[mgj-discuss] *ORGANIZATIONAL* SIGN ON FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR TIMOR

[Dan Beeton]

My understanding is that this is for organizations to sign-on to; not
individuals.

Thanks,

Dan

"Sometimes it is better to have the people of the world on your side than
the governments of the world."

- Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary, National League for Democracy,
Burma

*******************************
Dan Beeton
Free Burma Coalition
Washington Office
1101 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, #204
Washington, DC 20003 USA
(202) 547-5985 (ph)
(202) 544-6118 (fax)


-----Original Message-----
From: Karen Orenstein [mailto:etanorganize at igc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 2:20 PM
To: karen at etan.org
Subject: REMINDER - SIGN ON FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR TIMOR


Friends - This is a reminder that signatures for the 2 NGO sign-on letters
concerning economic justice for East Timor need to be received by Thursday
at noon (the 19th). For those of you who have already contacted ETAN to sign
on - thank you.  I have included the text of the two letters below because
there have been a few minor changes in the language.
Thank you again for your support,
Karen Orenstein
East Timor Action Network

****************************************************************

Dear Friends of East Timor and Friends of Economic Justice,

Please consider adding your signature to the following two NGO sign-on
letters pasted below.  They contain an urgent message to Congressional
Appropriations Committee Members and to Secretary of State Colin Powell that
East Timor must start off its new nationhood debt-free.  After a brutal
24-year Indonesian military occupation, East Timor will celebrate its first
Independence Day on May 20. The people of East Timor and their supporters
worldwide are mobilizing civil society and grassroots efforts to ensure that
the estimated $154-$184 million financing gap in the new country's recurrent
and development budgets is covered in full with unconditioned grants. We
want to make sure that the wealthiest country in the world gives the most
generous donation possible, and that the grant comes free of structural
adjustment conditionality.

This is our first real opportunity to take preemptive action - to prevent
the stranglehold of structural adjustment, loans, and the vicious cycle of
poverty from putting its deadly grip on a country in the Global South. Your
support is needed to accomplish this - signing onto this letter brings us
one step closer to our goal. The US government will be making a decision on
its funding level imminently; time is not on our side.

To sign on, you can email or call the East Timor Action Network's Washington
office - karen at etan.org, 202-544-6911.  Please provide your full name,
title, and the name of organization you represent.  The deadline to sign on
is noon on April 19 (next Thursday).

Please forward this message to similar-minded NGOs.

Thank you for your concern and support.
In solidarity,
Karen Orenstein
Washington Coordinator
East Timor Action Network

**************************************************************************
LETTER TO APPROPRIATORS
Dear Appropriations Committee Member:

We urgently appeal to you to ensure that the U.S. makes the most generous
grant possible, without restrictive macroeconomic conditions, at the May 14
and 15 pledging conference in East Timor. As a member of the Appropriations
Committee, you are well-positioned to do so. You may be aware that the East
Timorese government is expecting a $154 to $184 million revenue shortfall in
its already lean recurrent and development budgets over the first three
years of independence.  While this sum is miniscule on an international
scale, it could stand in the way of a promising beginning to the world’s
newest nation.

East Timor’s call to fund its financing gap comes on the heels of President
Bush’s recently stated commitment to eradicating poverty worldwide and
efforts by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and others to make sure that
grants form a large portion of international assistance to poor countries.
Pledging to fund 25% of the gap would be consistent with recent positions
taken by the U.S. and would signal the sincerity of our intentions to the
world.

We urge you to explore scenarios by which the necessary funding for the
financing gap can be attained. We understand that due to timing constraints,
Administration representatives have pledged funds at past donor conferences
which were appropriated retroactively. We encourage you to work with your
colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to consider such an option for
East Timor, as well as ensuring that, in coordination with other donors,
monies contributed suffice to cover the entire financing gap with grants.
Options for this funding include the FY03 Foreign Operations Appropriations
bill’s debt relief package, Economic Support Fund, or another portfolio. A
second possibility would be to earmark ESF for budgetary support for East
Timor in the FY02 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, as has already
been requested by the Administration for the Afghan Interim Authority and
Jordan. Finally, we ask that you explore with the Administration the
possibility of drawing from State Department, Treasury, or other
discretionary funds for this purpose. We note that due to reductions in
peacekeeping and other UN operations in East Timor, the U.S. will be saving
substantial sums, a portion of which could be donated.

We strongly feel that the U.S. government has a moral obligation to make
sure that East Timor’s financing gap is fully funded.  For some 50 years,
the U.S. was the largest supporter of the Indonesian military, despite its
egregious record of rights abuses. That the President and Secretary of State
of the United States in 1975 gave a green light to Indonesian dictator
Suharto to invade East Timor is widely documented. Throughout the
occupation, the U.S. supplied Indonesian security forces with well over one
billion dollars of military assistance and equipment.  Generous grants to
East Timor without strings attached cannot bring back the hundreds of
thousands of East Timorese killed with U.S. backing, but they would help
ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for East Timor.

It is wholly practical to sustain the positive investment made to date in
East Timor by the U.S. and other countries. This is the world’s first chance
to take preemptive action to thwart the vicious cycle of poverty and debt
that has a stranglehold on far too many developing countries. Simply put, it
is far cheaper to prevent a problem than to fix it. East Timorese civil
society and government leaders have made poverty eradication a top priority;
they have repeatedly stated that the nation should not mortgage its future
by incurring debt. East Timor has highly credible financial institutions
with sound international practices.Substantial profits from offshore oil and
natural gas will start flowing in five to ten years. It makes little sense
from either an economic or a humanitarian perspective to force a nation only
beginning to recover from such pervasive and recent destruction to use its
revenues to service debt to wealthy institutions and countries rather than
spend on education, healthcare, and other vital services.  Moreover, a
stable East Timor is important for a stable Indonesia.

