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International Community abandons East Timorese

The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development is calling on the international community to put an end to the slaughter of East Timorese by pro-integration militia.

MONTREAL -  September 09, 1999 -   The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development is calling on the international community to put an end to the slaughter of East Timorese by pro-integration militia.

"Western governments are not doing all they can to stop the violence and are therefore complicit in the mass killings of innocent people," today said the President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Warren Allmand.

At a conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa on February 22 earlier this year, the International Centre and 21 NGOs and human rights advocates urged Canada and the United Nations to send a special UN force to East Timor to protect civilians. This was never done.

""The United Nations misled the East Timorese. They promised that UNAMET (United Nations Mission in East Timor) would remain in East Timor whatever the outcome of the August 30 vote on autonomy. Now it has abandoned them," he said.

The international community must intervene since the Indonesian government is unwilling or unable to bring under control para-military groups. An international peacekeeping force must be sent to East Timor to restore order and the rule of law.

Canada should play a leadership role to help resolve the situation and is well positioned to do so, as member of the UN Security Council and leading member of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), Mr. Allmand said. Ottawa should immediately suspend its trade relations and non-humanitarian foreign aid to Indonesia in a bid to force the government to accept the presence of international peacekeepers.

Ottawa must also convince its allies, such as the US, Japan, Australia and the European Community, who are Indonesia's major donors and trading partners to agree to a coordinated and targeted programme of sanctions, the president of the International Centre said.

The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development is a Canadian institution with an international mandate working with citizens and governments in Canada and abroad to promote human rights and democratic development through dialogue, capacity building, advocacy and public education. It focuses its programmes and activities in 12 key countries, including Indonesia.

A member of the International Centre's staff in Montreal served as UNAMET District Electoral Officer (DEO) in East Timor last month.