This letter deals with East Timor and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLS). The CLC represents around 2.5 million unionized workers and is the most important labour organization in Canada. This statement was sent to all Labour Councils around Canada.
International Affairs Department
Canadian Labour Congress
2841 Riverside Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1V 8X7
The Canadian Labour Congress expresses its outrage at continuous reports of massacres and gross human rights violations in East Timor. Such violations have included the arrest, torture, arbitrary execution and disappearance of thousands of opponents to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have reported that since the 1975 occupation of East Timor by Indonesia, more than 200,000 people have been killed by Indonesian forces. These killings account for nearly one-third of the East Timorese population as it existed in 1975.
Measures taken by the Indonesian authorities to discipline the military after the horrific 1991 massacre in East Timor's capital, Dili, were clearly only geared to appeal to aid donors and the systematic violation of human and trade union rights in East Timor and to release all political prisoners. We further call the United Nations to establish an effective human rights monitoring mechanism for East Timor and to take appropriate measures to ensure that the people of East Timor are freely able to exercise the fundamental right of self-determination.
While the Canadian Labour Congress agrees with the international community's consistent refusal to recognize the occupation of East Timor by Indonesia, we continue to be dismayed that governments, including Canada, have continued to conduct "business as usual" with Indonesia. For example, Canada sold military equipment to Indonesia, including ammunition, helicopters and military transport planes, which have been used to repress resistance in East Timor under the banner Fretilin. In the face of considerable pressure, Canada did interrupt new aid flows to Indonesia after the Dili massacre. However, Canada has failed to support United Nations resolutions against the Indonesian occupation. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 300 companies present in Indonesia and, with Canadian acquiescence, the international financial institutions continue to ignore the tragic plight of the people of East Timor.
The Canadian Labour Congress will continue to work directly and with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to bring all possible pressure to bear on the Indonesian authorities to cease it occupation and human rights abuses in East Timor. We call on the Canadian government to condition all aid, trade and international financial assistance to Indonesia on the basis of respect for fundamental human and trade union rights. We further call on Canada to play a leadership role within the international community to seek justice and the right to self-determination for the East Timorese.