Any contributions, whether from the U.S. or other donors, should not be tied
to crippling strings of structural adjustment, whether in name or in
practice. While the term is not used in reference to East Timor, there are
strong indications that similar onerous macroeconomic conditions will be
applied. The U.S. and other countries must implement lessons learned
repeatedly from the painful experiences of so many poor nations that tying
assistance to such conditions has only led to further impoverishment. With
this knowledge, East Timor is well-positioned to avoid the same fate.
The people of East Timor have paid a terrible price for their freedom and
will soon proudly celebrate their independence. That independence must also
apply to economic and financial sectors. Congress, acting as the government’
s conscience, has time and again redirected Administration policies when
they have strayed from oft-stated principles of respect for human rights and
democracy.  This has been especially true in the case of East Timor.  We
trust that Congress will maintain this tradition as East Timor approaches
independence and beyond. With your help, the United States can ensure that
East Timor’s people did not suffer the unbearable only to end up in an
endless cycle of poverty.

****************************************************************************
****************

LETTER TO POWELL
Dear Secretary Powell:

We urgently appeal to you to support the most generous grant possible
without restrictive macroeconomic conditions at the May 14 and 15 pledging
conference in East Timor. We strongly encourage you to work with other donor
governments and international financial institutions (IFIs) to make sure
that East Timor’s expected financing gap is covered in its entirety.

East Timor’s call to fund its financing gap comes on the heels of President
Bush’s recently stated commitment to eradicating poverty worldwide and
efforts by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and others to make sure that
grants form a large portion of international assistance to poor countries.
Pledging to fund 25% of the gap would be consistent with recent positions
taken by the Administration and would signal the sincerity of U.S.
intentions to the world.

As you likely know, the East Timorese government is expecting a $154 to $184
million shortfall in its already lean recurrent and development budgets over
the first three years of independence.  While less than the Administration
spends on one F-22 fighter plane, for a small country like East Timor this
sum could stand in the way of a promising beginning as the world’s newest
nation. Due to reductions in peacekeeping and other UN operations in East
Timor, the U.S. will be saving substantial sums, a portion of which could be
pledged in May.

We strongly believe that the U.S. government has a moral obligation to
ensure that East Timor’s financing gap is fully funded.  For some 50 years,
the U.S. was the largest supporter of the Indonesian military, despite its
egregious human rights record. That the President and Secretary of State of
the United States in 1975 gave a green light to Indonesian dictator Suharto
to invade East Timor is widely documented. And throughout the occupation,
the U.S. supplied Indonesian security forces with well over one billion
dollars of military assistance and equipment.  Generous grants to East Timor
without strings attached cannot bring back the hundreds of thousands of East
Timorese killed, but they would help ensure a peaceful and prosperous future
for East Timor.

It is wholly practical to sustain the positive investment made to date in
East Timor by the U.S. and other countries.  This is the world’s first
chance to take preemptive action to thwart the vicious cycle of poverty and
debt that has a stranglehold on far too many developing countries. Simply
put, it is far cheaper to prevent a problem than to fix it. East Timorese
civil society and government leaders have made poverty eradication a top
priority; they have repeatedly stated that the nation should not mortgage
its future by incurring debt. East Timor has highly credible financial
institutions with sound international practices.Substantial profits from
offshore oil and natural gas will start flowing in five to ten years. It
makes little sense from either an economic or a humanitarian perspective to
force a nation only beginning to recover from such pervasive and recent
destruction to use its revenues to service debt to wealthy institutions and
countries rather than spend on education, healthcare, and other vital
services.  Moreover, a stable East Timor is important for a stable
Indonesia.

Any contributions, whether from the U.S. or other donors, should not be tied
to crippling strings of structural adjustment, whether in name or in
practice. While the term is not used in reference to East Timor, there are
strong indications that similar onerous macroeconomic conditions will be
applied. The U.S. and other countries must implement lessons learned
repeatedly from the painful experiences of so many poor nations that tying
assistance to such conditions has only led to further impoverishment
including decreased access to healthcare and education; devastated small-
and medium-sized farms, businesses, and other local industries; lowered
wages and increased unemployment; undermined food security; and
environmental degradation. All of these effects burden women
disproportionately. With enough foresight, East Timor can avoid the same
fate.
The people of East Timor have paid a terrible price for their freedom and
will soon proudly celebrate their independence.  That independence must also
apply to economic and financial arenas. The United States can make sure that
East Timor’s people did not suffer the unbearable only to end up in an
endless cycle of poverty.  Our government must contribute its fair share to
East Timor’s financing gap and coordinate with other governments and IFIs to
guarantee that the full amount is covered with grants free of restrictive
macroeconomic conditions.

cc: The Honorable Paul H. O’Neill, Secretary of Treasury
The Honorable Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator, U.S. Agency for
International Development


Karen Orenstein, Washington Coordinator
East Timor Action Network:10 Years for Self-Determination & Justice

PO Box 15774
Washington, DC 20003-0774
202-544-6911 (tel.), 202-544-6118 (fax)
www.etan.org


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