Journalist recalls massacre of East Timorese people

Thursday, November 12, 1998

Journalist recalls massacre of East Timorese people

COLUMN: Indonesian soldiers used weapons made in United
States

By Chauntelle Anne Tibbals

Daily Bruin Contributor

On Oct. 12, 1991, the Indonesian military killed more than 270
East Timorese citizens with American M-16 rifles. On Wednesday,
UCLA’s East Timor Education Project acknowledged the memories of
those killed.

Independent journalist Amy Goodman, who was in East Timor during
the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991, spoke about the current state of
the country and the United States’ involvement.

"We must be aware of what is being done in East Timor, and
throughout the world," Goodman said.

Goodman and another reporter were beaten by Indonesian soldiers
with American weapons at the massacre. She said she felt the only
reason the two of them were not killed was because they were
Americans.

"If (the Indonesian military) had killed us, they might have had
to pay a price that they did not have to pay for killing the
Timorese. They might have lost their weapons supply," she said.

Since 1996, Goodman has been broadcasting a radio show,
Democracy Now!, on the listener-sponsored Pacifica Network. Each
week, she speaks about current and historical aspects of different
situations usually not covered by mainstream news.

The initial invasion of East Timor occurred in 1975. Ninety
percent of weapons used by the Indonesian military had been
supplied by the United States.

In 1996, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Carlos Belo and
Jose Ramos-Horta for their efforts to "find a diplomatic solution
to the conflict in East Timor based on the people’s right to
self-determination," according to the Nobel Prize committee.

Many United States corporations, such as Nike, utilize the low
factory worker wages in Indonesia. The U.S. government has yet to
intervene in Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.

"Indonesia is a great asset for the United States. As an
American citizen, I would like some control over where my tax
dollars go," said Garrick Ruiz, a fifth-year American literature
student and founder of the East Timor Education Project at
UCLA.

"This is a situation that people do not know about, and the link
between (the United States’) policy, and East Timor’s occupation is
so clear," he said.

After viewing a documentary on Noam Chomsky, a known critic of
the U.S. foreign policy, Ruiz explored the situation in East Timor
more thoroughly and began writing about what he had learned.

Subsequently, he became involved in the East Timor Action
Network, a nationwide organization. Eventually, he found other
interested students and started the Education Project at UCLA.

"Part of the reason I began working on the issue of East Timor
is because people are still being killed," Ruiz said.

"Another man was executed by the military last month. This
genocide is not something that has happened in the past," he
added.

According to the Network, one third of all East Timorese
citizens have been killed with the approval of the U.S. executive
branch. Proportionally, this "wholesale slaughter is the largest
example of genocide since the holocaust," Ruiz said.

Zara Benosa, a second-year International Development Studies
student, became aware of the East Timor issue during high school.
She said reading an article written by Ruiz about East Timor
prompted her current involvement with the Education Project.

"Reading (Ruiz’s) article about East Timor was amazing to me. It
did not seem like this issue was out in the open at all," Benosa
said.

With Goodman’s speech, Benosa said the Education Project hopes
to raise UCLA’s general awareness of the situation in East Timor.
By speaking out against the U.S. government’s attitude toward
Indonesia’s activities, the group wants to create awareness about
the issue.

"Students in East Timor who speak out have to fear for their
lives and the lives of their families. I do not have that fear, so
I am trying to utilize my situation," she said.

"Working on the issue makes me aware of how we take our security
for granted in this country. I always try to be aware of the
reality they must live with every day," she continued.

Overall, the Education Project and the Action Network both aim
to change U.S. foreign policy and support the self-determination of
the Timorese.

"As Americans, we must decide if we want to represent the sword
or the shield to the Timorese," Goodman said. "We must decide what
we want done in our name."

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