(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 9 September 1999 RSF letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling for UN action on East Timor: Open letter to Mr. Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general: “You must demand that journalists be allowed to stay in East Timor” The situation in East Timor is dramatic: several hundred victims […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 9 September 1999 RSF letter to United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling for UN action on East Timor:
Open letter to Mr. Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general: “You must
demand that journalists be allowed to stay in East Timor”
The situation in East Timor is dramatic: several hundred victims of the
pro-Indonesia militias supported by the army, thousands of deported people
and, in all likelihood, a horrible fate for those Timorese who decided to
stay. A true political purge. A majority of United Nations observers were
forced to leave the territory. Of the three hundred special envoys who
covered the autonomy referendum on 30 August, only twenty remain at the
Unamet headquarters in Dili.
The government in Jakarta allegedly demanded that journalists leave East
Timor or, at the very least, no longer be allowed to stay at Unamet
headquarters. This means that press workers’ safety can no longer be
guaranteed and that they may be targeted by pro-Indonesia militias supported
by the army. This basically translates into a death threat against
journalists. A short time ago, two journalists were shot and injured in an
incident in which it appears that they were deliberately targeted by militia
members.
To avoid a blood bath – it is estimated that close to a quarter of the
population died since the invasion of the former Portuguese colony in 1975 –
it is crucial that journalists be able to continue informing the public on
the currently unfolding drama. However, everything is being done today to
force a news black-out of East Timor.
Mr. Secretary-General, you must demand that Indonesian authorities allow the
press to continue reporting on the situation from the ground, so that
militias and the Indonesian army not be allowed to continue their abuses
with complete impunity, sheltered from the eyes of the international
community.
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Appeals To
Kofi Annan
Secretary General
The United Nations
UN Plaza,
New York, New York
Fax: +1 212 963 7055
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
