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East Timor ACTION Network ALERTHONOR THE SANTA CRUZ MASSACRE VICTIMS SUPPORT JUSTICE FOR EAST TIMOR!Commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre by acting for human rights! What you
can do: Make
three phone calls to your members of Congress! Honor the Santa Cruz massacre victims by supporting justice for East Timor! When you talk to your Representative's and Senators' offices: Contact the Washington office of your Representative and Senators and ask to speak with the foreign policy staff person. All offices can be reached through the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. To find out who represents you, visit http://www.congress.org or http://www.congress.org. (See sample letter below.)
NOVEMBER 12 IS THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF ONE OF THE MOST INFAMOUS MASSACRES IN EAST TIMOR.
Ten years later, our work is still not done. Today, one-tenth of the East Timorese people are held in militia and military-controlled refugee camps in Indonesian territory, under horrendous conditions. No members of the Indonesian military or police have been brought to trial for 1999's devastating violence -- or for the prior 24 years of brutal occupation. Although East Timor is free and will soon be independent, your support is still needed! Background
Dear Senator /Representative, XX November 2001 Dear _________, Today marks the tenth anniversary of one of the most brutal massacres of East Timorese civilians by the Indonesian military. Over 270 East Timorese children, women and men were killed on November 12, 1991 in the capital of Dili for participating in a peaceful protest against Indonesian rule. The illegal Indonesian occupation of East Timor has ended, and East Timor will become fully independent next year. However, no Indonesian military or police have been brought to trial for a quarter century of horrific human rights abuses, and today approximately one-tenth of the East Timorese population remains held in militia- and military-controlled Indonesian refugee camps. I am writing to urge you to honor the victims of the Santa Cruz massacre and to uphold international human rights standards by:
I thank you for your attention to these important issues, [thank Sen/Rep ______ if they have already co-sponsored HConRes60 or SConRes9] and would appreciate your informing me of the actions (Rep/Sen) _________ takes on these matters. Sincerely, Your name and contact information
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On 
The
Indonesian military and its militia proxies razed East Timor following the
August 1999 referendum for independence, murdering thousands, raping
hundreds of women and girls, forcing some 300,000 people into Indonesian
West Timor and destroying over 75% of the country's infrastructure. The
January 2000 reports of the United Nations International Commission of
Inquiry on East Timor and the Indonesian government's own human rights
commission state the Indonesian military is responsible for these crimes
against humanity. The UN report further called for the establishment of an
international tribunal. Today, no Indonesian military or police have yet
been held responsible by the Indonesian government for these heinous
abuses, and some 80,000 East Timorese remain trapped in militia-and
military-controlled Indonesian refugee camps. Recent reports from Jesuit
Refugee Services, the only international agency with a regular presence in
the camps, noted the "generally very poor" condition of the
refugees' health and "continued intimidation in the camps".
Increased international pressure must be applied NOW, to support
nation-building in East Timor and rule of law in Indonesia, and to allow
the one-tenth of the East Timorese population still under Indonesian
occupation in squalid refugee camps to return home.
