THE US knew well in advance of and explicitly approved Indonesia's
invasion of East Timor in 1975, newly declassified documents say.
Released this week by the independent Washington-based National
Security Archive (NSA), the documents showed US officials were aware
of the invasion plans nearly a year in advance.
They adopted a "policy of silence" and even sought to suppress news
and discussions on East Timor, including credible reports of
Indonesia's massacres of Timorese civilians, according to the
documents.
East Timor is today an independent nation.
The people of East Timor voted in favour of breaking away from
Indonesia in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999 before gaining full
independence in May 2002 after more than two years of UN stewardship.
But the path to independence was bloody. Militia gangs reportedly
directed by Indonesia's military went on a killing spree before and
after the East Timorese referendum, killing about 1400 independence
supporters.
Thirty years after the Indonesian invasion, the formerly secret US
documents showed how multiple US administrations tried to conceal
information on East Timor to avoid a controversy that would prompt a
Congressional ban on weapons sales to Indonesia.
"I'm assuming you're really going to keep your mouth shut on the
subject," then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger told his
staff in October 1975 in response to reports that Indonesia had begun
its attack on East Timor.
The administration of President Gerald Ford knew that Indonesia had
invaded East Timor using almost entirely US equipment, and that the
use of that equipment for that purpose was illegal, the documents
showed.
In 1977, officials of the administration of Ford's successor, Jimmy
Carter, blocked declassification of an explosive cable transcribing
President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger's meeting with
Indonesian President Suharto.
At the meeting in December 1975, they explicitly approved of the East
Timor invasion, according to the documents.
Through the 1980s, US officials continued to receive -- and deny or
dismiss -- credible reports of Indonesia's massacres of Timorese
civilians.
The National Security Archive had provided more than 1000 formerly
classified US documents to help an East Timorese commission of
inquiry into human rights abuses that occurred between 1975 and 1999.
East Timor president Xanana Gusmao handed the commission's 2500-page
report to the Timorese Parliament last Monday but wanted it withheld
from the public, amid an outcry from opposition politicians and
rights activists.
Brad Simpson, Director of the National Security Archive's Indonesia
and East Timor documentation project, said he expected the
commission's final report to show that Indonesia's invasion of East
Timor and resulting crimes there "occurred in an international
context in which the support of powerful nations, especially the US,
was indispensable."
"These documents also point to the need for genuine international
accountability for East Timor's suffering," he said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,17446576,00.html
invasion of East Timor in 1975, newly declassified documents say.
Released this week by the independent Washington-based National
Security Archive (NSA), the documents showed US officials were aware
of the invasion plans nearly a year in advance.
They adopted a "policy of silence" and even sought to suppress news
and discussions on East Timor, including credible reports of
Indonesia's massacres of Timorese civilians, according to the
documents.
East Timor is today an independent nation.
The people of East Timor voted in favour of breaking away from
Indonesia in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999 before gaining full
independence in May 2002 after more than two years of UN stewardship.
But the path to independence was bloody. Militia gangs reportedly
directed by Indonesia's military went on a killing spree before and
after the East Timorese referendum, killing about 1400 independence
supporters.
Thirty years after the Indonesian invasion, the formerly secret US
documents showed how multiple US administrations tried to conceal
information on East Timor to avoid a controversy that would prompt a
Congressional ban on weapons sales to Indonesia.
"I'm assuming you're really going to keep your mouth shut on the
subject," then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger told his
staff in October 1975 in response to reports that Indonesia had begun
its attack on East Timor.
The administration of President Gerald Ford knew that Indonesia had
invaded East Timor using almost entirely US equipment, and that the
use of that equipment for that purpose was illegal, the documents
showed.
In 1977, officials of the administration of Ford's successor, Jimmy
Carter, blocked declassification of an explosive cable transcribing
President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger's meeting with
Indonesian President Suharto.
At the meeting in December 1975, they explicitly approved of the East
Timor invasion, according to the documents.
Through the 1980s, US officials continued to receive -- and deny or
dismiss -- credible reports of Indonesia's massacres of Timorese
civilians.
The National Security Archive had provided more than 1000 formerly
classified US documents to help an East Timorese commission of
inquiry into human rights abuses that occurred between 1975 and 1999.
East Timor president Xanana Gusmao handed the commission's 2500-page
report to the Timorese Parliament last Monday but wanted it withheld
from the public, amid an outcry from opposition politicians and
rights activists.
Brad Simpson, Director of the National Security Archive's Indonesia
and East Timor documentation project, said he expected the
commission's final report to show that Indonesia's invasion of East
Timor and resulting crimes there "occurred in an international
context in which the support of powerful nations, especially the US,
was indispensable."
"These documents also point to the need for genuine international
accountability for East Timor's suffering," he said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,17446576,00.html