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WASHINGTON - President Clinton has taken needed steps in response to the crisis in East Timor, but his unilateral recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty was a mistake that neither U.S. law nor international law supports, U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, said today.
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Related Past Releases on East Timor 100 Members of Congress Call on President to Use All Channels to Press Indonesia on East Timor [August 11, 1999] |
"President Clinton’s move to suspend military aid to Indonesia and take other actions to pressure its leaders to do the right thing in East Timor are steps in the right direction - but his assertion that Indonesia enjoys sovereign rights over the people there is flat wrong. I urge him to correct his misstatement, and to take action in accordance with the many findings of the United Nations, with the long-time policy of the United States -- which has voted repeatedly for U.N. resolutions condemning Indonesia for its action -- and with last month’s vote of East Timor’s people. All declare Indonesia’s self-serving claims of sovereignty to be bogus.
"But while it is clear that the United Nations stumbled, blame must be shared by its members, and particularly by the United States. Organizations at the edge of financial ruin, as the United Nations is, are not known for their bold and wise decisions. We cannot expect peak performance when the United States is responsible for nearly two-thirds of the U.N.’s financial instability. Our failure to pay our dues makes the issue of a U.N. peacekeeping force doubly difficult, as the United States is responsible for one-quarter the cost of any such force. Because the United Nations has borrowed heavily from peacekeeping accounts to ease the burden of the U.S. debt, it is wary of further extending itself.
"If other Security Council members block it, the United States cannot prevail in creating a peacekeeping force -- but we surely can’t win if we don’t try. Indonesia has a 24-year record of letting violence and starvation kill more than 200,000 of East Timor’s people; it already has had ample opportunity to stop the recent violence. Now it is time for the international community to act.
"Finally, my thoughts and prayers are with Bishop Belo and the hundreds of thousands of people of East Timor he has devoted his life to protecting. I believe his actions in recent days in the face of these atrocities - militias even violated the sanctity of his home and church’s sanctuary - underscore the Nobel Committee’s wisdom in awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize."
Hall has been active on behalf of East Timor independence since 1980 -- nominating Bishop Belo for the Nobel Peace Prize, introducing several bills, and regularly leading letter-writing campaigns to raise attention to the situation. His last letter, to President Clinton in August 1999, was co-signed by 99 other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Hall also has pressed for the United States to pay its U.N. dues, and last month forced a vote on the issue; the measure was narrowly defeated, 221-206.
Bush took a potential negative against his administration and threw it back at Clinton AND derailed Clinton's bid to get involved in areas that matter. My guess is Clinton may be a little less likely to use his political clout against Bush again.