To mark the anniversary of Australian Government's unscrupulous decision to withdraw its recognition of the maritime boundary jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, various protest actions will be held around the world.
Protests in Melbourne, Dili, Jakarta, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney will take place during the week beginning March 21 all demanding that the Australian Government resubmits to the independent umpire and commence fresh negotiations with East Timor to establish permanent and fair maritime boundaries.
The Timor Sea Justice Campaign's spokesperson in Melbourne, Tom Clarke, said respecting the independent umpire was an essential ingredient for good faith negotiations.
"The Australian Government needs to stop viewing international law as some sort of buffet menu from which it can pick and choose the bits it likes and ignore the bits it finds inconvenient. As a sovereign nation, East Timor is entitled to have permanent maritime boundaries, but successive Australian Government's have put greed ahead of the law and ahead of the common decency," said Mr Clarke.
- Melbourne: 24 March – 12:30pm, 55 Colins St outside the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Speakers TBC RSVP here via our Facebook page
- Adelaide: 21 March – 12:30pm outside Parliament House
- Sydney: 23 March – 12:30pm at three meeting spots: Archibald Fountain at Hyde park, Greenwood Plaza North Sydney, DFAT offices at Angel Place in the CBD
- Canberra: Details TBC
- Dili: 23 and 24 March outside the Australian Embassy
- Jakarta – 24 March outside the Australian Embassy
- And the USA based East Timor Action Network will be conducting an online protest between March 21-25.
The week of action follows a recent protest by the Movement Against the Occupation of the Timor Sea (Movimentu Kontra Okupasaun Tasi Timor) in Dili which attracted thousands of people to the Australian embassy to demand permanent maritime boundaries based along the median line. Photos and videos can be found here.
The March international protests will all demand that the Australian government:
- Resubmit to the maritime boundary jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice
- Immediately open negotiations for a permanent maritime boundaries based on the median line principle
- Return all revenues taken unilaterally from the Timorese side of the halfway line
If there's not a protest happening in your area and you want to organise one, let us know and we'll post the details here.
- For further information about the Melbourne protest, contact Sam King on 0478 630 980
- For further media comments, contact Tom Clarke on 0422 545 763