by Anna Weeks, SAMWU
In 1975, Portugal pulled out of the island of East Timor after many years of colonial rule. The people of East Timor took over the running of their country after a free and fair election. But almost immediately, neighbouring Indonesia invaded East Timor. They rounded up activists and ordinary citizens, men, women, children and pensioners, and shot them. The only foreign journalist to remain behind was taken to the beach and shot in the head.
This was the start of 24 years of bloody genocide under Indonesian rule which saw more than 200 thousand East Timorese people murdered, raped, brutalised and abducted by the Indonesian military. What did the rest of the world do about this? The rest of the world did nothing. Not only did they do nothing, but the British and American governments continued to trade with Indonesia and sell the Indonesian dictatorship massive amounts of weapons that they knew were used to murder defenceless East Timorese people.
America and Britain claimed that the weapons were used to maintain "internal security". The truth was that America saw a socialist island in the middle of South East Asia as a terrible threat, which they would do anything to destroy. Until last year when the Indonesian economy collapsed and dictator Suharto was deposed, America was holding up Indonesia as an investors paradise and a good economic model for the rest of the world to follow.
What is happening now?
After 24 years of struggle, the people of East Timor were granted the right to a
referendum where they could choose between total freedom from Indonesia or limited
autonomy. The referendum was a bad deal for the people from the beginning. The main
condition for the referendum was that Indonesia would provide security for the election.
This was an outrage, but it was supported by the West so that they would not have to
offend Indonesia.
Edward S. Herman, a long-time writer on human rights abuses in East Timor, said that "Western intelligence knew many months before August 30 that the Indonesian army-militia planned to destroy East Timor if the people won the referendum. The failure of the West to take preventive action at that point amounts to collusion with Indonesia."
In the weeks before the referendum, many Indonesian military groups moved into East Timor, threatening and intimidating people. But peace monitors from the United Nations urged people to vote and decide their future. On August 30, East Timor's people voted 80% in favour of complete independence from Indonesia. But tragedy struck after the referendum. Indonesian militias rounded up those people who had voted and raped and slaughtered them.
Peace monitors fled the country in danger of their lives. East Timorese people retreated to the mountains, to be protected by Falantil, the East Timorese Resistance movement. Indonesian militias rounded up thousands of people and took them across the border to West Timor - part of Indonesia.
It was only after the people of East Timor had been terrorised for a month, that the United Nations sent a peacekeeping force to the country.
Led by Australia, this force has only partly been able to restore calm.
Out of 800 thousand people, only 100 thousand have returned to their homes. 200 thousand people are reported to be living under terrible conditions in refugee camps in West Timor. Others are still living in the mountains.
Reports are coming in that people abducted to West Timor are being taken out to sea on ships and drowned in shark infested waters; or tied up in groups of 5 to 10 and shot dead.
Priests and doctors are being killed. A few days after the referendum, the parents of Falantil leader, Xanana Gusmao who was in prison for many years and only released just before the referendum, were murdered.
Gusmao himself has not been able to return to East Timor for fear of his life. What have South African workers done to help the people of East Timor?
COSATU has a long standing Congress resolution that East Timor should be free. In 1997 when former Indonesian President Suharto visited South Africa, former President Nelson Mandela rolled out the red carpet for him at Parliament. About 15 COSATU and affiliate activists demonstrating outside Parliament that day were thrown into the back of a police van on national television and jailed for the rest of the day. As one comrade said at the time "it seemed like we were back in the old South Africa." The charges were later dropped against the comrades.
Last year, the Workers' Library in Johannesburg held a photo exhibition, showing the world photos of East Timorese children whose arms had been chopped off by the Indonesian military. There were photos of Indonesian soldiers carrying the heads of East Timorese people on sticks.
In September this year, two demonstrations were held in Johannesburg and Cape Town outside the Indonesian consulates.
What more can we do? It is clear that the Indonesian military is completely out of control. All countries need to pressurise the Indonesian government to resign. The United Nations must send peacekeeping forces to West Timor and return the abducted people. The UN must ensure that democratic elections are held in Indonesia. South African solidarity efforts need to be increased.
Australian unions started a humanitarian aid agency that is co-ordinating work brigades in nearby East Timor, where Australian workers use their leave to help rebuild the country. Xanana Gusmao has praised this agency, Union Aid Abroad, for "it's ongoing commitment to supporting us in developing health, education, reconstruction and human rights programs."
