The following is an English translation of the full text of a letter originally written in Bahasa Indonesia and sent to the Japanese
government by a coalition of East Timorese NGOs.

To:
 Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro
 Japanese Foreign Minister Tanaka Makiko
Cc:
 UNTAET SRSG, Sergio de Mello
 East Timorese Political Leaders Xanana Gusmao & Jose Ramos Horta
 Dili Diocese Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
 Baucau Diocese Bishop Basilio do Nascimento
 Political Party Leadership
 East Timorese people via mass media

September 3, 2001

Re: Deployment of Japanese Defense Force

With respect,

We write to you as representatives from East Timorese non-governmental organizations. With this letter, we wish to forward our opinion of the Japanese government’s plan to send a Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) to join the Peace Keeping Force (PKF) in East Timor, as has been reported in the mass media.

To date, the Japanese government has sent two members of Japan’s SDF to assess the security situation, and East Timorese political leader Jose Ramos Horta has responded positively to Japan’s plan to send troops to East Timor (Suara Timor Lorosa’e, 24 August 2001).

Without bringing into question the constitutional legitimacy of this plan, namely that Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution prohibits the sending of troops overseas, we wish instead to take this opportunity to offer another viewpoint which is based on the East Timorese people’s sense of justice.

The East Timorese people had a bitter experience with the Japanese military during the Second World War. Many East Timorese have been victims/survivors of abuse by Japanese troops, as forced laborers and sexual slaves (‘comfort women’/jugun ianfu). In December 2000, two East Timorese women testified about their experiences as sexual slaves before the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal for the Trial of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery. This testimony points to the fact that these past experiences remain as a wound in these women’s hearts, and that they have not yet found justice for their suffering.

More recently, for 24 years, the Japanese government has supported the illegal military occupation of East Timor by Indonesia. In 1982, Xanana Gusmao wrote a letter to the United Nation’s General Assembly explaining that Japan had left a wound in the hearts of the East Timorese people during World War II, and that this wound was deepened by the Japanese government’s close relationship with the Indonesian government.

We respect the Japanese government’s change in attitude during the present transitional period. The Japanese government has shown their concern for East Timor’s reconstruction and has contributed the largest amount of funds to the Trust Fund for East Timor. Drawing from our experience of the past and view of the present, we offer the following views:

* The Japanese government must publicly acknowledge that past policies have caused great suffering to the East Timorese people. They must ensure that there is no possibility of further abuses on our people.

* The plan to send a Japanese Self-Defense Force to join the PKF in East Timor should be abandoned. This plan will open past wounds and potentially damage the East Timorese people’s image of the Japanese government. The funds needed to send troops would be better used to compensate victims of abuses during World War II and during Indonesia’s occupation.

* There is no need to introduce a new military contingent from Japan to the international troops now present in East Timor. The security situation has already improved greatly under the control of the PKF.

* We believe that security problems around East Timor’s border will not be solved by increasing the PKF. We want to see an end to war. What is needed is good diplomatic relations between Indonesia and East Timor. For this reason, if the Japanese government wishes to help build stability on the Indonesian-East Timorese border, they should push for a normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Japanese government can also use its economic and political strength to ensure stability along the border. In fact, increasing PKF members will likely increase animosity on the part of West Timorese (Indonesians) against the East Timorese people.
 

We sincerely appreciate your attention to and concern for our perspective.

Respectfully,

Organisation                                            Signature

1.Yayasan HAK
2.Kdadalak Suli Mutu Institute
3.Gerakan Mahasiswa Pro Demokrasi
4.Grupo Feto Foin Sae Timor Lorosa’e
5.East Timor Women Against Violence
6.East Timor Students Solidarity Council
7.Sa’he Institute for Liberation
8.Fokupers
9.LBH “Ukun Rasik An”
10.Lao Hamutuk
11.Centro Desenvolvimento Economia Popular
12.Fundacao Haburas

