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Until
Mar 7 CIIR: Update on Women's Quotas Campaign
"The UN Electoral Assistance Division
in New York refuses to set what they regard as a precedent for UN supervised
elections in the future by allowing women's quotas to be a feature of the
forthcoming election in East Timor, and are threatening to pull out of
supervising the elections if the quotas are pursued." Catherine
Scott, Catholic Institute for International Relations
Until
Mar 7 CIIR: Women's Representation to ETimor's Constituent Assembly
"East Timorese women have been politically marginalised for long enough.
They have made it clear that they want to have a much stronger voice in
the new East Timor. ... CIIR calls upon individuals, NGOs, solidarity groups
and East Timor networks everywhere to add your support to REDE's concerns
and to lobby the United Nations in New York, your governments, and UNTAET
to take into account the legitimate aspirations of East Timorese women."
Catholic
Institute for International Relations (CIIR)
Until Mar 12 ASIET: Timor Oil Statement and Petition
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Feb 28 GLW: Protests demand `Timor
oil for the Timorese' [News: Self-Determination]
“Although mainstream Australian politicians now bask warmly in the
glow of support for East Timorese independence ... the real contemporary
test of their political commitment to East Timor's future is the extent
to which they will support substantial direct economic aid to East Timor
and full East Timorese sovereignty over important economic resources which
can underpin rising living standards and the capacity to develop social
infrastructure.” Grahame McCulloch, general secretary, [Australian] National
Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)
Oct 9 2000 AAP: Australian Labor Party / Australian Democrats back East Timor on Gap Treaty [News: Self-Determination]
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Mar 8 FEER: Searching For Closure: the fate of those missing in ETimor [Article: Crimes]
Mar 2 SMH: UN lays down East Timorese refugee deadline [News: Refugees/Elections]
Mar 1 ETAN/US: Letter on women
and upcoming election [Letter: Women/Elections]
"Although they have made many contributions to their society through
the independence movement, literacy campaigns, and other community service
efforts, East Timorese women remain one of the most marginalized segments
of the population. ... We hope that UNTAET will, at the behest of the East
Timorese society it serves and in keeping with the United Nations’ commitment
to women’s empowerment worldwide, rule in favor of a requirement for at
least 30 percent women candidates in the upcoming elections in East Timor."
Charles
Scheiner, National Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
Mar 1 NYT: Sexual Violence as
Tool of War: Pattern Emerging in East Timor [Article:
Crimes]
"Mr. Senior [UN chief investigator of sex crimes] said the reports
he had gathered suggest that some instances of mass rape coincided with
massacres that occurred both before the independence vote — in April and
May 1999 — and in the three weeks of destruction that followed the Aug.
30 vote. ... Ms. Alves [Timorese counselor] said it was possible that the
rapes were part of the destruction of East Timor that investigators are
now piecing together as an orchestrated scorched-earth policy commanded
by Indonesia's military." Seth Mydans
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Feb 28 TP: Human Rights Cases: UN
Must Give Indonesia A Timeframe [News: Crimes]
“Let me be straight. Though I value Serio de Mello’s efforts in Jakarta,
I still think in order to be effective the UN must give Indonesia a deadline
to deal with the [crimes against humanity] cases,” Aderito de Jesus, Director,
Sahe
Institute of Liberation
Feb 28 LUSA: Reconciliation Commission to Cover 1974-1999 Period [News: Reconciliation/Crimes]
Feb 26 BWorld: Ramos Horta congratulates
Filipino people [News: Non-Violence/Self-Determination]
"you God-fearing and fellow Asians have shown the world that the governed
must be eternally vigilant in holding elected leaders accountable for their
moral duty to govern under the strictest public scrutiny. ... You have
shown in your fervor in your latest democratic triumph that public office
is a public trust. We, your Timorese brothers and sisters, stand proud
in your glory as we feel the bond and kinship that flows between our blood
and culture as both having the same trait and, more importantly, the same
history of continuous struggle for self determination." Jose Ramos Horta,
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Feb 26 AP: Horta: Won't Help Others
Break From Indonesia [News: Self-Determination]
"After Mandela was released, all of us, including Horta, spoke out
against his cozying up to Suharto and failing to support East Timor, a
policy which he later reversed. At the time, we reminded the South African
leader of the support he had received from the anti-apartheid movement.
