These photographs were taken at a demonstration in support of East Timor held in Ottawa on the 20th anniversary of the invasion, 7 December 1995. Demonstration organized by East Timor Alert Network/Ottawa. Key figures in images: Bella Galhos, Kerry Pither.
Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna meets with members of the developemnt NGO USC Canada and Timorese organization RAEBIA (formerly USC), in Ottawa, 2016.
When Dalhousie University in Halifax started considering a project in Indonesia, a group of local people formed the Nova Scotia East Timor Group. The group, led by Bill Owen, Audrey Samson and Ross Shotton, undertook a letter-writing campaign to the Canadian government, the first time Ottawa felt compelled to respond to letters from the public. Ten years after the 1975 invasion of East Timor, the NSETG was instrumental in the Canadian component of an Amnesty International to raise awareness about human rights in East Timor. Under Indonesian rule, AI reported, some 200,000 Timorese had died.
Bill Owen (crouching) at NSETG literature table and banner showing, Halifax
Photograph of East Timor Alert Network vigil outside the Indonesian Consulate in Toronto, date unknown [1990s]. Vigils took place on a weekly basis for some years in the 1990s outside the office building housing the Indonesian Consulate at 425 University Avenue, Toronto. The Consulate later moved to its own building on Jarvis Street.
Each year, a Canadian member of Parliamentarians for East Timor travelled to take part in international testimonies to the UN Decolonization Committee. -Dan Heap MP at the United Nations with José Luis Guterres of Fretilin and Charles Scheiner of ETAN/US
Canadian support for economic development in East Timor began in 1990 with a small grant to ETADEP, which the Canadian government considered to be the only true Timorese NGO. The most significant early player was the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, which provided both funding and human rights support, especially for the Peace and Justice Office created by Bishop Belo. -Jess Agustin of Development and Peace with Bishop Belo in Dili, 1999
East Timor Alert network protesters attempt to block access to a loading bay at the Pratt and Whitney factory in Toronto. Pratt and Whitney was one company issued with military export licences to Indonesia. The protest aimed to highlight Canada's role in arming Indonesia as part of ETAN's campaign for an arms embargo on Indonesia. Photographer at right is one of the reporters who covered this event. The protesters were removed and arrested by local police.
In Canada, solidarity activists rallied to try to make a “citizen’s arrest” of Indonesian president Suharto at the 1997 APEC summit, picking up on the example of Timorese activists who had put their country’s struggle at the centre of the 1994 APEC summit in Jakarta. -Bella Galhos presents media with photos of torture in East Timor outside the APEC summit, Vancouver, 1997 (Photo: Elaine Briere)
The Asia- Pacific Conference on East Timor was held in May of 1994 in Manila. The goal of the conference was to bring into focus the Timorese's people's right to self-determination and consolidate its support network in the Asia-Pacific region.
This item contains:
New York Times editorials regarding the conference
An update from APCET including what other countries are doing in solidarity for East Timor
A proposal of a creative visual presentation popularizing the East Timorese issue to the Filipino general public
Message of solidarity to political prisoners in the Philippines
Second APCET conference in November of 1996
Thailand tries to muzzle APCET III (email correspondence)
Newspaper articles
Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor leaflet and documents
Flyers introducing 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Horta Ramos and the premiere of Elaine Brière's film "Bitter Paradise: The Sell-Out of East - Timor" in Toronto, CA.