The Timor Sea Justice Campaign today labelled the Australian Government's decision to discontinue aid funding to 13 East Timorese Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) as political interference.
The 13 NGOs will not receive funding due to their signing of a statement last year about the maritime boundary dispute between East Timor and Australia. In joint press releases dated 29th of September 2004 and 27th of October 2004, they called for maritime boundaries to be set fairly and according to international legal principles.
Timor Sea Justice Campaign spokesperson, Vannessa Hearman, said this denial of funding by AusAID (Australian Agency for International Development) was a blatant attempt to silence critics of the Australian Government.
The decision to punish Timorese NGOs which are conducting community programs fly in the face of Australian Government claims that its aid program in East Timor reduces poverty and benefits the people of East Timor. Access to oil and gas resources are also key to poverty reduction in the country and organizations which are speaking out about this issue should not be punished by AusAID in this way," Ms Hearman said.
The Director of Haburas Foundation, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho, said that AusAID informed Haburas on November 10 that it would not receive funding for its project supporting environmental education in schools, because it had signed the joint statements last year.
"East Timorese civil society is being punished by Australia for speaking out about something that affects all East Timorese people. This is a restriction of our freedom of speech and a breach of our human rights," Mr Carvalho said.
Timor Sea Justice Campaign spokesperson, Vannessa Hearman, claims the decision is typical of the type bullying that Alexander Downer and DFAT have become known for in the region.
It's quite disturbing that the Australian Government not only takes billions of dollars from the poorest country in Asia, but then has the audacity to use its aid agency to try to silence those who point out that the Australian Government is contravening International Law by doing this," Ms Hearman said.
Ms Hearman said the campaign will continue to push for the Australian Government to establish permanent maritime boundaries with East Timor halfway between the two countries, in accordance with International Law.
The 13 NGOs, some of East Timor's oldest, largest and most respected NGOs, signing the September and October 2004 press releases were:
- Haburas Foundation (recipients of the Goldman International Environmental Prize 2004)
- HAK Association (Association for Law, Rights and Justice),
- La'o Hamutuk (Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis),
- Sahe Institute for Liberation,
- Kdadalak Sulimutu Institute (founded by Nobel Prize winner Bishop Belo),
- Timor Leste Community Radio Association (AKRTL),
- Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP),
- KSTL (Timor-Leste Trade Union Confederation),
- Labour Advocacy Institute for East Timor,
- FOKUPERS ( East Timor Women's Communications Forum),
- Forum Tau Matan (FTM)
- LABEH (Mirror for the People)
- Timor Leste Students Association
Haburas foundation
Rua Celestino da Silva, Farol, Dili, Timor-Leste P.O. Box 390, Telp: +670-7232851, +670-3310103 E-mail: haburaslorosae@yahoo.com or haburass@hotmail.com
Or
Timor Sea Justice Campaign, Melbourne
Co-ordinator, Tom Clarke, m. 0422 545 763 e. tom@timorseajustice.org