This reflection is written from my perspective. As an activist who struggled in Portugal and other countries during 24 years of our struggle for national liberation, with governments constantly ignoring the cry for freedom of our people, I have come to value solidarity of individuals, groups and non-government organisations; individuals and groups who were just like our people. They have very little to give, but all they could give, they did provide for the sake of echoing the voice of our people wherever they were. Inevitably, the determination to succeed of hundreds of solidarity members increased their power to defend us in their own countries and in various international forums. Solidarity campaigns were sometimes aggressive, other times diplomatic; but always action oriented, with the aim of ensuring that the well-resourced campaign of Indonesian generals fail.
In the struggle of the Timorese people for self-determination, the role ETAN has played in its first crucial ten years cannot be evaluated in words. The East Timor Action Network did turn the concept of action into reality with constant and diverse interventions in many places in the United States of America and elsewhere. Around the world, modern interconnectedness made it possible to transform the ‘networking’ capacity of the international solidarity movement for the rights of self-determination of the people of East Timor into a movement beyond the expectations. ETAN was part of a reality whereby even if all the governments ignored the plight of the Timorese people, citizens can still make a huge difference to force the powers-that-be to wake up and to realize that there is limit to hypocrisy. ETAN made it impossible for many politicians of all colors to turn a blind eye to the cry for freedom of the Timorese. ETAN also made it possible to elevate the power of letter-writing as an effective campaign strategy. Bearing in mind the electoral system of the United States, ETAN also contributed towards making telephone calls a powerful lobby strategy for the Timorese. And ETAN also worked well in the political system of the U.S. alerting many politicians to the fact that the Timorese people are part of the victims of arms sales of the U.S. and that there is such a thing as responsibility of the U.S. government. ETAN’s campaign highlighted the fact that, in the case of East Timor and human rights abuse, there is limit to the defence of ‘national interest’ merely seen as protecting military power. The most important trait of ETAN was sustainability. In the long years of war, like the 24-year struggle for freedom, groups and organisations may come and go because of constraints inherent in the politics of their own country - financial and personal constraints. History of struggle dictates, however, that smooth flow of information is crucial to overcome difficulties in sustaining solidarity actions, bearing in mind that the powerful enemy at that time, the Suharto’s dictatorship with powerful Western friends, tried every possible ways and means to derail important campaign against its illegal occupation of East Timor, particularly the killings resulted from the occupation. Since it was created twenty years ago, ETAN proved to be a solidarity network where innovation has been built in to sustain its work for the forthcoming years. ETAN has proven that for the sake of democracy and human rights, solidarity with diverse causes but with these common denominators is possible to sustain. One reason for this success is ETAN’s ability to accommodate all political thinking and interests groups, focusing on the broader goals of human rights and justice. In 1994, the Asia-Pacific Conference of East Timor (APCET) emerged in the ASEAN region as an active movement for self-determination of East Timor. This was a decisive qualitative step forward. It was the beginning of the process of the ‘Asianisation’ of East Timor, or the bringing of East Timor into Asia. It shook dictatorships in the region and the power of solidarity reached the heart of the enemy – the military elite in Jakarta. Indonesian democratic movement echoed the plight of the Timorese and widened the support-base of the struggle for freedom of the people of East Timor. From the U.S. to Jakarta, UK and European Union, all groups part of the international movement for East Timor, human rights and democracy, active in their own regions and in their own ways, but coordinated beyond their respective borders, made a tremendous solidarity impact on the people of East Timor. This solidarity movement also inspired young Timorese and Indonesians to become equally more active politically in public sphere, facing higher risks of imprisonment and death.
In these years where suffering was acceptable for the sake of freedom, ETAN became a unifying network, showing rare response capacity to emerging needs. Through its relentless determination to disseminate information around-the-clock, ETAN became a much-needed unifying forum for the international campaign for East Timor. Information, the ‘blood’ of solidarity flew without delays. The core nerve-centre of ETAN also succeeded in sustaining this information flow, largely through its actions and capacity to mobilize support for its operations. And the network also became an authoritative forum for politicians and influential activists like Noam Chomsky. It is fair to say that the support generated in the U.S. Senate was also largely a measure of the important impact the network of ETAN has had in raising awareness of powerful Senators and their electorates. At one stage, East Timor had 49 Senators out of 100 supporting the cause of East Timor, demonstrating to Indonesia that it can no longer benefit from ignorance of senior politicians around the world, including in the United States. The infamous massacre of St. Cruz cemetery in Díli, capital of East Timor, was filmed by Max Stahl and the film reached prime time news around the world, including Asia. The reports of Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn also contributed towards highlighting the plight of the people of East Timor. The many articles and witnesses statements disseminated via ETAN ensured that the information reaches out to an audience as widest as possible. I am sure it reached the generals and Indonesian politicians at that time. Many Indonesians were moved by the sad facts and understood that there may be a day when Indonesia has to reconsider its occupation of East Timor. The D-day was 30 August 1999. ETAN contributed immensely towards making the Indonesian military occupying the country see that they could no longer be believed in their propaganda of a happy and prosperous Timor. The impact of the images of the massacre; and the powerful reporting of many others, had a powerful impact on many people, raising consciousness; and the solidarity members of East Timor ensured that the images and sounds proven the resilience of the Timorese would not fade away. They made sure that through specific and coordinated actions, the case of East Timor can never fall back into the labyrinth of the oblivion. And they succeeded. In 2012, Timor-Leste is to celebrate its first 10th anniversary as an independent and sovereign nation-state. ETAN’s role will not fade away in our minds, those who struggle in the jungle of civililisation where governments turned a blind eye, but citizens, like those networked through ETAN, never did. Congratulations to ETAN in this historical 20th anniversary, rightly celebrated on December 10th - the world human rights day. Congratulations. Agio Pereira 5
December 2012, Read additional reflections on ETAN's
20th Anniversary
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