MOBILISE TO STOP THE BLOODSHED IN EAST TIMOR

Statement of the Communist Party of Aotearoa

8 September 1999

The Communist Party of Aotearoa urges the broadest mobilisations of people to demand an end to the terror and genocide in East Timor. People of Aotearoa, who hold democracy dear, must take a stand behind the people of East Timor who have clearly expressed their right to national independence.

We stand, as we have for the last 25 years, alongside the people of East Timor in their just struggle for national liberation and socialism. In the words of Xanana Gusmao, "the nature of the East Timorese struggle is a socialist one."

* We demand the New Zealand government cease its shamefaced fear of upsetting a few trade deals and uphold the clear legitimate rights of the people of East Timor for national independence.

* We condemn the unpardonable inactivity of the UN Security Council in the face this humanitarian tragedy, for the sake of diplomatic sensitivity. The scale of inhuman horror and the gross violation of democratic and human rights obvious to all in East Timor cannot be tolerated any further.

* We demand the IMF and suppporting governments suspend financial assistance to Indonesia until the fasicist paramilitaries in East Timor are genuinely disarmed and Indonesian troops withdrawn from the country.

* We call on the Australian, New Zealand and Portuguese governments for a unilateral military intervention in East Timor in support of FALINTIL, the armed forces of the legitimate government of East Timor.

The Australian and New Zealand governments have a particular moral obligation to address the wrongs they have done to the people of East Timor. For 24 years Australian and New Zealand governments have been complicit in the US-backed Indonesian occupation of East Timor. They have covered up the brutality of the Indonesian occupation, denied the genocide of one third of East Timorese population, armed and trained Indonesian military personnel and delayed serious United Nations action in the issue. As the former coloniser of East Timor, Portugal also has a particular responsibility to the people it brutally exploited for 300 years then left to the ravages of the Indonesian fascist military.

Military intervention must be unilateral, because the UN security council will not mandate a military intervention. The close ties of many members of the security council with Indonesia mean it will not sanction military intervention without Indonesian agreement. The Indonesian military will never agree to this.

The claim that Indonesian permission is necessary to prevent their soldiers killing the people of East Timor is absurd. The United Nations has never recognised Indonesia's claim of soveriegnty over East Timor. East Timor has been a legitimate independent country since 1975. Indonesia is a hostile occupying power.

Military intervention must not involve the forces of the United States, Britain or any other major imperialist power. The United States and Britain have been the principle supporters of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. They have supported, armed, and trained the Indonesian military forces occupying East Timor. They want the demobilisation of the East Timorese liberation forces to allow the imposition of their neocolonial interests. US, and Australian, companies have profited from the exploitation of the oil in the Timor sea during the Indonesian occupation, while both the US and Britain have geostrategic interests in the Island because of its location amidst the world's major trade routes. The US also fears the consolidation of a socialist-led independent Timor will ignite other liberation movements throughout Indonesia.

While military intervention is essential to secure the lives and independence of East Timor, such intervention must be kept under the closest scrutiny. Australian, New Zealand and Portuguese governments have their own agendas for East Timor. Australia and New Zealand are generally loyal supporters of US imperialist policies in the region. But US imperialism and its allies are on the back foot. They are surprised and confused by the intemperate actions of the mad dog Indonesian military who aren't playing the game mapped out by the the Imperialists for a peaceful resolution that will not inflame mass rebellions in the heart of Indonesia itself.

Only the broadest mobilisations of the people of Aotearoa can stop the tyrrany of the Indonesian fascist gangs and military forces over the people of East Timor and keep the imperialists on the back foot and unable to consolidate a neocolonial hold over free East Timor in the future.

Robert Hanson Secretary Communist Party of Aotearoa

PO Box 2751, Auckland cpa@xtra.co.nz http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/cpa/index.html

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