wfn.org | NCCCUSA vs E. Timor Militarization

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252
Email: news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org

16NCC2/16/99      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC URGES U.S., U.N. PRESSURE
AGAINST MILITARIZATION OF EAST TIMOR

 NEW YORK, Feb. 16 ---- Alarmed at reports that the
Indonesian military has provided arms to residents of East
Timor and created para-military groups, National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) General
Secretary Joan Campbell is urging the United States and
United Nations to press for disarmament, lest conditions
"lead to strife and violence similar to that witnessed by
the international community in Somalia and Rwanda."

 The Rev. Dr. Campbell addressed letters to U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright.

 "We welcome the recent announcement by the Indonesian
government that they may now consider independence an option
for East Timor," she wrote in letters released today (Feb.
13). "However, reports that the Indonesian military has
provided arms to residents of that territory and created
para-military groups are completely at odds with the
framework of governance being discussed under United Nations
auspices.

"We understand from reliable sources as well as via the
media that the sense of insecurity and level of tension
among the people of East Timor has increased and that
potential for further violence is great.  In order for the
human rights of the people of East Timor to be preserved and
protected and new arrangements for governance to be explored
in a climate of calm and careful planning, we believe it is
important for the international community to take immediate
action.

"First, the arming of civilians by the Indonesian Armed
Forces (ABRI) must stop and the Indonesian military must
withdraw from the territory in a swift but orderly fashion,"
Dr. Campbell wrote.  "Given the record of human rights
abuses by the ABRI forces, we are convinced that their
continued presence will extend the suffering of the East
Timorese people.  Second, the United Nations should send an
international monitoring force to East Timor as soon as
possible to oversee the disarming of the paramilitary and
the withdrawal of troops as well as to provide protection to
the population against human rights abuses."

Dr. Campbell urged both Secretary General Annan and
Secretary of State Albright to "consider these measures
urgently" and Albright to press these concerns in bilateral
discussions with the Indonesian government and in
multilateral discussions with relevant parties at the United
Nations."

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