Shipping workers in New Zealand belonging to the Rail and Maritime Transport Union and the Waterfront Workers Union went on strike, delaying loading of an Indonesian ship for a few days. Postal workers in Canada boycotted delivering letters to Indonesian embassies. South African workers should assist by boycotting all products made in Indonesia.
Check any food or clothing you buy for a "made in Indonesia" label. Workers in Indonesia organised under the National Front for Indonesian Labour Struggle have made a call for the international community, especially the workers to maintain pressure on the Indonesian government through strikes/industrial action, economic sanctions and other forms of pressure.
You can write to the Department of Trade and Industry urging Minister Alec Erwin to cut all trade ties with Indonesia at Private Bag X274, Pretoria 0001.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosozana Zuma can be contacted at this address: Private Bag X152, Pretoria 0001.
Viva International Working Class Solidarity, viva!
We the delegates of the OATUU 7th Ordinary Congress are mindful of many decades of internal strife and instability brought about by colonialism and military and civilian dictatorships that have subjected millions of African inhabitants to the worst forms of pain, humiliation, poverty, diseases, and violence.
We are mindful of our responsibility to workers and the broader working class. These challenges include the subjection of millions of our people to unemployment, homelessness and lack of social services, humiliating poverty, political and social instability that continue to wreak havoc in some parts of Africa.
The era we are in will be characterised by an ever-increasing globalisation of the world economy. Increasingly the world economies are dominated by powerful regional and continental economic blocks. Globalisation of trade has seen a reduction in trade flows from Africa in the last decade. This century has also seen the increasing gap in standards of living between Africa and countries of the North.
We commit ourselves to the call made by several African leaders to declare the next century the "African Century".
We acknowledge that none of these dreams are possible without a strong, vibrant and independent OATUU.
We therefore adopt this programme on organisational renewal:
We will launch a campaign for mass mobilisation of workers behind the following demands:
Political and social stability is a pre-condition to the development of the continent. The African Renaissance should be biased towards uplifting the conditions of the poor and the marginalised sections of our society.
OATUU and its affiliates should lead by example through promoting and defending democratic practices and gender mainstreaming within its ranks.
We support the OAU resolution on the refusal to recognise military governments and will seek to work with the august body to ensure that all African governments have elected governments by June 2000.
In this regard we shall stage one-day mass demonstrations in support of this OAU call on the 12 April 2000. In this day we shall call for speedy transformation toward civilian governments in Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other African countries that have by then not democratised. We shall also call for democratisation and attainment of peace in Angola and Swaziland and other African countries under civil or interstate conflict.
To engage OAU and regional economic development structures and actively campaign to ensure that all African governments ratify the core ILO Conventions in particular on use of prison labour, child labour and discrimination on the basis of colour, religion and sex. We shall also take active steps to put pressure on all governments that abuse trade union and other human rights.
The economic marginalisation of the African continent, as reflected by the unjust distribution of the world resources, should be an issue that should not be taken into the new millennium.
We note with regret the dominance of the neo liberal prescription of the financial institutions to African countries and the rest of the developing world. We further note the devastating impact of these anti development prescriptions on the workers and the poor.
We shall campaign for an alternative framework to the orthodox IMF-World Bank framework for economic growth, employment and development. OATUU and the OAU should lobby the Non-aligned Movement behind such an alternative economic framework.
We recognise the critical role the private sector can play in development and call for new spirit of tripartism between trade unions, governments and employer bodies. In this regard we shall campaign for genuine tripartite structures in all African countries. Partnership and participation can only take place if there is a conscious effort to empower trade unions.
We dream of a new Africa where her children shall be free from unemployment, poverty, deprivation, and socio-economic marginalisation and inter as well as intra state conflict.
Social justice and redistribution
We are threatened by the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in most parts of Africa. We recognise that without an effective campaign that focuses on both awareness and treatment especially the provision of affordable medicines, Africa is sitting on a time bomb that threatens to undermine the prospects of the African Renaissance.
We commit ourselves to an active campaign in all our countries in partnership with our governments and civil society formations to root out the scourge. We shall mobilise as part of this awareness campaign for activities to highlight this epidemic on 1 December 1999 - the world AIDS day. We recognise that HIV/AIDS awareness activities can not be limited to the World AIDS day and commit ourselves to an ongoing campaign.
Africa, due to its economic position, is notorious for not providing social income for the unemployed and other marginalised groupings in society. The failure to provide social security net effectively means that each worker has to support extended families and thereby provide this social net which should be the state responsibility.
With more and more workers loosing their jobs as a result of failing economic prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF such as Structural Adjustment Programmes, more and more millions are trapped in denigrating poverty that rob them of their human dignity.
