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RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS
E-Newsletter
Vol.1 No.15
September 20, 1999
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Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is now available online at: http://www.rghr.net
Religious Perspectives on Human Rights is a weekly e-newsletter issued by Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic and Christian Groups on Human Rights, initiated by the Asian Human Rights Commission.
East - Timor Peace keeping- What you can do
As Peace-keeping troops safely arrive in East Timor and secure
the territory and begin to get on with their work, you may be
wondering how you can get involved in doing something for the
East Timorese people in their hour of need and agony. Here are a
few suggestions regarding immediate and long term action.
What can be done NOW
- Send your greetings to the Peace keeping Forces ; This
means a lot when you have a very difficult job in the
face of a reality, which to almost every outsider would
be schocking. Senseless violence has very deep
psychological effects on everyone, but particularly on
those who may not have had occasions to come to grips
with such violence. The knowledge that the world cares
and will support their efforts to fix things up again
will add to the morale of those on the ground. Just spend
a short time to write a nice letter. Till a direct line
become available write through the UN Secretary- General.
For a suggested letter please see below.
- Get ready to send things- Clothes-food, school material,
and anything that is useful, when facilities for
communication will become available in the coming days
and weeks.
- Get ready to go or to send volunteers as soon as such
visits become possible
- Continue with Vigils, payer services and other ways of
remaining alert and creating social awareness.
What Needs to be done IMMEDIATELY:
As Peacekeeping troops attend to immediate matters it will
soon dawn that the burden of reconstructing East Timor will
require civilian Assistance from the international community. Red
Cross is already present. There will be the need for medical care
requiring hospitals, doctors, nurses and other personnel.
Given the nature of the devastation, rebuilding of houses and
other sanitary facilities will be an immediate priority
Educational facilities with the teachers will also be high in
the list. The presence of counsellers to assist the children
traumatized by the recent events will also be quite important
All these will imply facilities for training in various
skills, and the training of East Timorese themselves to handle
these issues will lead to eventual sustainability.
What Needs to be done in the LONG RUN.
Building of the East Timorese Judiciary and the police is a
primary need. Without repeating the mistakes of earlier
peacekeeping missions such as in Cambodia, this aspect of
building the infra-structure for rule of law needs to be
addressed from now on. This will also imply agreement on
operative laws, customary laws and those that needs to be
formulated.
Quick rebuilding of the civil society and making civil society
participate in every aspect of life is the only way for East
Timorese society to get back to its bearings and speed up the way
for recovery.
Human resources development to meet the needs of the new
nation must be a vital component of the Agenda.
Justice for the destruction caused after the elections to life
and property is an essential aspect of peace. This will generate
many sensitive issues that need to be addressed and settled.
Indecisiveness on these issues will create very grave problems
later, as we see from Cambodia.
Lasting threats to Eat Timor can be avoided only by the
development of democratic forces in Indonesia. Every thing must
be done to encourage the democratic transformation of Indonesia
and the rapid demilitarization of the country. For this, it is
good to get in touch with Indonesian democratic and human rights
organizations.
A Suggested letter to the PEACE KEEPING FORCES IN EAST TIMOR
Major-General Peter Cosgrove
Commander of the International Peace Force in E.Timor
C/O Secretary General
Kofi Annan
United Nations
New York, NY 10017 USA
Fax: 1 212 963 2155
E-mail: ecu@un.org
I am glad of your safe arrival in East Timor soil. Your
presence will be a great encouragement to the East Timorese
people. I want you to know that in the days to come many people
will be thinking of you and wishing you well. I am personally
willing to do what ever I can to help improve the situation. I
will look forward for some indications as to what is required and
hope soon, I can assist you in achieving the objectives of your
mission. You can be assured of my best wishes and prayers.
Thank you
Posted on 1999-09-20
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