Yayasan HAK - Foundation of Law, Human Rights, and Justice  Updated Sep 4
Human Rights, Advocacy and Community Organising
Yayasan HAK is a registered East Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)
General Mission: Yayasan Hak has two primary functions: 1. Casework - representing victims and their families in court 2. Human rights advocacy work - monitoring, reporting and publicising human rights information, litigation
Short History: Yayasan Hak is a legal aid foundation set up in March 1997, co-funded by four funding agencies. It was established in order to provide a range of legal services for the people of East Timor.
Address: T-091 Gov. Serpa Rosa St., Farol, Dili - Timor Lorosae
Sep 3 YHak: Elections in the Context of Nation-Building: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/01sepyhak.htm
Jul 24 YHak: Serious Concerns re Judicial Independence under UNTAET: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/01julconcerns.htm
Jun 21 2000 YHak: Reconciliation from a Legal Perspective: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/earlyhak.htm
Tetum: Jun 21 2000 YHak: Rekonciliasaun Housi Lei Nia Roman  Article http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/earlyhakt.htm

ET-WAVE - East Timorese Women Against Violence  Added Mar 20
East Timorese Women Against Violence, And For The Rights Of Women And Children (Formerly Gertak)
ET-WAVE is an East Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)
General Mission: ET-WAVE was established to provide protection and equal rights for women, and to care for children.
Short History: The organisation was originally established under the name Gertak on 25/11/1998. Over the past year it has undertaken several projects, including data collection from victims of violence, and has assisted in the organisation of several women’s magazines.
Current situation and primary needs: Our main concern is that we have lost our office building, office equipment, data and so on. We are surviving only on enthusiasm. Our primary needs are: 1. An office/place of work 2. Vehicles 3. Office equipment
Current Activities: Collecting data from victims of violence and offering assistance, such as medical nursing. Also, assisting victims in giving evidence before the UN Commission on Human Rights. Beyond this we are constrained by operational difficulties.
Plans: To begin immediate work on the ground, as so many women who are victims of violence need urgent help and to immediately seek solutions for the victims.

East Timorese Student Solidarity Council (ETSSC)  Added Mar 8
Civil Society, Culture, Informal Education.
ETSSC is a registered East Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)
Short History:
ETSSC emerged in June 1998 responding to the window of opportunity for a free East Timor following Suharto’s resignation. Prior to this new period of freedom of speech, students had been organising clandestinely as part of the wider resistance movement. The students organised a series of public meetings, demonstrations and dialogues, originally in Dili and later spreading throughout East Timor. During the lead up to the referendum, the students disseminated information on human rights, and were involved in voter education in all regions of East Timor. The Council includes students who previously attended UNTIM, as well as high school students and academics.
Current Situation And Three Primary Needs:
The ETSSC is based in Dili, but has a strong network throughout East Timor. Communication between branches of the ETSSC (eg between Baucau and Dili) is currently impossible, as branches outside Dili have no access to mobile phones, and land-lines have yet to be re-established. General office facilities (such as computer, fax equipment) are desperately needed.
Current Activities:
The Dili ETSSC have put together a project proposal entitled ‘Framework 2000’ which provides for capacity building workshops and Community Study Groups. In Baucau and Viqueque the students are involved in rebuilding secondary schools. Members are currently involved in various community activities including teaching in primary schools.
Plans:
Two members of the ETSSC will be visiting Melbourne in Feb/March (contact USET for details). Possible friendship unions with Australian universities are being pursued. The ability for ETSSC members to complete university courses begun in Indonesia, UNTIM or elsewhere is a priority.

Sahe Institute for Liberation (SIL)  Up-dated Jun 14
Research and Publications, Education and Advocacy on Social, Political, Economic and Cultural rights
SIL is a registered East Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)
General Mission: To support the active participation of the East Timorese community in the process of developing a ‘Nation State’ through the dissemination of information and discussions or seminars.
Short History: SIL is the transformation of a study group called Sa’he Study Club (SSC) formed by East Timorese student activists and Indonesian pro-democracy activists in 1998 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Current situation and primary needs: At the moment, SIL is carrying out NGO work primarily in the field of research and publication. SIL needs an office building and funding to carry out its activities.
Current Activities: 1. Publication of bulletins and books 2. Discussion groups and workshops 3. Research
Plans: All the above activities, which will be our primary focus for the coming year.
Address: Sahe Institute for Liberation, C/o. HAK Foundation, Dili, ETimor
Contact: Coordinator of SIL: Aderito de Jesus Soares  Email: Sahe_Lib@yahoo.com

Fokupers - the East Timorese Women’s Communication Forum  Updated Aug 22
Women's Development and Advocacy
Director: Manuela Leong Pereira
Fokupers is a registered East Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)
General Mission: Fokupers was founded in 1997. It focuses on political victims and gives counselling and other forms of assistance to women victims of violations, including ex political prisoners, war widows and wives of political prisoners. Its mandate also includes promoting women’s human rights among the local population, especially the East Timorese women.
Current Activities: Conducting workshops discussing ways to enhance or develop further women’s participation in Timorese society. · Focusing on receiving trauma counselling training for their staff in order to provide counsel to women victims. Supporting women survivors of violence and to end violence against women through advocacy and education.

