Independence for East Timor
Statement of the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International, Amsterdam, September 27 1999.
After terrible massacres and destruction by terrorist militias under the auspices of the Indonesian Army, the United Nations finally sent troops to East Timor , and the Indonesian government had no choice but to retreat.
This was only possible because of the heroic resistance of the people of East Timor and their decades-long fight for self-determination and independence.
A massive mobilisation and the results of the referendum held on August 30 made it absolutely clear – if it was not already – that the choice of the East Timorese people is for independence.
This was also made possible through the mobilisations and the pressure of international public opinion in many countries in the last few weeks. In the spirit of international solidarity tens of thousands took concrete action as a way to stop the slaughter and took to the streets in indignation.
This forced the most powerful imperialist governments in the world, especially the United States – as well as the UN – to take a distance from the Indonesian generals whom they have been supporting for decades.
This solidarity movement shows once more that the mobilisation of public opinion is the strength through which the course of events can be changed. And that is the most important lesson that the East Timor events can teach us in our global struggle against injustice: we have to demand and create a new politics of solidarity, of popular action, of lived democracy.
That is also why we have the responsibility to continue to struggle for freedom for East Timor. The presence of the UN-mandated forces in the country should not and cannot be a substitute for this task of solidarity.
The East Timorese people are suffering from lack of supplies and medical and humanitarian assistance. The killers are still there, having applied a policy of scorched earth, forced deportations of thousands of Timorese and physical elimination of the leaders and fighters of the resistance, of the National Council of the Timorese Resistance (CNRT) and of the Armed Forces of East Timor (the FALINTIL guerrillas) who nevertheless are still fighting back.
In fact, the massacres were the consequence of organising a referendum under the control of the Indonesian army with the aim of maintaining good relationships between imperialist countries and the Indonesian ruling class.
The Fourth International demands the immediate withdrawal of all Indonesian forces. The UN-mandated forces must guarantee the safe return of the thousands of refugees – those who escaped to the East Timor mountains and also those that were deported to other Indonesia territories, the leaders and representatives of the Timorese resistance, as well of Commander Xanana Gusmao.
The UN-mandated forces must also guarantee the immediate disarmament of the civil militias created and backed by the Indonesian army, and the arrest of all its leaders, so that they can be judged for all the massacres, murders and deportations that they are responsible for.
At the same time, the countries that have supported the Indonesian government must economically support the reconstruction of East Timor, for all the destruction and suffering imposed on this people.
The Fourth International cannot accept any eventual position of the UN-mandated forces on the ground that means the disarmament of the FALINTIL.
If it is a question of respecting the popular will, then Interfet must put itself at the disposal of the National Council of Timorese Resistance and recognise the guerrillas of FALINTIL as the sole legitimate armed force to assure the security of the territory of East Timor.
We absolutely reject any idea of partition imposed on the majority of the people.
The Fourth International equally cannot accept the idea that the forces under UN mandate should be used as a force to guarantee the maintenance of capitalist interests in East Timor as, for example, with regard to the oil of the Timorese sea, which is today exploited by both the Indonesian and Australian states, through a shameful agreement signed between these countries.
The Fourth International will continue to denounce the death traders that still sell arms to the Indonesian generals, in spite of their promises to the contrary, as in the case of the Blair government in Britain.
At the same time, we will continue solidarity with all the progressive forces that struggle for liberation and democracy in Indonesia and other oppressed territories within Indonesia.
The Fourth International considers these are the minimum conditions for the beginning of the process of reconstruction of this new country and stands in solidarity with the East Timorese resistance, continuing to develop all efforts, on a national or international basis, for the victory of the independence of the people of East Timor.
The Fourth International stands for the immediate recognition, by all countries, of the independence of East Timor and of its provisional government, as soon as the National Council of the Resistance decides that the conditions are right to proclaim this new country to the whole world.