Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement by Gunderson Shane;

Author:Gunderson, Shane;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Karp sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the UN and notified him of this resolution. The East Timor independence activists were working within the electorate to help U.S. Senator Russell D. Feingold win his Congressional election. In November 1992, Feingold won his election to the U.S. Senate. Scheiner said that “Feingold felt thankful and credited his win to the activists organized by ETAN, who helped on this campaign.”[81]

Turning Point: Capture of Gusmão, November 1992

The CAVR Chega! Report found that the East Timorese independence movement had been transformed in the 1990s. According to the report, one of the pivotal events was the capture of Xanana Gusmão, the movement’s leader, who was arrested by Indonesian soldiers in Lahane, Dili, in November of 1992. Taylor said, “After being held incommunicado and denied legal assistance, he is charged with rebellion, undermining national stability, and masterminding the November 12 demonstration.”[82] His arrest created solidarity for the movement as a result of his popularity with young Timorese.

This passage describes how human rights organizations stepped up efforts in 1992 to use the UN Office of Human Rights to inquire into the status of human rights abuses in East Timor and Indonesia. In November and December 1992, Amnesty International’s International Secretariat sent eight “Urgent Action” letters to the UN Center for Human Rights out of concern for arbitrary detention, torture, and ill treatment of prisoners. Lists of names, including that of Xanana Gusmão and his family members, were sent to Antoine Blanca, UN Undersecretary-General, Center for Human Rights in Geneva, which asked for the Special Rapporteur on Torture to intervene and for investigation by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.[83] The arrest of Gusmão, the group leader, increased solidarity; therefore, this is also a positive indicator of social movement momentum.

There were important communications on the issue of East Timor made by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. According to Smythe,

On November 6, 1992, to mark the first anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, Archbishop John Roach wrote to acting Secretary of State Eagleburger urging greater US attention to the plight of the Timorese and expressing Conference support for the U.S. Congress decision to cut military training funds for Indonesia (IMET). Washington was requested to encourage the UN to monitor human rights in East Timor and to take further steps “to resolve the central question of East Timor’s political status.”[84]

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.