Recognizing that:-
The people of East Timor gave indispensable support to Australian troops stationed in the territory during the second world war, for which many of them paid with their lives
Seventeen years of occupation of the former Portuguese Timor by Indonesian armed forces and settlers have done nothing to reconcile the majority of East Timorese with the idea of being part of Indonesia. Indeed the continued resistance indicates that the reverse appears to be the case, and political stability in Indonesia could well be threatened by events in East Timor.
The people of East Timor have yet to exercise their rights to self- determination under the UN Charter, Chapter XI sections 73 and 74.
The 28 page defence plea which Xanana Gusmão was prevented from reading at his trial, which was later smuggled out, shows him to be a highly thoughtful person, deeply committed to his people, who desires peace and respects the Indonesian people as nei ghbours but not the policies of their army.
Friendly relations between the peoples of Australia and the peoples of Indonesia, while highly desirable, must be based on mutual respect and cannot grow out of the extinguishing of the rights of our common neighbours, the East Timorese.
In the post-cold war period, where tensions should be lessening, an independent East Timor should not prove a threat to either of its large neighbours, Indonesia or Australia.
Conference therefore
Reaffirms the inalienable right of the East Timorese to self-determination, and points to the urgency of their exercising this right
We call on the Indonesian Government to
(a) immediately allow Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmão access to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross who (along with his relatives) have been denied permission to see him since he was recently sentenced to life imprisonment
(b) heed the call of vast numbers of Parliamentarians of many countries, religious bodies and international non-governmental organizations for Talks Without Pre-conditions between the Timorese resistance, the Portuguese Government and the Indonesian Government as a first step towards enabling the Timorese to exercise their rights to self determination
(c) unconditionally release Xanana Gusmão and other political prisoners, to allow Xanana to participate in such talks under UN auspices
Conference further calls on the Australian Government to
Recognize that the problem currently faced in East Timor cannot be solved by money or development assistance, or even calls to respect the human rights of the East Timorese, but requires an internationally accepted process of self-determination by the East Timorese people, who were never constitutionally part of the Indonesian nation, and have never asked to be part of it
Vote in international fora for resolutions in support of self-determination for the East Timorese and urge the Indonesian Government not to block the possibility of talks without preconditions between themselves and the Timorese resistance
Suspend the Defence Co-operation programme with the Indonesian Army and halt all arms sales to Indonesia until its government agrees to talks with genuine representatives of the Timorese people
Recognize that the waters of the Timor Gap Zone are internationally disputed territory, and that International Law still recognizes Portugal as the sovereign power over such waters. The Australian-Indonesian joint venture thus appears to be in violat ion of international law (as well as expropriating resources rightfully belonging to the East Timorese people).
Calls on the Victorian ALP to join and support the East Timor Talks Campaign (124 Napier Street, Fitzroy 3065, 417 7505), as a way of raising within the international community the call for dialogue between the Indonesian Government and the Timorese, an d resolves that the Victorian Branch join this campaign.