Toronto; ETAN protest image of Canadian 5-cent “nickel”

In Canada, solidarity activists rallied to try to make a “citizen’s arrest” of Indonesian president Suharto at the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (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.

• APEC 1997 protests at UBC (Elaine Briere)

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)

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.

East Timor Alert Network protest held in the back alley behind the residence of the Indonesian Consul-General in Vancouver. Pictured with sign is Jaggi Singh of ETAN and guests of the Indonesian Consul's reception on the occasion of Indonesian independence day, 17 August. This protest was one of a series that ETAN's Vancouver chapter held at Indonesian events to raise awareness about East Timor.

Abé ho Aloz in performance. Timorese-Canadian duo Abé Barreto Soares and Aloz MacDonald performed numerous shows across Canada in support of the Timorese cause.

Abé ho Aloz in performance

In 1983, Monsignor Martinho da Costa Lopes became the first Timorese voice to speak in Canada since the 1975 invasion. He had recently been removed as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Dili – in de facto terms, head of the Timorese Catholic church – for being too critical of Indonesia’s human rights record. Msgr da Costa Lopes came at the invitation of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, meeting Canadian Catholics and also lobbying the government and speaking to the
Canadian media.

• The same year also saw the release of Peter Monet’s film “Betrayed But Not Beaten,” the first documentary to be produced in North America about East Timor.
  -Image: screen shot of Martinho da Costa Lopes from the film

Canadian Labour Congress president Bob White with Bella Galhos at a CLC convention.

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

Photojournalist Elaine Briere was travelling the Southeast Asian “hippy trail” in 1974, a trip that brought her among other places to pre-invasion East Timor. She fell in love with the country. After its invasion, she found she had some of the very few high-quality images of pre-invasion East Timor. She shared them with solidarity groups around the world. Especially in Canadian activism, they became iconic. Some have even found their way back to independent Timor-Leste.

• Girl carrying corn East Timor, 1974

-Abé Barreto Soares went to the UN Human Rights Commission for ETAN/Canada in 1993, pictured here with Jose Ramos Hort anad other CNRM supporters in the halls of the Palais des Nations, Geneva

ETAN/Canada protest outside trade event, Winnipeg

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

Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna meets with members of the developemnt NGO USC Canada and Timorese organization RAEBIA (formerly USC), in Ottawa, 2016.

An image of some of the participants at the annual informal meeting of East Timor solidarity groups held each year in Europe. This session was in the 1990s and timed to coincide with the annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Exact date unknown. Pictured are Luisa Teotonio Pereira (Commission for the Rights of the Maubere People, Portugal); Jean Inglis (Free East Timor! Campaign, Japan), Sister Minica Nakamura (Free East Timor! Campaign, Japan) and Judy Gilson (Australia).

Bella Galhos and Bev Bedford of ETAN/Winnipeg, with effigies of Indoneisan president Suharto and Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, Winnipeg, Canada.