The tour is especially timely as Indonesia prepares to conduct a massive one-day refugee registration in West Timor on June 6. The planned registration will require refugees to choose between returning to East Timor and remaining in Indonesia. Concerns regarding the registration voiced by CIS and other organizations in the West Timor include the prominent role of the Indonesian military and militias, the continuing presence of weapons in the camps, and the confusion of registration materials.

“Refugees live in squalid camps, short of water, food and medicine… Each day five children die mainly from malaria and diarrhea and malnutrition in the camps,” Rondo revealed in a recent Australian radio interview. “The greater proportion of the refugees in West Timor lives in a crisis situation-- no freedom, no hope, and also no future.”

ETAN spokesperson John Miller cited concerns as well. “We, along with Mr. Rondo, are gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the West Timor camps,” he declared. “It is impossible for the refugees to make an informed choice about their future with continuing militia intimidation. The US must act now to ensure that any refugee registration process has significant international oversight and participation.”

In a series of presentations, interviews and meetings, Mr. Rondo will share his experiences and an in-depth analysis of the refugee crisis, stressing the need for genuine justice and concerted international action supported by the US, in hopes of reaching a resolution to the refugee crisis. Rondo and his organizations have worked closely with Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, Unicef and others.

In August of 1999, the East Timorese people voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in a UN-supervised referendum, ending a brutal 24 year-long occupation by the Indonesian military. Immediately following the ballot, the Indonesian military and militia groups it formed had armed and directed a month-long scorched earth campaign in East Timor. During this time, the military and its militias forced more than 260,000 people across the border into West Timor, often at gunpoint. They murdered hundreds, raped innumerable women and girls and destroyed three fourths of the buildings and most of the infrastructure of East Timor.

Currently, East Timor is under a transitional UN administration, with full independence scheduled for early 2002. As of May 2001, between 80,000 and 100,000 East Timorese-- one-tenth of the total population--are still in West Timor.

“The U.S. must pressure the Indonesian government to disarm and disband the militias, Miller said. “The East Timorese refugee crisis has continued for nearly two years because the Indonesian government has been unable or unwilling to disarm and disband the militias in West Timor and hold them accountable for serious crimes committed in East and West Timor, and the international community has not pressured Indonesia to do so. “U.S. action is also needed to make sure that any refugees wishing to take part in East Timor’s upcoming elections are able to return to East Timor to do so, and to support the formation of an international tribunal on East Timor to prosecute crimes against humanity, [especially] those of gender violence.”

In its January 2000 report, the UN International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor stated, “The intimidation, terror, destruction of property, displacement and evacuation of people [in 1999] would not have been possible without the active involvement of the Indonesian army, and the knowledge and approval of the top military command.” The Commission called for an international tribunal on crimes against humanity committed in East Timor.

The East Timor Action Network/U.S. was founded following the November 1991 massacre of over 270 East Timorese civilians by the Indonesian military.

ETAN is a grassroots human rights organization supporting women’s rights, democracy, sustainable development, and comprehensive justice in East Timor. ETAN has 28 local chapters throughout the U.S.

See www.etan.org for tour schedule and additional background.