Subject: UMNS: Support continues for East Timor
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 10:01:41 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Support continues for East
Timor
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist
Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New York, and Washington.
Sept. 22, 1998 Contact: Linda Bloom· (212) 870-3803· New York {539}
By United Methodist News Service
Recent votes in the U.S. House of Representatives have strengthened support for
self-determination in East Timor, but the congressional measures await final action.
United Methodists having been among those urging Congress to support the tiny Southeast
Asian nation, which has been under military occupation by Indonesia since 1975.
"The support for this issue and the awareness of this issue have really been
building up in Congress," said Rebecca Asedillo, a United Methodist who serves as
staff for the National Council of Churches' East Timor working group.
In September, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee endorsed self- determination and
called for an "internationally supervised referendum" on East Timor when it
passed the foreign operations appropriations bill. The committee also called for an end to
human rights abuses in Indonesia and East Timor. The appropriations bill still faces a
vote by the entire House.
More than 100 members of the House also sent separate letters to President Clinton and
Indonesian President B.J. Habibie urging a just solution in East Timor based on the wishes
of its citizens, Asedillo said.
On Sept. 3, the Senate banned the use of U.S. weapons in East Timor in its version of
the foreign operations appropriations bill. Earlier, on July 10, it had passed Senate
Resolution 237, which urges the Clinton administration to work with the United Nations and
with its allies to support the referendum on self-determination.
Asedillo said United Methodists still should encourage their U.S. representatives to
vote for House Concurrent Resolution 258, which also supports East Timor's right to
self-determination.
For general questions about The United Methodist Church, please call InfoServ at
1.800.251.8140.
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