MIM NOTES 195	October 1, 1999

Filipino people congratulate East Timorese people and condemn 
attacks on them by Indonesian fascists

On behalf of the Filipino people, we the National Democratic Front 
of the Philippines (NDFP) congratulate the East Timorese people 
and all their revolutionary forces for national independence for 
their overwhelming victory in the referendum administered by the 
United Nations.

We admire the resoluteness and perseverance of the East Timorese 
people in their revolutionary struggle for national independence. 
We share their joy in triumphantly asserting and manifesting their 
sovereign will against the occupation forces of the Indonesian 
reactionary state.

The Indonesian state must respect the results of the referendum in 
which almost 80 percent of the population in East Timor from a 
voter turnout of more than 97 percent made clear their choice of 
independence, despite the campaign of terror unleashed by the 
Indonesian fascists and their puppets.

Together with the people of the world, we demand that the East 
Timorese people and democratic forces be unhampered in 
establishing their own independent state and government and 
developing their own country in peace.

We condemn the desperate actions of the most reactionary 
Indonesian officials and military forces, that are the proxies and 
extensions of the persistent Suharto fascist military 
dictatorship, to encumber, delay or prevent the East Timorese 
people from establishing their own independent state and 
government.

We condemn the massacres, the assassinations, looting and arson 
being perpetrated by Indonesian fascist army and police troops, 
masquerading as militia men and combining with a handful of 
hooligans, against the people and leaders of East Timor. We 
condemn the imposition of martial law on East Timor at the further 
expense of the East Timorese people.

It is outrageous that even Catholic Bishop Belo and the clergy and 
the personnel of the UN, the International Committee of the Red 
Cross, diplomatic missions and the international press have been 
targeted for the most vicious physical attacks and have been 
forced to evacuate.

We can never forget how the Indonesian fascist troops invaded East 
Timor and massacred thousands in 1975. Thenceforth, they imposed 
on East Timor the most brutal kind of occupation, oppression and 
exploitation causing the death of 200,000 or a third of the people 
of East Timor.

We decry the failure of the U.N. to promptly adopt and implement 
effective measures to ensure the safety of the East Timorese 
people and give due course to their sovereign will and 
independence.

The imperialist powers could use their financial leverage to 
compel the resignation of the fascist dictator Suharto and direct 
a so-called transition to "democracy" in order to cover up their 
responsibility for the plunder of Indonesia. But in the case of 
East Timor, they give free rein to the fascists in prolonging 
their occupation of East Timor and flagrantly committing the most 
dastardly crimes against the people.

The imperialist powers can at will use the name of the U.N. to 
attack or occupy sovereign states like Iraq and Yugoslavia. But 
they are deliberately slow in compelling their puppet state in 
Indonesia to respect the results of the referendum.

The imperialist powers headed by the US are obviously balancing 
their larger economic and political interests in Indonesia against 
the national sovereignty of East Timor and are trying to extract 
advantages from both Indonesia and East Timor even if in the 
meantime the East Timorese people are being massacred, robbed and 
forced to evacuate.

We condemn any scheme to make East Timor a client state of the 
imperialist powers and the neighboring state of Indonesia. As 
always, we support the East Timorese people in their struggle for 
national liberation and democracy.

--National Council National Democratic Front of the Philippines

September 5, 1999
Luis Jalandoni Member,
Executive Committee National Democratic Front of the Philippines