[Etan-key] ETANer published letters

[John M Miller]

Some published letters to the editor from ETANers 
in recent months. We hope you are inspired. With 
Secretary of State going to Indonesia this 
weekend, there should be opportunities for 
responses to articles in the coming days. See 
http://www.etan.org/action/action05/11endrun.htm 
for some templates and watch for ETAN's media release coming soon.

John

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Posted January 3, 2006

Letters: People's Forum

Congress must send message on abuses

DENMARK ­ The administration should not have 
granted unlimited military "aid" to Indonesia's 
unreformed military. Bypassing congressional 
restrictions will not help democracy or security 
in Indonesia, a former dictatorship that killed 
70,000 people when it came to power ­ or its 
neighbor East Timor, which it occupied for 24 
years and killed one-third of the population.

The strong message sent by Congress that abuses 
must end, and those responsible be held accountable, is thrown out the window.

Likewise, lack of accountability and 
investigations into the Western Hemisphere 
Institute for Security Cooperation (former School 
of the Americas), and the torture-training 
manuals used, the Pentagon admitted after years 
of denial, shows further lack of respect for 
basic human rights and with it, democracy.

This year, 19,000 people gathered outside the 
gates of Fort Benning, Ga., where WHINSEC is 
housed, and 37 of us chose to commit nonviolent 
civil disobedience and risk prison to oppose this institution.

Arming dictators and run-amok militaries is no 
way to promote democracy. Officials should 
re-suspend training for Indonesia, and Congress 
should support HR 1217, which would suspend 
WHINSEC and set up an investigation into its 
history. Doing otherwise is taken as a green 
light to carry on business as usual in the name 
of those legal fictions of privilege, the 
corporation, not human rights and democracy.

Scott Dempsky

--

The Ledger
Lakeland, FL
Published Tuesday, December 13, 2005



Hold East Timor Tribunal

In a bitter irony, the Bush administration 
recently waived all restrictions on military 
assistance to Indonesia just weeks before the 
30th anniversary of that military's invasion of 
East Timor. Just prior to the Dec. 7, 1975, 
invasion, President Ford and his secretary of 
state, Henry Kissinger, gave then-dictator 
Suharto the green light to attack East Timor with 
U.S.-supplied weapons. Tens of thousands of civilians died as a direct result.

No senior military or political official in 
multiple Indonesian or U.S. administrations has 
been held accountable for the crimes against 
humanity committed during the invasion or the 
subsequent quarter century of occupation. 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's decision to 
override Congress and allow unrestricted U.S. 
assistance to the brutal Indonesian military for 
the first time in more than a decade only sanctions this cycle of impunity.

Secretary Rice should retract the wavier and, 
instead, put the administration's full weight 
behind an international tribunal on East Timor. 
After 30 years, Washington should have learned by 
now that genuine justice and human rights 
protections are in the national interest. 
Propping up an unreformed and unaccountable military is not.

GREGORY ESTEVE

Lake Wales

--

The International Herald Tribune

December 5, 2005 Monday


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Weapons for Indonesia

In a bitter irony, the Bush administration 
recently waived restrictions on American military 
assistance to Indonesia just before the 30th 
anniversary of the Indonesian military's invasion of East Timor.

As detailed in the article ''Files show 
complicity on Timor'' (Dec. 2), just prior to the 
December 1975 invasion, Henry Kissinger turned a 
blind eye to Indonesia's attack on East Timor 
with weapons supplied by the United States.

Tens of thousands of civilians died as a direct 
result; nearly a third of the population perished in the following two decades.

No senior military or political official in 
multiple Indonesian or U.S. administrations has 
been held accountable for the crimes committed 
during the invasion or the subsequent quarter-century of occupation.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's decision to 
undermine Congress and allow an increase in 
American assistance to the brutal Indonesian 
military only sanctions this cycle of impunity.

Rice should retract the decision and instead put 
the administration's full weight behind an 
international tribunal on East Timor. After 30 
years, Washington should have learned that 
genuine justice and human rights protections are 
in the national interest. Propping up an 
unreformed and unaccountable military is not.

Michael Proulx Dusseldorf, Germany

---

International Herald Tribune

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2005

Accounting in East Timor

Adérito de Jesus Soares ("Listen to the voices of 
East Timor's victims," Views, Aug. 10) is correct 
that justice requires that there be an 
international tribunal for the war crimes 
perpetrated by the Indonesian military and its 
militias in East Timor. The process should cover 
not only 1999 when a small percentage of the 
atrocities took place, but rather the entire 
period of Indonesian terror in East Timor. 
Indonesia's military is responsible for the 
deaths of many tens of thousands of people and 
massive destruction, beginning with its illegal invasion in 1975.

The United States and Britain supported 
Indonesia's crimes, providing much economic and 
military aid and diplomatic support over the 
almost 24-year occupation. It is thus not 
surprising that there has not been any 
accountability for East Timor's suffering through 
the United Nations. It also explains why the 
government of tiny, impoverished East Timor feels 
compelled to play down justice and emphasize an empty reconciliation.

Joseph Nevins, Poughkeepsie, New York



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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

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