27 January 2006
JUSTICE FOR EAST TIMOR?
Two significant events for Australia's near neighbour East Timor have occurred this month.
On Jan 12th an interim agreement was signed with the Australian government in which the proceeds from the sale of oil and gas from the Timor Sea would be shared on a 50:50 basis between the two countries.
Whilst the agreement is a marked improvement on the deal that Australia originally wished to impose on East Timor, it still leaves important issues unresolved.
Advocacy groups such as Timor Sea Justice continue to argue that East Timor is entitled to all the resources and that "The Australian Government has continually and blatantly refused to abide by International Law. Instead, it has bullied the poorest country in Asia into a series of dodgy resource sharing deals, to take billions of dollars that simply do not belong to us"
The second significant event was the presentation of a report to the UN documenting atrocities committed in East Timor during Indonesia's 24-year occupation.
The 2,000-page report, compiled by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), established that at least 102,800 Timorese, roughly 10 per cent of the territory's current population, died as a result of the Indonesian occupation. (See the recent report in The Australian newspaper
Instances of massacre, rape and torture of the indigenous population of West Papua have also consistently been reported since its forcible takeover by Indonesia in 1962 – an event supported by the US and Australian governments to gain favour with Indonesia at that time.
The Free West Papua website contains background information to this issue and links to reports of current events.
There can be little doubt that the 43 people who arrived in Australia by boat this month are genuine refugees. Their prompt banishment to the Christmas Island Detention Centre is another reminder of how far as a nation we have moved from the values of egalitarianism, fairness, democracy and freedom that we claim to celebrate on Australia Day in so many fine words but frequently fail so dismally to apply in practice.
On Jan 12th an interim agreement was signed with the Australian government in which the proceeds from the sale of oil and gas from the Timor Sea would be shared on a 50:50 basis between the two countries.
Whilst the agreement is a marked improvement on the deal that Australia originally wished to impose on East Timor, it still leaves important issues unresolved.
Advocacy groups such as Timor Sea Justice continue to argue that East Timor is entitled to all the resources and that "The Australian Government has continually and blatantly refused to abide by International Law. Instead, it has bullied the poorest country in Asia into a series of dodgy resource sharing deals, to take billions of dollars that simply do not belong to us"
The second significant event was the presentation of a report to the UN documenting atrocities committed in East Timor during Indonesia's 24-year occupation.
The 2,000-page report, compiled by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), established that at least 102,800 Timorese, roughly 10 per cent of the territory's current population, died as a result of the Indonesian occupation. (See the recent report in The Australian newspaper
Instances of massacre, rape and torture of the indigenous population of West Papua have also consistently been reported since its forcible takeover by Indonesia in 1962 – an event supported by the US and Australian governments to gain favour with Indonesia at that time.
The Free West Papua website contains background information to this issue and links to reports of current events.
There can be little doubt that the 43 people who arrived in Australia by boat this month are genuine refugees. Their prompt banishment to the Christmas Island Detention Centre is another reminder of how far as a nation we have moved from the values of egalitarianism, fairness, democracy and freedom that we claim to celebrate on Australia Day in so many fine words but frequently fail so dismally to apply in practice.
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