La'o Hamutuk: East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis  Updated June 24
La'o Hamutuk (Tetum for Walking Together) is a joint East Timorese-international organization that seeks to monitor, to analyze, and to report on the reconstruction activities of the principal international institutions. It believes that the people of East Timor must be the ultimate decisionmakers in the reconstruction process and that the process should be as democratic and transparent as possible ...
East Timorese staff: Inès Martins, Fernando da Silva, Thomas Freitas; International staff: Pamela Sexton, Mark Salzer Executive board: Sr. Maria Dias, Joseph Nevins, Fr. Jovito Rego de Jesus Araùjo, Aderito de Jesus Soares Translators: Maria Bernardino, Tom‚ Xavier Jeronimo JSMP staff: Christian Ranheim, Caitlin Reiger, Rayner Thwaites
International contact: +1-510-643-4507  Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org  Homepage: http://www.etan.org/lh
La’o Hamutuk Bulletin: http://www.etan.org/lh/bulletin.html
Mar 23 2001 LH: Job announcement for La'o Hamutuk in East Timor: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/01marjob.htm
Activity Report: Mar 16 2001 LH: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/01marlhreport.html
 

Bahasa Indonesia:

Yayasan HAK - Yayasan Hukum, Hak Asasi dan Keadilan  Updated Sep 4
Maksud Umum: Yayasan Hak didirikan untuk maksud utama dua: 1. Kerja perkara - mewakili korban dan keluarganya di pengadilan. 2. Sokongan anjuran hak asasi manusia - melaporkan dan menerbitkan informasi mengenai HAM, proses pengadilan.
Sejarah Pendek: Yayasan Hak adalah yayasan bantuan hukum yang didirikan pada bulan Maret 1997, dan dibiayai oleh empat kelompok. Hak didirikan untuk menyediakan bermacam-macam pelayanan hukum kepada masyarakat Timor Lorosae.
Alamat: T-091 Gov. Serpa Rosa St., Farol, Dili - Timor Lorosae
Tetum: Jun 21 2000 Y-HAK: Lopes: Rekonciliasaun Housi Lei Nia Roman  Article http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/earlyhakt.htm

ET-WAVE - Perempuan Timor Loro Sa’e Yang Menentang Kekerasan  Added Mar 20
Perempuan Timor Loro Sa’e Yang Menentang Kekerasan, Dan Memajukan Hak2 Anak-Anak (Ex Gertak)
Maksud Umum: Organisasi ini didirikan untuk memberikan perlindungan dan kesamaan hak terhadap perempuan dan kepedulian terhadap anak.
Sejarah Pendek: Berdiri dengan nama Gertak pada 25/11/1998. Dalam kurun waktu satu tahun telah melakukan beberapa pekerjaan antara lain: mendata korban kekerasan dan membantu penyelesaian beberapa majalah perempuan.
Kegiatan Sekarang lsm dan Kebutuhan Utama: Sangat prihatin karena telah kehilangan gedung kantor, alat/peralatan kerja, data dll. Tinggal hanya semangat. Kebutuhan utama adalah: 1. Kantor/tempat kerja 2. Kendaraan 3. Peralatan kerja
Kegiatan Sekarang: Mendata korban kekerasan dan memberi pertolongan seperti perawatan medis dan mendampingi korban memberikan kesaksian di depan komisi HAM PBB. Selebihnya belum bisa karena kesulitan/keterbatan operasi kami.
Rencana: Segera turun ke daerah karena banyak perempuan korban kekerasan saat ini yang butuh pertolongan. Di samping itu segera mencari solusi untuk para korban.

