Spring 2008
Dear friends,
With the support of people like you, ETAN organized the successful 2007 Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET). Through SOMET, scores of volunteer observers from around the world and within Timor-Leste observed three national elections in three months. The people of Timor-Leste welcomed our solidarity to build their new nation, and SOMET’s observations provided constructive input that improved subsequent elections.
Recently, ETAN held its first Advocacy Days in three years. Thirty activists from around the country hit the halls of Congress in April, meeting with more than 100 House and Senate offices. Following our Hill advocacy, 34 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urging greater U.S. government commitment to justice for human rights violations perpetrated against the people of Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation.
Going forward, we plan to build on the energy created – in the U.S. and Timor-Leste – by Advocacy Days and, especially, SOMET. With your help, we can do this.
For the past two years, ETAN has had no permanent presence in Washington, DC. ETAN hired temporary staff to make sure that SOMET and Advocacy Days were a success. But to continue our work in support of justice and democracy for Timor-Leste and Indonesia – and to build on the energy emerging from SOMET and Advocacy Days – ETAN needs someone permanent to be our eyes and ears on the ground in Washington. We plan to hire a part-time DC staffer to do this, but we need your help to raise the required funds. Your generous donation can help make this happen.
During the 10 years that ETAN had a Washington office, we were able to develop and sustain many of ETAN’s most successful grassroots campaigns. We
- put Congress on record in support of self-determination for East Timor;
- succeeded in getting Congress to cut U.S. assistance for the brutal Indonesian military, most recently blocking training for its notorious Kopassus special forces;
- generated multiple calls for justice for crimes against humanity and other human rights violations in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and West Papua;
- helped to keep Timor-Leste free from impoverishing debt;
- opposed the Australian government’s attempt to steal East Timor’s petroleum resources, including by organizing members of Congress to speak out during the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement debate.
These campaigns would not have been nearly as successful without dedicated Washington staff. ETAN’s Washington work has often helped ignite grassroots mobilizations in support of Timor-Leste and Indonesia. We are committed to again strengthening our organizing and national advocacy base.
ETAN is unique in the U.S. We are the only voice of solidarity dedicated to Timor-Leste on the national political scene. Further, we are very often the leading voice speaking out for Indonesian human rights in Washington.
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| SOMET Press Conference, June 28, 2007 L-R: Jose Luis Oliveira (Association HAK), Elizabeth dos Reis (Bibi Bulak), Bronwyn Thomas (SOMET), Jill Sternberg (ETAN), Santina Soares (La'o Hamutuk), Tito (Concern). Photo by Charles Scheiner. | ETAN activists on Capitol Hill, April 2008. L-R: Charles Scheiner, Jill Sternberg, and Aya Oktaviani Photo by Tristan Vazquez. |
With long-time allies of Timor-Leste now heading critical committees in the U.S. Congress, this is a critical moment to re-assert and expand ETAN’s reach in Washington. With your support, we can gain greater ground in furthering human rights protections and justice. This is an opportunity we don’t want to miss. Please help us fund our Washington staff position.
SOMET showed us how vitally important our sustained international interest in Timor-Leste’s fledgling democracy is to the people of that new nation. We invite you to help us grow and strengthen our base of solidarity and our work in the U.S. capitol. We welcome your activist and financial support.
Thank you very much for your consideration and support.
In solidarity,
John M. Miller
National Coordinator
Karen Orenstein
Former Washington Coordinator
P.S. You can contribute safely through ETAN
below. Or you can
mail your donation. To support ETAN's
political advocacy work, write a check made out to "ETAN."
To support ETAN's educational efforts,
tax-deductible donations of more than $50 can be made out to
"A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN."
Please mail your donations to: East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network (ETAN), PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873.
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To support ETAN’s advocacy work, please make your check out to
“ETAN” and send it to Click here for a form you can print out and mail. To donate by credit card (not tax-deductible) - click here: Donations of any size for ETAN's political and advocacy work should
be made out to ETAN and are not tax-deductible. Please mail all donations to:
Thank you for your support. |