| Australia - East Timor Friendship Association (SA) Inc AETFA, P.O.Box 240 Goodwood, S.A. 5034 Web: http://www.communitywebs.org/AustEastTimorFriendship/: Email: William.Fisher@postgrads.unisa.edu.au | |
| Home | About Us | News |Contact Us | What can you do? | Where the money goes | What's On | Issue: Timor Sea | Issue: Justice | Issue: Military Ties | East Timor Facts | West Papua | | |
About Us
Our name describes us. We are South Australians befriending East Timor's people. In November 2004, there are about 200 of us. Most of the time since 1975, any Australian wanting to protect the rights of East Timorese people has needed to oppose the Australian Government's policies towards both East Timor and Indonesia. That remains true today, despite East Timor's independence in May 2002, and Australia's leading role in the InterFET military force in September 1999.
AETFA evolved from CAMPAIGN FOR AN INDEPENDENT EAST TIMOR (SA) Inc. when East Timor's independence was celebrated on May 20th 2002. C.I.E.T. (SA) was founded by Andy Alcock and Bob Hanney in 1975, shortly before the full-scale Indonesian invasion on December 7th 1975. Andy and Bob have been East Timor activists ever since, and are currently on AETFA's committee. They and many other activists remained dedicated to East Timorese self-determination through the darkest years of the late 1970s and the 1980s. During those years the massacres and starvation continued unabated in East Timor, the world's superpowers often conspired to bury East Timor, and the rest of the world seemed to have forgotten. That began to change dramatically in November 1991 when hundreds of young East Timorese were gunned down in Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, East Timor's capital. The Santa Cruz massacre didn't compare to the scale and savagery of earlier massacres: Dili in December 1975, Matebian in 1979, Lacluta in 1981 or worst of all, Kraras in 1983. The difference was that this time several members of western media were there to film, photograph and report. Suddenly the world was made aware of what had been going on in East Timor for 16 years.
East Timor activism rapidly increased around the world. Several western governments (USA, Britain and Australia), which had supported the military occupation with arms and military training, were now confronted by many more of their own citizens protesting their actions. The cause got a boost from the awarding of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Belo and Jose Ramos Horta. Ramos Horta (now Timor Leste's Foreign Minister) recently said that the Prize took him from sleeping in railway stations and finding doors slammed shut everywhere to being welcomed and listened to by world leaders.
In 1998, Indonesian dictator Suharto was deposed by popular uprising. His successor, President Habibie, allowed a referendum in East Timor to choose independence or integration with Indonesia. It was a UN-supervised process, but the Indonesian army was given the task of "security", despite warnings from C.I.E.T. and many other activist groups and independent observers that this would result in disruption and many killings. The army armed and trained its militia proxies to disrupt the poll, but couldn't prevent the people from voting 79% for independence. In an attempt to nullify the result, the army drove 250,000 people into West Timor, killed 1,000, and destroyed 80% of the buildings and infrastructure. World outrage forced western leaders to intervene, and Australia led the InterFET force into East Timor to restore order.
After 2 years of UN supervision, Timor Leste celebrated its independence in 2002. Most newly-independent countries know where their boundaries are. Timor Leste doesn't. Australia claims an undersea boundary at the edge of its continental shelf. Timor Leste says the boundary should be at the median line, half way between the 2 nations - in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with all international court decisions on disputed boundaries over the last 20 years. In any case, the boundaries are disputed. This has not stopped the Australian Government from taking $2Billion in revenue from the disputed areas since 1999 (see Campaigns).
We aim: - to help the East Timorese people to rebuild their country & their lives after the long colonial rule and then 24 years of military occupation
- to promote Australian public awareness of East Timor's history & culture and its relations with Australia
- to work with like-minded groups towards peace, cooperation & social justice in the Asia-Pacific region
- to encourage Australian people and groups to support these objectives.
We are AETFA
Join Us!