East Timorese Student Solidarity Council (ETSSC)  Added Mar 8
Sejarah Pendek:
ETSSC didirikan pada bulan Juni 1998, sesudah Suharto turun dari posisinya. Mahasiswa-mahasiswa mengadakan beberapa pertemuan umum, demonstrasi dan dialog, asalnya di Dili dan kemudian di seluruh Timor Loro Sa’e. Sebelum referendum, informasi HAM disebarkan oleh mahasiswa ini, dan mereka menjadi terlibat dalam pendidikan pemberi suara. ETSSC termasuk mahasiswa yang sebelumnya duduk di UNTIM, bersama dengan pelajar dan sarjana.
Keadaan Sekarang Lsm Dan Kebutuhan Utama:
ETSSC terletak di Dili, dan ada jaringan yang kuat di seluruh Timor Loro Sa’e. Hubungan di antara cabang-cabang ETSSC (misalnya di antara Baucau dan Dili) memang tak mungkin pada saat ini, karena ETSSC di luar Dili tak ada telepon mobil, dan garis telepon tanah belum didirikan lagi. Peralatan kantor juga diperlukan (misalnya fax, komputer dll).
Kegiatan Sekarang:
ETSSC di Dili sudah menulis usulan proyek, judulnya ‘Framework 2000’. Usulan ini termasuk benkel ‘capacity building’ dan kelompok pelajaran masyarakat. Di Baucau dan Viqueque, mahasiswa terlibat dalam membangun kembali SMP dan SMA, dan juga bekerja sebagai guru di SD.
Rencana:
Dua anggota ETSSC akan mengunjungi kota Melbourne pada bulan Februari/Maret (berhubungan dengan USET untuk perincian lain). Kemungkinannya bahwa ETSSC akan mendirikan koperasi persahabatan dengan universitas Australia. Salah satu prioritas ETSSC ialah kesempatan untuk menyelesaikan kursusnya yang sudah dimulai di Universitas Indonesia, UNTIM atau tempat lain.

Sahe Institute for Liberation (SIL)  Up-dated June 14
Maksud Umum: Mendorong participasi aktif masyarakat Timor Lorosae dalam proses pembangunan ‘Nation State’ lewat diseminasi informasi dan diskusi atau lokakarya.
Sejarah Pendek: SIL merupakan perubahan nama dari Sahe Study Club (SSC) yang didirikan oleh sejumlah aktivis mahasiswa TL dan aktivis NGO setahun lalu di Jakarta, Indonesia.
Kegiatan Sekarang lsm dan Kebutuhan Utama: Saat ini SIL menjadi sebuah NGO yang bergerak terutama di bidang pengkajian dan publikasi. Sehingga SIL membutuhkan gedung kantor, dana untuk menjalankan kegiatan.
Kegiatan Sekarang: 1. Publikasi buletin dan buku 2. Diskusi dan lokakarya 3. Penelitian
Rencana: Semua kegiatan di atas, menjadi rencana untuk satu tahun periodik.
Alamat: Sahe Institute for Liberation, C/o. Yayasan HAK - Yayasan Hukum, Hak Asasi dan Keadilan, Dili, ETimor
Contact: Coordinator of SIL: Aderito de Jesus Soares  Email:  Sahe_Lib@yahoo.com

Fokupers - Forum Komunikasi Untuk Perempuan Loro Sae  Updated Aug 22
Direktur: Manuela Leong Pereira
Maksud Umum: Fokupers didirikan pada tahun 1997. Organisasi ini membantu korban politik dan juga memberikan nasihat atau ‘counselling’ dan lain lain kepada perempuan yang menderita sebagai bekas tapol, atau yang menjadikan janda karena perang, atau isteri tapol. Selain dari itu, Fokupers mendorong hak asasi manusia, pada khususnya untuk perempuan, dalam masyarakat setempat.
Kegiatan Sekarang: Sudah mengadakan bengkel untuk mendiskusi bagaimana perempuan akan diikuti atau menjadi lebih aktip di masyarakat Timor Loro Sa’e. · Pada saat ini, kami memusatkan perhatian atas latihan ‘trauma counselling’ untuk pekerja Fokupers.
 

