Editorial: Free East Timor!
Free East Timor!
The ALP foreign affairs spokesperson, Laurie Brereton, on May 24 attacked foreign minister Alexander Downer for his "mealy mouthed failure" to call for the release of East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.
That's an apt description of Downer, but what term should we apply to Brereton's Labor colleagues in the Senate, who two days later joined Coalition senators in voting against a motion calling for the release of Xanana and for a free vote on self-determination in East Timor?
The upsurge of the Indonesian pro-democracy movement, which has forced the resignation of Suharto and now threatens to proceed to the larger work of dismantling the whole New Order regime, has already proved a considerable embarrassment to both of the major parties, which have been united in their backing for Suharto and the gang of thugs that helped him loot Indonesia. Further embarrassments are likely, and many of them will concern East Timor.
On the very day that Labor in the Senate voted against self-determination for East Timor, the Labor caucus voted in favour of self-determination. What's going on? As in the case of Brereton's remark, it's an attempt to conceal the reality that there is a totally bipartisan East Timor policy in the federal parliament. There is no disagreement between Labor and the Coalition on any of the essentials.
Both parties support the shameful policy of giving legal recognition to the Indonesian annexation of East Timor (Australia's is the only government in the world to do so). Both back the criminal Timor Gap Treaty, under which Australian and Indonesian capitalists divide oil resources that belong to the East Timorese. Both are in favour of maintaining close collaborative relations with the Indonesian generals. Consequently, both can do no more than hypocritically wring their hands when some particularly brutal aspect of the Indonesian occupation is exposed.
The Labor caucus motion expressed the pious hope for a "lasting settlement", which it thought would probably require "a process of negotiation through which the people can exercise their right of self-determination". The words are carefully chosen to fool the gullible. East Timorese "self-determination" is to be exercised through negotiation with Jakarta. And what if the negotiators can't agree?
It seems that, in the ALP view, the East Timorese "self" includes the Indonesian general staff. On the other hand, the generals will certainly be very determined.
The Indonesian people, however, do not benefit from the oppression of East Timor. To the contrary, that oppression strengthens the crony capitalists who also rob the Indonesian people. The People's Democratic Party firmly supports the East Timorese people's right of self-determination, and Muhammidiyah leader Amien Rais is reported to have said that he favours a referendum in East Timor.
There are no doubt still many Indonesians who demonstrate to demand their own freedom but who, inconsistently, oppose freedom in East Timor. This is a temporary situation. As the Indonesian people win the right to debate political issues and learn the truth, support for East Timor will spread through the population. Those who support the continued occupation will gradually be reduced to those who expect to profit from the robbery, and their political agents.
Something similar has already happened on this side of the Timor Sea: as a result of the political campaigns carried out by the East Timorese and their supporters, there is now widespread backing for East Timor's right to self-determination and opposition to the role played by successive Australian governments. This is why both major parties are now trying to cover up their real records and real intentions regarding East Timor.
Every advance by the Indonesian democracy movement will make the East Timorese struggle easier, but there is still a long way to go before the hold of the New Order is broken. There is an even longer way to go — an impossibly long way — before either major party becomes a real friend of the East Timorese. Real friends should not let themselves be misled by hypocritical noises from Canberra.