[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRAGEDY OF EAST TIMOR

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                       HON. ROBERT G. TORRICELLI

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 1996

  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. Speaker, the tragedy in the former Portuguese 
colony of East Timor is of growing concern to Americans, and in 
particular, to church and secular human rights organizations in the 
State of New Jersey. There has been growing interest in this problem in 
my State dating back to the 1975 invasion of East Timor by Indonesia, 
which may have claimed more than 200,000 East Timorese lives of a 
population that was less than 700,000 before the Indonesian occupation. 
Public interest in my State and around the world has increased since 
the November 12, 1991, massacre of more than 250 unarmed people by 
Indonesian troops at Santa Cruz cemetery in the East Timor capital of 
Dili. The Santa Cruz massacre, filmed in part by a British TV 
journalist, was televised throughout the world, and alerted 
international public opinion to the plight of East Timor in an 
unprecedented manner. Nearly 5 years after the Santa Cruz massacre, 
East Timor's suffering continues.
  An illustrious in the midst of this tragedy is the Roman Catholic 
Bishop of East Timor, Carlos Ximenes Belo, who has received acclaim for 
his efforts to bring peace to East Timor. Earlier this year, several 
international editions of Reader's Digest published a profile of Bishop 
Belo entitled ``Hero for a Forgotten People.'' Shortly after it 
appeared, Reader's Digest announced that the edition had been banned 
from newsstands in Indonesia.
  The article is a poignant portrait, and deserves wider attention, 
especially at this time, as the fifth anniversary of the Santa Cruz 
massacre approaches. In conclusion, Bishop Belo tells the Reader's 
Digest writer, ``We beg the outside world not to forget us * * * If 
that happens, we are doomed.''
  The U.S. Congress and administration should do everything within 
reason to ensure that Bishop Belo's fear does not come to pass.
  For the benefit of my colleagues, I request that the text of the 
March 1996 Far Eastern edition of Reader's Digest be published in the 
Record. I urge all of my colleagues to read this important article.

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