Tetum: (the most common East Timorese language)

La’o Hamutuk, Institutu Timor Lorosa’e ba Analiza no Monitor Reconstrusaun / Institut Permantauan dan Analisis Reconstruksi Timor Loro Sa'e  Updated Aug 18
Saida mak La’o Hamutuk? La’o Hamutuk organizasaun klibur Ema Timor Lorosa’e no Ema Internacional ne’ebe buka atu tau matan, halo analize ho halo relatorio kona ba hahalok (actividade) instuisaun internacional ne’ebe oras ne’e haknaar iha Timor Lorosa’e, liu-liu hahalok sira ne’ebe iha relasaun ho rekonstrusaun fizika no social Timor Lorosa’e nian. La’o Hamutuk fiar katak Povo Timor Lorosa’e mak tenke hakotu iha procesu rekonstrusaun ne’e nia laran no procesu rekonstrusaun ne’e tenke demokratiku no transparante duni.
Staf Timor oan: Inès Martins, Fernando da Silva, Thomas Freitas; Staf Internasional: Pamela Sexton, Mark Salzer; Kuadru Ejekutivu: Sr. Maria Dias, Joseph Nevins, Fr. Jovito Rego de Jesus Araùjo, Aderito Soares Durubasa: Benjamin Sanches Afonso, Tomé Xavier Jeronimo, Maria Bernardino, Manuel Tilman, Djoni Ferdiwijaya Ilustrador: Sebastião Pedro da Silva, Nan Porter Design Jeronimo Staf Monitoriu Projektu Judiciariu JSMP: Christian Ranheim, Caitlin Reiger, Rayner Thwaites
Local Contact:  P.O. Box 340, Dili, East Timor (via Darwin, Australia)  Mobile fone: +61(408)811373;  Telefone Uma: +670(390)325-013
International contact: +1-510-643-4507 Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org  Homepage: http://www.etan.org/lh
Boletim La’o Hamutuk: [Tetum PDF format]
Vol. 2, No. 3 Junho 2001 Fundu Monetariu Internasional (IMF) iha Timor Lorosa’e: http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/bulv2n3T.pdf
Vol. 2, Nos. 1-2 Abríl 2001 Vizaun Jeral Hosi Fundu Ba Rekonstrusaun Timor Loro Sa’e: http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/lhbl2n1t.pdf
Vol. 1, No. 4, 31 Dejembru 2000 Banku Mundial iha Timor Loro Sa’e: http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/lhbul4tm.pdf
Vol. 1, No. 3, 17 Novembro 2000 Hari Sistema Saude Nasional iha Timor Lorosa’e:  http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/LHbul3tm.pdf
Vol. 1, No. 2, 17 Julho 2000 Protesaun ba meio ambiente iha TL: http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/bulletin02tetum.pdf
Vol. 1, No. 1, 21 Juñu 2000 Rekonciliasaun: http://www.etan.org/lh/PDFs/bulletin01tetum.pdf

See also:

urgent action: Until Sep 7 TETA: No! to the Dispatch of Japanese SDF to ETimor  Release updated Sep 7
"Free East Timor! National Coalition, Japan, is against the current Japanese government plan to send the Self Defence Force (SDF) to East Timor as part of PKF, issued a statement in mid-July, and we are currently doing a FAX campagin against the plan. While knowing that Xanana and Horta said OK to the sending of SDF and understanding it, we cannot agree with the dispatch of SDF. Please read the following and, if you agree to our stand, please act on with us to stop sending SDF. ... Last but not least, during WWII, Japanese army occupied East Timor and many Timorese suffered forced labour and sex slavery. Japanese government did nothing about this." Kyo Kageura, Tokyo East Timor Association

Jul 29 Matsuno: Japan's Self-Defense Force face up to the militia?--NO WAY!  Analysis added Aug 4
"Wherever in the world the trouble spot might be, the Government wants to send the SDF only to score political points, and certainly in the case of East Timor it has never given serious thought to securing peace. ... By this scenario, Japan can achieve its diplomatic targets. Firstly, contributing to this UN PKO will allow Japan to push more strongly its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Secondly, Japan can protect its interests in Indonesia by avoiding being dragged into an open conflict with Indonesian politicians and generals. Contributing to peace in East Timor is not a matter of consideration in Japanese diplomacy and therefore it will be the first thing to be compromised when it is found to be at odds with Japan's relations with Indonesia." Akihisa Matsuno, Osaka University of Foreign Studies

Jul 16 Free East Timor Japan Coalition letter to the Defense Agency  Letter added Aug 4
"At this time we ask that you reexamine the proposal now being considered to send Self Defense Force troops to East Timor. ... In recent years the Japanese Government has eschewed forthright debate on the constitutionality of the Self Defense Forces and has instead sought to gain recognition-by-default of the SDF through having it participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations, in which context it is treated just like the armies of other countries. On the other hand, moves to set up a specialized organization, separate from the SDF, to deal with aspects of refugee relief, cease-fire and referendum observation in conflict areas have been pushed into the shadows where they have ground to a stop. For the government to act in this way is to jeopardize the rule of law that constitutes the very foundation of any democratic state; this is suicidal." Free East Timor Japan Coalition