The same goes for East Timor, whose valiant people enjoyed tremendous international
support." TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights
Campaign
Feb 26 IHRN: Indonesia Human Rights
Network Urges Continued Ban on U.S. Aid to Indonesian Military
[Release: Military Aid]
"Before there can be any resumption of military ties between Washington
and Jakarta, the Indonesian armed forces must undergo significant reform.
The U.S. government should accept nothing short of civilian control of
the military as well as human rights trials conducted under international
standards of justice as preconditions for any re-engagement with the Indonesian
military," Agatha Schmaedick, Indonesia Human
Rights Network co-chair
Feb 24 RDP: Timorese bishop calls
on UN for "Timorization" of administration [Interview:
Transition/Self-Determination]
"we hope that, during this period of transition, the UN will take immediate
steps for the Timorization of the administrative ranks, in order to have
financial transparency and to prevent the Timorese from suffering further
disappointments and dissatisfaction." Dom Ximenes Belo, bishop of Dili
and Nobel Peace laureate
Feb 24 AGE: Date set for East Timor election [News: Elections]
Feb 23 ST: Xanana has opportunity
to be Timor Lorosae president [News from WTimor: Elections]
"For years the people of Timor Leste experienced and felt a harsh leadership
style that frightened them. Now they are free, so they need a figure like
Xanana who will give them back their freedom that has disappeared for so
long." Santino O. Baros, manager, HMTOP NGO (Uniting Timor Lorosae Intellectuals
for Development)
Feb 23 ST: Rape in ETimor, Gusmao's wife criticizes Indonesia [News from WTimor: Crimes]
Feb 23 TP: ET-Indonesia relations [Editorial from ETimor: Refugees]
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Dec 31 LHB: Democracy and the World
Bank in East Timor [Editorial: Finance]
"Experience shows that concerted public pressure can
influence how the [World] Bank works. East Timor has a vibrant NGO sector,
a political elite that is relatively responsive to grassroots constituencies,
and a strong international solidarity movement. Working together, they
can help ensure that the World Bank serves the East Timorese people’s needs,
rather than vice-versa." LHB
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Access
Canberra Events at:
http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/ACTEvents.htm
International Women's Day. Speakout
Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance.
Garema Pl, Civic
Thursday March 8, 12.30pm
Dinner, public meeting & premiere of a new short film:
Free Aceh! Referendum Now!
Sydney-based Aceh Australia Association (AAA) &
Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET)
Glebe Town Hall, 160 St John's Rd, Glebe, Sydney
Saturday March 17
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Bahasa Indonesia & English:
Fokupers - Forum
Komunikasi Untuk Perempuan Loro Sae
Fokupers - Women's
Development and Advocacy
Sahe Institute for
Liberation (SIL)
Yayasan HAK - Yayasan
Hukum, Hak Asasi dan Keadilan
Yayasan HAK - Foundation
of Law, Human Rights, and Justice
Tetum:
La’o Hamutuk, Instituto
Timor Lorosa’e ba Analiza no Monitoring Reconstrucao
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
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BACK DOOR supports
human rights accountability, return of refugees, strengthening
of indigenous culture,
East Timorese rights to Timor Gap oil and gas resources and
revenue, participatory
democratic self-determination for the East Timorese people
and people-centred
grassroots power-devolving reconstruction of East Timor.
BACK DOOR gives priority
to:
* the Perspectives
of grassroots East Timorese community organisations and networks;
* the Opinions of
East Timorese people, especially those who identify their context as
silencing and marginalising;
* News affecting
East Timorese communities directly.
Contributions of articles for BACK DOOR are welcome.
Also comments & suggestions.
We prefer to receive them by way of email:
wildwood@pcug.org.au
However, contributors without email may write to our address:
BACK DOOR, GPO Box 59, Canberra City, ACT 2601, Australia.
No stamp is required for East Timorese individuals, organisations
and networks based
within East Timor.
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Those without Web
access may request that individual BACK DOOR Website
items be emailed
to them in full by writing to BACK DOOR's email address:
wildwood@pcug.org.au
These requests will be fulfilled subject to the
constraints of time.
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