Subject: ETAN/US: Nov 12 events highlight E Timor rights For immediate release
Contact: John M. Miller, (718)596-7668
DEMONSTRATIONS TO HIGHLIGHT RIGHTS FOR EAST TIMOR
EVENTS COMMEMORATE 1991 MASSACRE
Supporters of self-determination and human rights in East Timor will hold
protests, interfaith commemorations and educational events on Thursday
November 12, the 7th anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre.
Demonstrations will target the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, and
Indonesian diplomatic offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San
Francisco. East Timorese leaders, including Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos
Horta, will speak in Corvallis, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and South Bend,
Indiana. A candlelight vigil will also take place in Ithaca, New York
Protesters will demand changes in U.S. and Indonesian policy to support
human rights and self-determination for the Indonesian-occupied territory.
Specifically, the East Timorese should be able to determine their own
political future through direct participation in UN- sponsored talks and a
referendum; the Indonesia should release all East Timorese and Indonesian
political prisoners, including East Timorese resistance leader Xanana
Gusmao; and a permanent international presence should be established in
East Timor to monitor the human rights situation and Indonesian troop
withdrawals.
The events are part of a worldwide commemoration of the 1991 massacre of
over 270 East Timorese civilians by Indonesian troops at the Santa Cruz
cemetery in Dili, East Timor. A international campaign to free Xanana
Gusmao is also being launched on November 12.
East Timor related events on Nov 12, 1998, include:
Washington, DC
5pm, street theater and protest at the U.S. State Department, 22nd and C
St.NW, dramatizing U.S. support for the Indonesian regime's brutal
occupation of East Timor. Sponsored by ETAN, Peace Action and others.
Contact: East Timor Action Network, 202-544-6911; etandc@igc.org.
Noon-1:00 p.m. Prayer Service, NCC Conference Room, 110 Maryland Ave NE
(1st flr.) Sponsored by the Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace and
the National Council of Churches of Christ Washington Office. Contact:
202-543-1094.
New York, New York
4:30-6:30 p.m. Picket at the Indonesian Mission to the U.N., 325 E. 38 St.,
btn. 1st & 2nd Ave., Manhattan. The names of those killed and missing from
November 12 will be read. Journalist and massacre eyewitness Allan Nairn
will speak. Contact: ETAN/NY, John M. Miller, 718-596-7668;
etan-outreach@igc.apc.org.
At 3 p.m., there will be an Interfaith Service of Remembrance and
Solidarity with the People of East Timor, Interchurch Center Chapel, 475
Riverside Dr (at 120th St.). Sponsored by East Timor Working Group NCC,
East Timor Religious Outreach - Northeast, and ETAN. Contact: Rev. Max
Surjadinata, (212)222-1899.
Los Angeles, California
Noon-2 p.m. Demonstration at Indonesian Consulate (3457 Wilshire Blvd.,
near Normandie) with journalist and massacre witness Amy Goodman. At 7p.m.,
Goodman will speak at Occidental College, Eagle Rock, Johnson Hall, Room
106 (For more information, contact Sara: at 323/478-1148). Goodman is
speaking in the Los Angeles area November 10-15. Contact: ETAN/LA, Bob
Frang at (310)453-8593; timorguy@pacificnet.net.
San Francisco, California
10 a.m. Witness in Solidarity with the People of East Timor demonstration
at Indonesian Consulate., 1111 Columbus (at Bay, near Tower Records;
Montgomery Bart Station: take 30 Bus from Kearny and Market through
Chinatown and up Columbus), including nonviolent civil disobedience.
Contact: East Timor Religious Outreach, (415)474-6219 and ETAN/SF,
(415)626-3723, bterrall@igc.org.
Chicago, Illinois
4 p.m. rally on northeast corner Michigan and Monroe, downtown Chicago.
4:30 march up Michigan to Indonesian Consulate , 72 E. Randolph. Sponsored
by Peace Action Illinois, the Eighth Day Center for Justice, School of the
Americas Watch Illinois, and ETAN/Chicago. Contact: ETAN/Chicago:
773-561-5131; simpsonb@nwu.edu
Ithaca, NY
4:30 -6 p.m. candlelight vigil on the Ithaca (New York) Commons. Contact:
(607) 243-7934.
Corvallis, Oregon
8 p.m. Pauling Lecture by Nobel Peace Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, LaSells
Stewart Center, Oregon State University Campus, Corvallis. Contact: Liberal
Arts, 737-4582 or ETAN/Portland, 503-235-4986, wseaman@vcd.hp.com
Phoenix, Arizona
7 p.m. Talks by former East Timorese political prisoner Fernando de Araujo
and Indonesian activist Yeni Rosa Damayanti. Languages and Literature
Building, Room C57, Arizona State University. Contact:
ETAN/AZ:602-449-0729, lundry@asu.edu. (Araujo and Damayanti are on a
nationwide speaking tour and will be in LA and SF from Nov 14-Nov. 20.
Contact, Global Exchange for information: 415-255-7296 x 244;
ken@globalexchange.org.)
Bloomington, IN
8 p.m. "The Dili Massacre: 7 Years Later" Talk by East Timorese leader
Constancio Pinto at Indiana University, Collins Coffee House, 10th &
Woodlawn. Contact ETAN Bloomington, Lisa Yu (812) 857-8518; Anna Strout
(812) 339-3354.
On December 7, 1975, the Indonesian military brutally invaded East Timor.
The following July, East Timor was illegally but formally "integrated" into
Indonesia as its "27th province." The U.N. and most of the world's
countries do not recognize this act, and the East Timorese reject it.
According to human rights groups and the Catholic Church more than 200,000
-- one-third of the population – have been killed by the Indonesian
occupation forces.
The East Timor Action Network/U.S. supports genuine self-determination and
human rights for the people of East Timor and democracy in Indonesia.
ETAN recently released leaked Indonesian military documents which show
that troop levels increased in East Timor, despite Indonesian government
claims of withdrawals totaling 1000 troops this summer.
--30--
END
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan
John M. Miller Internet: etan-outreach@igc.apc.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
PO Box 150753, Brooklyn, NY 11215-0014 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097
ETAN's new web site: http://etan.org
Send a blank e-mail message to timor-info@igc.apc.org to find out how to learn
more about East Timor on the Internet
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan
Source APC Newsgroup: act.indonesia