Social justice news
September 1999

"Political cleansing" in East Timor?
September 8—The New York Times reported today that as many as 200,000 people in East Timor—one quarter of its population—are on the move into West Timor. Many are being forced out in what appears to be a deliberate campaign—orchestrated by elments within the Indonesian military—to rid the territory of its pro-independence population.

For more information about East Timor and current conditions there:

East Timor Action Net. CNN BBC Reuters

While U.S. officials call on Indonesian authorities to restore order to the territory Indonesia violently annexed in 1975, human rights groups are calling for immediate intervention by a multinational military force, arguing that since, at the very least, elements within the Indonesian military are behind the carnage, it is unreasonable to expect that same military to put a stop to the bloodshed and looting in East Timor. Human rights activists also call for the suspension of military and financial aid to Indonesia—including International Monetary Fund loans which have helped the world's fourth largest nation emerge from two years of economic turmoil.

The violence began four days ago after U.N. officials announced that 78 percent of the population had voted for independence from Indonesia. The largely peaceful referendum vote on independence drew over 90 and had been the first hopeful scene for the embattled territoty in years. Since the U.N. annoucement, military backed anti-independence "militias" have been on a rampage, particularly in the capital city of Dili. Hundreds have been reported killed, often in grisly fashion, and most international observers and journalists have fled the territory or been driven into hiding.

The U.N. is evacuating its besieged compound in Dili, leaving perhaps 2,000 refugees behind unprotected. After his residence was burned, Nobel Laureate Bishop Carlos Belo escaped to Darwin, Austrailia where he said Mass today and asked for immediate multinational intervention to halt the killing. Austrialian officials have expressed a willingness to lead such a force within 24 hours into East Timor but only with the support of the U.N. and the consent of the Indonesian President Habibe's administration. It remains unclear if the brutal campaign reflects a breakdown between Indonesia's civilian and military leadership or simply within the military alone.

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) is calling on the U.S. to cut off all Indonesian military and financial assistance and is urging citizens concerned about conditions in East Timor to:

Call senators and representative. Urge them to call Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (tel: 202-647-5291, fax: 202-647-6434), President Clinton (Fax: 202-456-2461, president@whitehouse.gov), and Secretary of Defense William Cohen (703-695-5261, Fax: 703-697-9080, dpcintrn@osd.pentagon.mil) directly. The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121 or check www.congress.gov for contact information on individual offices.

Call Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth at 202-647-9596. Don't let the staff transfer you to the Indonesia desk. You want this message to reach Roth himself. The Indonesia desk officers are already doing what they can.

Call the press. Thank them for their coverage of East Timor so far, but explain your concern about journalists pulling out of East Timor. Without international reporting, even worse atrocities against East Timorese from the uncontrolled paramilitaries can be expected. Also refer them to ETAN and the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) for interviews with recent and current observers on the island.

Reuters at 800-537-6865
Associated Press at 202-776-9400
Agence France Press (AFP) at 202-466-7890, 202-289-0700
Interpress (IPS) at 202-662-7160
CNN at 404-827-1500
BBC at 202-223-2050, 202-223-0110
New York Times at 212-556-1234
Washington Post at 202-334-7400

For more information, contact Karen at the New York ETAN office at 914-428-7299 or salama74@aol.com, or Brad Simpson at IFET at 773-255-7949.

 

Our booming prison population
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, if current trends continue, an analysis of 1998 prison population figures indicates that the nation's prison and jail population will reach a total of 2 million inmates in the first year of the new millennium. Last year over 550,000 inmates entered the federal and state prison systems.

The Sentencing Project, meanwhile, notes the "flip side" of the nation's 20-year prison population—a record number of inmates are returning to their families, communities, and society at large, often with little education and job experience. Find out more in Salt of the Earth's Stat House.

 

Cleveland rocks voucher program
An August 25 decision by a Federal court in Chicago stopping Cleveland's school-voucher program threw parents and schools into confusion and highlighted the contentious issues around vouchers. Coming less than 24 hours before the start of the school year in Cleveland, the federal-court decision sent parents and schools—both private schools who were expecting students and public ones who would have to accommodate students they were not expecting—scrambling for alternatives.

Running since 1995, the Cleveland voucher program paid low-income parents up to $2,500 in tuition costs. Ruling that the program had the primary effect of advancing religion, which violates the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, the court ordered it halted.

Vouchers are notes local or state governments issue to pay for tuition. Proponents argue:

that vouchers introduce competition into the public education system, arguably improving school performance

that parents who who pay tuition to send their children to religious and other private schools while supporting public education are thus "double taxed"

and that parents who can't afford full private school tuition should still have the choice to send their children to private schools where the quality of education may be better than at public schools.

