[Etan-key] ETAN Urges Veto of Timor- Leste Defamation Law

[John M Miller]

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller, 718-596-7668; 917-690-4391 (cell)

Rights Group Urges Veto of Timor- Leste Defamation Law

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network 
(ETAN) has urged Xanana Gusmao, President of 
Timor-Leste, to veto the criminal defamation 
provisions contained in the country’s new Penal Code.

In a letter to President Gusmao, the group wrote 
"One of the foundations of a democratic society 
is the ability of its people to speak truth to 
power. If Timor-Leste's government tries to 
suppress such speech, we fear for the future of 
your democracy and for the future stability of your nation."

"ETAN joins international journalists groups, 
Timor-Leste journalist and legal associations, 
East Timorese Catholic clergy, the UN Secretary 
General, the U.S. Secretary of State and others 
in urging East Timor's leaders to live up to 
their constitutional obligation to protect 
freedom of expression, not limit it," said John 
M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. " The 
new nation can only benefit from robust political 
debate; the proposed defamation provisions will stifle discussion."

East Timor's truth commission (CAVR) has also 
recommended that defamation not be criminalized.

The complete letter can be found at www.etan.org/news/2006/02defam.htm.

The proposed law would impose unlimited fines for 
those convicted of criminal defamation. Penalties 
for defamation through the media are greater, as 
are penalties (three years in prison) if those 
defamed are performing "public, religious or 
political duties." The truth of the statements 
would not necessarily serve as a defense. Legal 
analysts say that the penal code would grant 
greater protection to public officials than to 
others. Under current law, defamed individuals can sue for civil damages.

East Timor has ratified the major international 
human rights conventions which guarantee freedoms 
of speech and the press, incorporating these rights into East Timorese law.

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human 
rights for East Timor and Indonesia. For more 
information, see <http://www.etan.org/>www.etan.org.

-30-


2 February 2006

His Excellency Xanana Gusmão
President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Palacio das Cinzas
Dili, Timor-Leste

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to share our thoughts on the 
proposed criminal defamation legislation in the 
Penal Code for Timor-Leste. As you know, this 
legislation has been approved by the Council of 
Ministers and is currently awaiting your action.

As long-time friends of the people and the nation 
of Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia 
Action Network (ETAN) urges you not to sign this 
law. We are sending copies of this letter to the 
Prime Minister and other leaders of the 
Parliament and the Council of Ministers, and we 
are also urging them not to enact it without your approval.

We celebrate and respect Timor-Leste’s status as 
an independent nation, with the right to make 
your own decisions and mistakes. We have 
supported your people’s struggle for 
self-determination for 15 years, and are usually 
reluctant to get involved in Timor-Leste’s 
internal affairs. However, in this case we 
believe that our experience could help you make a wise decision.

We will not repeat how the defamation law could 
stifle freedom of the press and political debate, 
or how it violates Timor-Leste’s Constitution and 
international human rights treaties which have 
become part of Timor-Leste’s laws. These 
arguments have been ably expressed by others, and 
we agree with them. We are also aware of the wide 
range of people who are urging you not to approve 
the defamation law – this is one of the rare 
times ETAN and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice are in agreement.

We write to add a perspective from grassroots, 
civil society activists for peace and justice 
based on ETAN’s experience campaigning against 
U.S. policies which enabled killing and 
repression during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste.

Throughout the 1990s, ETAN received reports from 
yourself and others in the resistance about 
horrendous human rights violations committed by 
Indonesian forces against your people. We 
distributed that information as widely as 
possible -- writing about it in the media, 
holding press conferences, circulating it among 
U.S. government officials, and peacefully 
challenging Indonesian and U.S. officials and 
others who supported or apologized for 
Indonesia’s brutal oppression of your people and 
illegal occupation of your country.

To take one example, in September 1992, ETAN 
wrote a public letter to Senator Robert Kasten, a 
powerful Republican ally of President George H.W. 
Bush and a leader of the pro-Indonesia faction in 
the Senate. We wrote, “We were disturbed to hear 
that you have been working to convince other 
Senators to restore IMET for Indonesia to the 
Foreign Aid Bill. We hope that you understand 
that such action feeds the perception that 
Senators represent lobbyists and not voters.” On 
October 2, other Senators and Representatives 
rejected the Bush-Kasten position, and the U.S. 
Congress prohibited IMET training of Indonesian 
soldiers – the first limitation on U.S. military 
assistance in 17 years of occupation. Opposition 
to Kasten’s support for Jakarta was taken up by 
his electoral opponent Russell Feingold, who 
defeated Kasten a month later. Senator Feingold 
has since been one of Timor-Leste’s strongest and 
most consistent supporters in Washington.

Fortunately, the United States has no criminal 
defamation law like the one contemplated for 
Timor-Leste. If it had, we could have been 
charged with defaming Senator Kasten – or, more 
likely, ETAN and other activists would have been 
intimidated from speaking out to support 
Timor-Leste in the first place. Our frequent and 
true assertion, usually bluntly stated, that the 
United States government was complicit in massive 
human rights crimes against Timor-Leste’s people 
would have gone unsaid and unheard. The growing 
public pressure that by July 1998 led the U.S. 
Senate to unanimously call for a referendum in 
Timor-Leste, and finally pushed President Clinton 
to endorse UNAMET and InterFET in 1999, might never have occurred.

One of the foundations of a democratic society is 
the ability of its people to speak truth to 
power. If Timor-Leste’s government tries to 
suppress such speech, we fear for the future of 
your democracy and for the future stability of your nation.

Timor-Leste’s independence and peace were 
achieved at great cost. We cannot remain silent 
while some of Timor-Leste’s leaders endanger your hard-won accomplishments.
Peace and justice,

/s/

John M. Miller                                                 Karen Orenstein
National Coordinators


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ETAN welcomes your financial support. For more 
info: http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org

National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network:

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
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