Jul 16 KY: 2 Japan GSDF officials to visit E. Timor  News added July 17
"Two Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) officials will shortly visit East Timor to collect information on the state of security in the territory, Japan’s Defense Agency said Monday. ... The two are also expected to gather information about PKO in East Timor, given agency chief Gen Nakatani’s desire to study plans to dispatch personnel of the Self-Defense Forces in the event of new PKO there." Kyodo

Jun 30 JCCJP: Japanese church leaders oppose Japanese troops in East Timor  Position statement added July 10
"Most Japanese people want Japan to contribute to world peace first and foremost by strictly adhering to its war-renouncing “peace constitution.” ... The present government plan to send the SDF to join a peace keeping operation in East is directly opposed to theses, the fervently held wishes of our people. Furthermore, this newly planned dispatch of Japanese troops to East Timor is particularly callous in light of the Government’s refusal to this day to fully acknowledge, apologize for, or compensate the army’s sex slaves and other victims of Japan’s occupation of East Timor during the Pacific War." Japanese Catholic Council for Justice and Peace

Feb 12 Xanana: Symposium on “Reconciliation, Tolerance, Human Rights and Elections”  Speech added Feb 15
"We believe that after the rebellion of the Manufahi, the Timorese People, obviously still divided by kingdoms, lived an era of a better relationship among themselves until the period before the Japanese invasion. The Japanese invasion, from 1942 to 1945, was another test to the courage of the Timorese people which concurrently managed to live with the invaders while maintaining a determination to fight its presence. I am from the generation post-Japanese invasion. From this period until the Indonesian invasion 30 years went by." President Xanana

Dec 10 2000 KY: ETimor: 2 ex-sex slaves break silence at NGO tribunal  Added Dec 11
"Two East Timorese women broke over half a century of silence Sunday and told of their ordeals as sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army at a mock tribunal to try the Japanese government over its responsibility for the recruitment of so-called ''comfort women'' before and during World War II." Kyodo

Dec 8 2000 DPA: Women demand apology & compensation for War-time Japanese mistreatment  Added Dec 9
"The Japanese government, which failed to respond to the tribunal's invitation to participate in the event, continues to deny any legal responsibility for the suffering of the former comfort women. Sexual violence committed by the Japanese Imperial Army was hardly touched by the 1946-1948 International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, set up by the Allied Forces after the war." Deutsche Presse-Agentur

1999 Gunn: Timor Loro Sae: 500 Years - Wartime Timor: 1942-45  Book extract added July 10
"Many Timorese including liurai paid with their lives [at the hands of Japanese military 1942-45] either for standing neutral or for alleged support of Australian guerrillas. ... The number of Timorese who died during the war is impossible to calculate with precision but is of the order of 40-70,000 out of a total prewar population of around 450,000. The disruption to native agriculture and the breakdown of prewar society stemming from the harsh system of food collection and corvees imposed by the Japanese inevitably led to famine and other hardships, including debilitating disease. ... The issues of Japanese wartime compensation including the claims of so-called "comfort women" or sexual slavery in Timor first became public in 1997 but only in the Macau media where it was taken up by Jose Ramos-Horta speaking on behalf of the Timorese people." Geoffrey C. Gunn, author, Timor Loro Sae: 500 Years

Sept 27 1999 Noam Chomsky: East Timor Retrospective - An overview and lessons  Analysis added Dec 28
"The story does not begin in 1975. East Timor had not been overlooked by the planners of the postwar world. The territory should be granted independence, Roosevelt's senior adviser Sumner Welles mused, but "it would certainly take a thousand years." With an awe-inspiring display of courage and fortitude, the people of East Timor have struggled to confound that cynical prediction, enduring monstrous disasters. Perhaps 50,000 lost their lives protecting a small contingent of Australian commandoes fighting the Japanese; their heroism may have saved Australia from Japanese invasion. A third of the population were victims of the first years of the 1975 Indonesian invasion, many more since." Noam Chomsky

BD: Sexual & related Violence as a weapon of war - A collection of recent articles and news

BD: Military and political aid to Indonesia - A collection of recent reports, articles and news