From tapol@gn.apc.org Mon May 4 22:33:29 1998 Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 07:06:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Tapol To: east-timor@igc.apc.org Cc: sysikas@kaapeli.fi Subject: A Personal Note: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous Five days in the company of East Timorese From the sublime to the ridiculous Three days in Portugal and two days in Finland were memorable occasions for me as a longtime supporter of the East Timorese cause, but what a contrast between the two events. I had the privilege of attending the First National Convention of the East Timorese in the Diaspora in Peniche, Portugal from 23- 27 April. Actually I had unintetionally gate-crashed, having been invited to attend the closing ceremony in Lisbon on Monday, 27 April. But when I arrived two days early in Lisbon to be met by Luisa Teotonio Pereira of the CDPM, she whisked me off with her to Peniche, despite my protests that I hadn't actually been invited. And was I glad she did! There under one roof were more East Timorese than I had ever seen before. So many came up to greet me, reminding me of past encounters over the years. There they were from all generations, up to and including many 'embassy Timorese'. They came from Australia, Macao, Mozambique, the UK and Portugal. The political parties were there in force as well as youth, student and women's groups. The substantial presence of women was particularly impressive. I had missed the first day which several people described to me as 'very rocky' because of a dispute over the number of representatives from the UDT. But from Saturday onwards, the mood was one of great optimism, 'beyond our wildest dreams', some told me. There was a powerful desire to work together, to unite the East Timorese in diaspora for the first time in 23 years for the common struggle against the Indonesian invader. The first great achievement was the adoption of a Magna Carta, defining the principles of a future constitution for the independent state of East Timor. On Sunday, the Convention grappled with the Statutes of Association of the National Council of Timorese Resistance, the CNRT. Formerly known as the CNRM, the word Maubere has now been replaced by 'Timorese', out of respect for some in the UDT who have objections to using that word. During the course of lengthy discussions on the Articles, Joao Carrascalao, president of the UDT, rose to deliver a statement that proved to be a watershed in the proceedings. He declared that he and the UDT recognised Xanana Gusmao as the Leader and not just as a 'symbol'. The response was electric as this paved the way for the broadest possible unity which everyone yearned. About half an hour later while I was working nearby on the English text of a document at the time and therefore not in the hall, there was a burst of clapping and cheering. I rushed in to find out what had happened and found the hall full of people hugging each other, tears in their eyes, young and old, men and women. They had unanimously adopted the Articles of Association of the CNRT. Now, the East Timorese at home and abroad had an organisation solidly backed by all groups, parties and generations, with Statutes that had been mulled over and discussed in an open forum by all sections of the movement. The emotion gripping all those present was testimony of the historic significance of that moment. We dined together in celebratory mood and for an hour or more afterwards, the younger Timorese sang and danced. When Joao Carrascalao suddenly appeared, they grabbed him by the arms and legs and threw him up in the air - Hero of the Moment, I thought. After the celebrations, we returned to the hall to await the next session. For several hours, there were spontaneous entertainments, including one from a priest who delighted his audience with witticisms and anecdotes about the stupidities of the military and officials in occupied East Timor. I didn't understand a word but was struck by the ability of the Timorese to make jokes about the occupation. Later that night, long after I had gone to bed, a working group appeared at the Plenary session to offer a list of members of the National Political Commission, the Executive Commission and other commissions, with Xanana Gusmao as the acknowledged leader. Jose Ramos-Horta was elected vice-president of the two main commissions. In the absence of alternative nominations, the list was voted on by secret ballot and accepted by a majority of about three to one. On Monday we all travelled back to Lisbon for the closing ceremony. All the elected leaders were on the platform to take their oaths of office. Following a welcoming speech by a representative of the Portuguese government, Vice-President Jose Ramos-Horta gave a speech summarising the achievements of the Convention and explaining that a Congress would be held in December at which there would be an even wider representation of the East Timorese in diaspora. Many of the Timorese sitting in the audience told me how important the ceremony was especially as it was being transmitted live by Portuguese RTPI direct to East Timor. Just before leaving Peniche, I had received a phone call from Tom Lindahl, a Finnish activist, urging me to go to Helsinki immediately to speak at a seminar on East Timor and Indonesia. He said that my presence there was needed to restore a balance in the panel of speakers. I agreed to go and soon realised what was going on. The Finnish co-sponsor of the seminar, Professor Kimivaki, had taken it upon himself to invite the Indonesian embassy in Helsinki to provide a panel of speakers. Normally academic seminars on East Timor are intended to provide a platform for East Timorese and activists to dialogue with Indonesians who are open-minded enough to hear the side of the story that is never told in Indonesia. But the Indonesian embassy? The embassy must have closed down for the two days as a dozen or more government people were there, including several East Timorese who had just attended the Human Rights Commission in Geneva plus our old friend Dino Patti Djalal, formerly of the Indonesian embassy in London, now head of the 'Decolonisation Section' (!) of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry. Dino had come from Jakarta for the event, along with another 'old friend', Abilio Araujo, former Fretilin president who defected to Jakarta several years ago, and who had been summoned from his mansion in Portugal by the Indonesian embassy to present us with what he calls his 'third way'. Had there been a sizable audience present to hear the arguments from both sides, the event might have been worthwhile. As it was, the protagonists far out-numbered the rest of the audience and we engaged in what I can only call a 'dialogue of the deaf'. Besides Liem Soei Liong and myself from TAPOL, there were two Timorese from Australia who had attended the Convention, Abel Guterres and Ceu Brites, Rui Gomes who until 1995 was a senior official of the administration in Dili and is now an outspoken critic, and Magdalena Veiga from Porto University. No doubt the embassy in Helsinki, which is likely to be closed down soon as part of crisis cutbacks, will assure Jakarta that they scored a diplomatic coup. Perhaps Dino, whose final gesture on the platform at the closing session, was to embrace his friend Abilio, will supply yet another of his illuminating articles that often grace the pages of The Jakarta Post. If he does and renders yet another one-sided account of what happened, I am pretty sure that any letter I address to the editors for publication will not be published. Good at the Post is these days, it is still unlikely to take the risk of publishing a letter bearing my signature. Carmel Budiardjo *********************************************************** TAPOL, Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, 111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HW, UK Phone: 0181 771-2904 Fax: 0181 653-0322 email: tapol@gn.apc.org Defending the rights of the victims of Indonesian oppression in Indonesia, East Timor, West Papua and Aceh. ************************************************************