to prevent future atrocities. It is past
time for requests for reports.

Indonesia and its multinational corporate supporters understand that this
legislation is far more important than the money involved. We need to
understand that too, and act on it.

September 10, 1992


East Timor Action Network / U.S.

PO Box 1182, White Plains, NY 10602
[phone]   fax:[phone]
[e-mail]

September 9, 1992

***** EMERGENCY IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT *****

Senate to decide on military aid to Indonesia next week

The Indonesian government, corporate lobbyists, and the Bush
administration are lobbying Congress heavily to get $2.3 million in IMET
military training restored to the Foreign Aid appropriations bill.
Although this money was unanimously deleted by the House of Represen-
tatives in protest of Indonesia's massacres in East Timor, there is a
danger that the Senate may restore it.  Letters and calls are needed
immediately to:

Senator Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, Vermont)
SR-433 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC  20510
202-224-7209

Leahy is chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate
Appropriations Committee. Although he was previously committed to
canceling IMET, recent information indicates that he might be hedging,
agreeing to give Indonesia the money if they meet certain weak
conditions. He should be urged to stand firm.

Senator Robert Byrd (Democrat, West Virginia)
SH-311 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC  20510
202-224-7200

Byrd chairs the full Appropriations Committee. He is likely to act as an
advocate for Indonesia unless he hears from a lot of people. As a
Committee chairman, he has a national constituency, so contact him even
if you're not from West Virginia.

Senator Tom Harkin (Democrat, Iowa)
SH-531 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC  20510
202-224-3254

Harkin has a good record on human rights in general and East Timor in
particular. He needs support in his advocacy so that he can say that
there is a national consistency in support of cutting aid to Indonesia.

The following is a letter sent to Senator Leahy by the East Timor Action
Network. It mentions most of the key points.

Please communicate anything you learn to the East Timor Action Network.
Thank you. This is the most crucial test and the most important
opportunity we have had so far.

Charles Scheiner, Coordinator, ETAN



Dear Senator Leahy:

As you know, your Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations will
be considering H.R.5368, the Foreign Aid Appropriations Bill, in the next
week or so. Among the issues you will decide is whether to sustain the
House's deletion of International Military Education and Training (IMET)
funds for Indonesia.

The East Timor Action Network was formed at the beginning of 1992 by
Americans outraged over the Santa Cruz massacre last November 12, when
Indonesian soldiers methodically fired into an unarmed memorial
procession and killed over 150 people. We have around 400 active members
in more than 30 states, including Vermont. As they contact their Senators
and Representatives, our members have been encouraged by the responses
from both Democrats and Republicans. Senator Specter, for example, has
written his constituents that he will oppose IMET funding. Both at the
grassroots and in Washington, people are ready to take action to end the
long nightmare of the people of East Timor.

We were encouraged to hear from several of our Vermont members that you
have committed yourself to prohibiting IMET funding. However, in a letter
you wrote to Robin Lloyd of the Burlington Peace Coalition on August 12,
you talk about making such aid conditional on the administration's
certification that Indonesia has met the requirements you placed in the
Congressional Record on April 1, 1992. We are upset by this apparent
weakening of your commitment, and urge you to reject such a compromise.

Your April 1 statement requested a report by August 1 that Indonesia had
met various human rights documentation and access requirements. But the
issue is not to document human rights violations, but to end them.
Furthermore, Indonesia's actions since the Santa Cruz massacre, and
especially during the Non-Aligned Conference last week, make it clear
that President Suharto has no intention of listening to the protests of
the international community.

The IMET funding provides an opportunity to save American taxpayers'
money and act for human rights at the same time. Through its conduct over
the years, and especially during and after the Santa Cruz massacre, the
Suharto regime has forfeited any right to military aid from the United
States. Our government has provided weapons and training for this
military government since took power in 1965 -- the means for killing
over a million people, including 200,000 (one-third of the population) in
East Timor.

Since Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, Jakarta has sent more than
2,600 military officers to the United States for training under IMET.
American citizens and taxpayers we have been unwitting partners in
genocide. It is past time for this to stop.

We urge you to prohibit the use of foreign aid money to train Indonesian
soldiers. It is too late for conditions and certifications.

By cutting IMET, the United States government can help bring the benefits
of the New World Order to the people of East Timor. We urge you to do
this, and to go future to restrict arms sales and other benefits to the
Indonesian regime, as outlined by H.R.5176, a "Bill to Promote
Self-Determination for East Timor." That bill restricts aid, trade, and
weapons sales until Indonesia complies with U.N. resolutions calling for
withdrawal from East Timor and a U.N.-supervised plebiscite to allow the
people there to determine their own political future. Although I realize
that this broader signal is outside the scope of your Subcommittee, it
can be included in the committee report and in the discussion on the
Senate floor. You, or other Senators, could offer such an amendment.

Thank you very much for your consideration, and I would appreciate
hearing your position on this question. Please feel free to contact the
East Timor Action Network if we can be of any service.

Sincerely,


Charles Scheiner, coordinator
East Timor Action Network