[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 237 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]


105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 237

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the situation in Indonesia 
                            and East Timor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 1998

Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Kohl, 
Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. 
  Wyden, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Coats, Mr. 
  Torricelli, Mr. Dorgan, and Mr. Lieberman) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                             June 23, 1998

                Reported by Mr. Helms, without amendment

                             July 10, 1998

                        Considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the situation in Indonesia 
                            and East Timor.

Whereas recent political turmoil and economic failure in Indonesia have 
        endangered the people of that country and fomented instability in the 
        region;
Whereas President Suharto has properly responded to this crisis by resigning, 
        after 32 years in office, the presidency of Indonesia in accordance with 
        Indonesia's constitutional processes;
Whereas Indonesia is now embarking on a new era that is ripe for political and 
        economic reform;
Whereas in 1975 Indonesia invaded, and since that time has illegally occupied, 
        East Timor claiming the lives of approximately 200,000 East Timorese;
Whereas Indonesia has systematically committed human rights abuses against the 
        people of East Timor through arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances, 
        extra-judicial executions, and general political repression;
Whereas 8 United Nations General Assembly and 2 United Nations Security Council 
        resolutions have reaffirmed the right of the people of East Timor to 
        self-determination;
Whereas Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta, who were awarded 
        the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous contribution to the East 
        Timorese struggle, have called for a United Nations-sponsored referendum 
        on self-determination of the East Timorese;
Whereas President Clinton in a letter dated December 27, 1996, expressed 
        interest in the idea of a United Nations-sponsored referendum on self-
        determination in East Timor;
Whereas the United States cosponsored a 1997 United Nations Human Rights 
        Commission Resolution calling for Indonesia to comply with the 
        directives of existing United Nations resolutions regarding East Timor; 
        and
Whereas present circumstances provide a unique opportunity for a resolution of 
        the East Timor question: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President 
should--
            (1) encourage the new political leadership in Indonesia to 
        institute genuine democratic and economic reforms, including 
        the establishment of an independent judiciary, civilian control 
        of the military, and the release of political prisoners;
            (2) encourage the new political leadership in Indonesia to 
        promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms 
        of all the people of Indonesia and East Timor; and
            (3) work actively, through the United Nations and with 
        United States allies, to carry out the directives of existing 
        United Nations resolutions on East Timor and to support an 
        internationally supervised referendum on self-determination.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
resolution to the President.
                                 <all>