Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-154"
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"en.19990915.11.3-154"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the debate on Timor has come two weeks after the terror began, in this new phase of the territory’s history. This is what must be noted first of all. The speed of the genocide has not been matched by the delay in international decision-making. Where Timor is concerned, we must be aware of the fact that East Timor has suffered two genocides in twenty-five years: that of the occupation, and the one which was planned down to the last detail for the referendum. It has been abandoned twice in twenty-five years: once by Portugal in 1974 and, until now, by the international community which has been unable to honour the commitments it made to the Timorese people. It has known two diasporas in twenty-five years: firstly the exile of those who did not accept the invading force and now, the exodus of those who have fled the terror. There is, therefore, no time to lose. The terror in Timor is widespread, and these people, as far as we Portuguese are concerned, deserve the particular consideration of those who see them dying, praying and suffering in Portuguese.
I have four requests to put to you, friends and colleagues, on behalf of the whole of my group: for international peacekeepers to be sent quickly and in force to Timor; for humanitarian aid; for a court of law to try the criminals, and for economic and financial sanctions.
Long live East Timor!
At the first opportunity, the Timorese had to set themselves free, they came down from the mountains, they came out of their houses, they went to the churches and sought out the ballot boxes in order to regain, peacefully, their freedom. This is an extraordinary lesson, which should calm and relieve the Western World: a nation which still believes in the ballot box as a liberating force.
What happened after the referendum deserves greater condemnation. This is because Indonesia carried out a plan for genocide which can leave no doubt as to its true nature: demographic genocide, because it caused hundreds of thousands of Timorese to flee; and cultural genocide, because from the first day of the terror, the main target in terms of institutions, was the Catholic Church. Churches, bishops’ residences, priests, nuns and churchgoers, were all targeted. In short, the whole traditional institution in which the Timorese placed their trust. The full extent of the extermination carried out in this genocide has not yet been discovered because, as everyone knows, both the remaining international observers and journalists were forced to leave.
We feel therefore, that there are two clear conclusions to be drawn. The first is that this Parliament must also understand that Portuguese colonisation never did to the Timorese what Indonesia has done to them. This is why Portugal’s flag in Timor is much loved. This is why it will take a very long time for Indonesia’s flag to be respected again. On the other hand, although de-colonisation under the auspices of Portugal was a rushed affair, this self-determination, without making provision for the consequences and under the auspices of the international community, has not prevented deaths and bloodshed either. These people have suffered twice and this suffering was caused entirely by others. Just because they wanted to be free.
What can be said then about the conduct of the international community in the days following the terror? Let me put a question to your conscience. Would the international community have taken such a long time to help the Timorese if they had been English- or German-speaking? If it were not necessary to ask the Security Council’s permission where Kosovo was concerned, nor to wait for Milosevic to allow us in, why is it that when it comes to East Timor, we have to wait for the Security Council to give their authorisation, and for Mr Habibie to give his consent?
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Would governments have been so slow to provide aid if the Timorese were a politically correct minority?
The tragedy of the Timorese, the tragedy in which they have been caught is that there are few of them, that they are poor and Catholic… and that they have oil, which is too serious a matter in the eyes of some international powers to be left to the Timorese to decide on.
Here are two more questions for your consciences. Look at the list of countries which supported Indonesia in the United Nations: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Sudan. A coalition of dictatorships formed straight away to protect the freedom of tyrants! How long did it take to form a coalition of democracies? One other thing: the European Union has just declared an embargo on supplying military equipment to the Indonesians. What are four months after twenty-four years of the compulsive arming of Indonesia in full knowledge of the genocide which has been taking place in Timor for the last twenty-four years?"@en1
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