Articles by Allan Nairn

Statement to the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights
May 11, 2000

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Allan Nairn. Last fall I testified before this committee after witnessing the final days of the physical destruction of East Timor by the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). I recently returned to a free East Timor, and also managed to enter Indonesia and examine military operations in the rural zones.

The Indonesian military and security forces are now politically discredited, and the movement against them — that began in the streets — has now reached the Jakarta elites. Freedom and democracy are now within realistic reach in Indonesia, but only if the illegitimate power of the armed and security forces can be broken. The key determining factors in this struggle will be continued protest on the ground and action by the US Congress to maintain and strengthen the current military aid ban. read more