Voucher opponents cite not only separation of religion and state concerns but also the threat they say vouchers present to public education. Voucher programs have the effect of "creaming" the best students out of public schools, they argue, and because states take enrollment into account when determining funding levels for public schools, vouchers potentially cut money from public school budgets. In addition, some opponents believe vouchers let parents off the hook for supporting public education, which they see as a civic responsibility regardless of where parents send their children. A Gallup poll this summer showed 70 percent of those surveyed favored government funding to improve schools while 28 percent favored a voucher system.

Organizations representing civil liberties and public education groups began their legal opposition to the Cleveland program soon after it started. The federal court's decision may mean the case will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never heard a voucher case before, although it has ruled on conditions for tuition reimbursement for religious schools and other cases involving public funding of private schools. Milwaukee has had a voucher program since 1990—which has so far withstood court challenges—and Florida began a statewide program this year.

 

Aid agencies assisting Turkey's earthquake victims
The following aid agencies are accepting contributions for assistance to victims of the earthquake in Turkey. They are members of InterAction, a coalition of relief, development and refugee assistance agencies.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Tel: 1-800-424-2372 American Jewish World Service Turkish Earthquake Relief Fund 989 Avenue of the Americas, 10th Floor New York, NY 10018 Tel: 1-800-889-7146 American Red Cross International Response Fund P.O. Box 37243 Washington, D.C. 20013 Tel: 1-800-HELP-NOW Spanish: 1-800-257-7575 Brother's Brother Foundation 1501 Reedsdale Street, Suite 3005 Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Tel: 412-321-3160 Catholic Relief Services P.O. Box 17090 Baltimore, MD 21203-7090 Tel: 1-800-736-3467 Church World Service Turkey Emergency Response Fund 28606 Phillips Street P.O. Box 968 Elkhart, IN 46515 Tel: 1-800-297-1516 ext. 222 Direct Relief International Turkey Relief Fund 27 S. La Patera Lane Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Tel: 1-800-676-1638

Food for the Hungry International Turkey Fund 7729 East Greenway Road Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Tel: 1-800-2-HUNGER Lutheran World Relief Turkey Earthquake Fund P.O. Box 17061 Baltimore, MD 21298-9832 Tel: 1-800-LWR-LWR2 MAP International Turkey Relief Fund 2200 Glynco Parkway P.O. Box 215000 Brunswick, GA 31521 Tel: 1-800-225-8550 Operation USA Turkey Quake Fund 8320 Melrose Ave., 200 Los Angeles, CA 90069 Tel: 1-800-678-7255 United Methodist Committee on Relief Turkey Earthquake Fund 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330 New York, NY 10115 Tel: 1-800-554-8583 World Relief P.O. Box WRC Dept. 3 Wheaton, IL 60189 Tel: 1-800-535-5433

Fall onto the Gap
The following information on the Gap campaign was provided by Global Exchange, (415) 255-7296.

The campaign continues to target Gap, owner of both Banana Republic and Old Navy, for its sweatshop abuses in Saipan. Global Exchange (GX) is expanding the campaign to include a focus on Gap sweatshops in other countries, such as Honduras, Indonesia and Russia.

BACKGROUND In January of this year, the UNITE textile worker union and three organizations in the San Francisco area—Sweatshop Watch, Global Exchange and the Asian Law Caucus—launched a campaign in response to revelations of gross labor rights violations in the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan). They also have filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from The Gap and 17 other U.S. clothing manufacturers and retailers for immigrant workers toiling as indentured servants in the U.S. Commonwealth. Apparel companies profit from wages below the level of the minimum wage on the mainland and yet are allowed to import clothing into the mainland duty-free, with labels declaring that it was "made in the USA."

Demands and goals of the campaign (drawn up in consultation with workers interviewed on Saipan):

LEGISLATIVE GOALS: Pass federal legislation that would end the system of indentured servitude in the Marianas and raise the minimum wage to be consistent with the mainland.

CORPORATE DEMANDS: The Gap and other retailers doing business on Saipan must: 1. Guarantee that contractors comply fully with overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and compensate those workers illegally denied overtime pay in the past; 2. Adhere to all U.S. labor laws, including the federal minimum wage and laws protecting freedom of association and collective bargaining; 3. Abolish the use of labor contracts that deny workers their basic human rights; 4. Abolish the system of recruitment fees, repay such fees for all present and former workers and pay return passage for any current or former worker who wishes to return home; and 5. Set up a credible independent monitoring system, with timely public reports, to ensure an end to abuses.

Gap's toll-free phone line is 1-800-333-7899. Explain that, as a consumer/concerned citizen, you would like Gap to enforce its own Vendor Code of Conduct and to respect worker rights, clean up its sweatshop conditions and pay a living wage. You can also fax a letter to the Gap directly from the Global Exchange web page.

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