By Deb Sorensen
DARWIN — Over the four days of the Indonesia and Regional Conflict Resolution Conference held here from July 25, participants from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States discussed how to better establish links and to seek solutions to ongoing regional conflicts. The conference was particularly concerned with ending Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor.
A moving tribute, on the opening night, was paid to the estimated 40-70,000 East Timorese killed by Japanese troops as a direct result of Australian military presence in their country during the second world war. The tribute was organised and chaired by Dr Andrew McNaughtan as part of the "Australia Remembers" commemoration.
Labor MHR for the Northern Territory Warren Snowdon acknowledged the enormous price the East Timorese people paid protecting Australian soldiers, and rhetorically asked "how can we even begin to repay that debt?".
He was answered, in no uncertain terms, by all the other speakers, including Paddy Kenneally, an Australian soldier stationed in East Timor during 1941-42, and several East Timorese people who had helped the Australian soldiers.
Kenneally received a standing ovation when he said the Australian debt to East Timor could begin to be repaid by Australia getting out of the Timor Gap, and demanding that the Indonesian regime withdraw its occupation troops from East Timor immediately.
Other speakers at the conference included: Dr George Aditjondro, Indonesian academic and democracy campaigner; Professor Barbedo de Magalhaes from Oporto University, Portugal; Jim Dunn, foreign affairs expert and author; Jose Gusmao, Darwin CNRM representative; Max Lane, national coordinator of Aksi — Indonesia Solidarity Action; and activists from several Australian centres. The conference committee was chaired by Rob Wesley Smith.
A delegation of Indonesians from several non-government organisations issued a statement condemning Indonesian human rights abuses in East Timor and in Indonesia, and calling for an independence referendum in East Timor.
Ria Shanti, who represented the first East Timor solidarity coalition in Indonesia, SPRIM (Indonesian People's Solidarity Struggle with the Maubere People) also issued a statement calling for the withdrawal of all Indonesian military and police from East Timor, the formation of a provisional Maubere government and a referendum. SPRIM, which comprises student, worker, peasant and artist organisations which work with East Timorese student groups, also called on the Australian government to cancel all defence cooperation with the Indonesian regime.
The conference discussed ways to strengthen the links between the Indonesian pro-democracy movement, the East Timorese independence movement and its supporters and the liberation struggle being waged by the people of West Papua, also suffering at the hands of the Indonesian military.
Other ideas discussed for the Australian solidarity movement with East Timor included campaigns to boycott certain Indonesian goods, raising awareness among travellers and tourists to the region and a campaign against Indonesia's participation in international sporting events. A workshop on women's participation in the movement highlighted the fact that very few of the keynote speakers at the conference had been women and suggested ways in which both women and men could be more conscious of the need to be inclusive.
The final conference statement, unanimously adopted, said that participants "agreed on the close link existing between the Indonesian pro-democracy struggle, aimed at liberating the Indonesian people from the Suharto dictatorship, and the East Timorese people's struggle for self-determination".