Message from East Timor

There are the makings of a bloodbath here. Many have fled. Many have died. I can see smoke of fires of homes set ablaze in the distance. I have heard gunfire in the distance. The Indonesian military and its creation the militias have refused to accept the democratically expressed wish of the East Timorese to move towards independence.

I have seen East Timorese defy militia and military violence to go vote on August 30 and I have seen their fearful faces. Several days ago, the women hosting us in Becora (just outside Dili) received an early morning phone call and woke us at 4:30 am to tell us we had to move out of where were staying for our own safety. I have since heard reports of many houses burned and people killed in that neighborhood. Another Dili neighborhood I spent time in, Balide, next to the U.N.'s East Timor headquarters is ablaze. Timor Aid, the organization which provided assistance to the parliamentary delegation I worked with to monitor the ballot has been looted of its rice and ransacked. There have also been many reports of people being forced onto vehicles and taken to West Timor, perhaps to bolster an argument for East Timor's partition or worse.

There have been many calls for U.N. or other peacekeepers. These may arrive too late. More guns aren't necessarily what East Timor needs. What is very clear is that the military could shut down the violence relatively quickly. The military is in control. It is they that can stop the killing.

The U.S. and other governments still have tremendous leverage with Indonesia. They must use it all. Statements of serious "consequences." I saw President Clinton's mealy-mouthed statement and it doesn't go nearly far enough. The global community - governments, others, you - must be clear about what these consequences are to let the Indonesian military know that continued violence in East Timor is unacceptable.

Please contact President Clinton and members of Congress now. Urge them to immediately

Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1414. Urge President Clinton to immediately suspend all further military and financial aid to Indonesia until the military and paramilitary violence is stopped. The U.S. must show strong support for East Timor's democratic decision to break away from Indonesia.

John Miller, member War Resisters League, and East Timor Action Network Sept. 5, 1999, Dili, East Timor

WOMEN IN BLACK

Women In Black New York stand in silent vigil to protest war, rape as a tool of war, ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses all over the world. We are silent because mere words cannot express the tragedy that wars and hatred bring. We refuse to add to the cacophony of empty statements that are spoken with the best intentions yet may be erased or go unheard under the sound of a passing ambulance or a bomb exploding nearby.

Our silence is visible. We invite women to stand with us, reflect about themselves and women who have been raped, tortured or killed in concentration camps, women who have disappeared, whose loved ones have disappeared or have been killed, whose homes have been demolished. We wear black as a symbol to mourn for all victims of war, to mourn the destruction of people, nature and the fabric of life.

Women in Black is an international peace network. Women in Black is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action. Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel³s Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Women in Black has developed in the Italy, Spain, United States, England, Azerbaijan and in FR Yugoslavia, where women in Belgrade have stood in weekly vigils since 1991 to protest war and the Serbian regime³s policies of nationalist aggression. Women in Black New York have been standing in solidarity with the women of Belgrade since 1993.

We stand in silent vigil in front of the New York Public Library at 5th Avenue and 41st Street the last Wednesday of every month from 5:30 Õ 6:30. Come join us.

For information, please visit our website at http://balkansnet.org/women
Tel: Indira at 212 560-0905.
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See also http://wib.matriz.net.