From: "Viviane Lerner" <•••@••.•••> Subject: FW: Timor murders funded by IMF Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 00:21:36 -1000 -----Original Message----- From: •••@••.••• [mailto:•••@••.•••] On Behalf Of Dion Giles Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 11:38 PM Subject: Timor murders funded by IMF This is from Bruce Moon of South East Queensland (Australia) Environment Campaigners - posted to another network: If you are interested in how the slaughter in E TIMOR was funded by the IMF, read on. An independent Australian television documentary program has this week revealed how the slaughter of E TIMORESE by the Indonesions was funded by aid money from the IMF. Importantly, the IMF became aware of the way the money was to be spent BEFORE the atrocities occurred, yet continued directing the money to Indonesia. In his first report for SBS, Mark Davis reveals that at least $A12 million earmarked for welfare and development, was channelled from the World Bank directly to the militias. He also reveals that the militia were paid around $A750 for every person they killed. Other government departments were also funding the militias including an additional nine billion rupiah from Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Department. "The implications of government departments directly diverting money to militias are enormous," Davis says. "It exposes Ministers to war crimes prosecutions and the State, to massive compensation claims." Davis searched through the ruined offices of the Department of Finance in Dili to find a paper trail linking militia payments directly to the Indonesian Government. He interviews the head of the department's budget section, Joao da Silva, who had intimate access to all departments in the public service. Da Silva told Davis he was the officer overseeing the payments to the militias "because when they came to the Governor (of East Timor) for money, the Governor sent them to us and we had to prepare it quickly. "We had to do it quickly because the money was to support their activities," Da Silva says. According to Ben Fisher, of the World Bank's Jakarta office, the institution was aware of the scam and sought assurances from the Indonesian Government that it would end. However, despite government claims, it appears the scam continued. "We did all we could short of stopping overall support," Mr Fisher tells Davis, but when pressed on why the bank did not go further, he declared that it was "a political question." Davis also confronts former Foreign Affairs Minister, Ali Alatas, who angrily denies the allegations that elements within the Indonesian Foreign Ministry organised major donations to the militias. A text copy of the program can be found at: <http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/transcript.html> No nation or institution is devoid of problems, but this case raises serious questions over the ethics and morality of an organisation with such vital links to the US administrative politico-banking system. A majority of IMF employees are US citizens. Despite less developed nations getting some benefit from IMF assistance, the profit factor places the US as the greatest beneficiary of IMF actions. As humans, these US citizens should be inculcating an ethical standard into the IMF that precluded the responses attributable to the IMF in this program. To my mind, and in regard to the world stage, the conscience of the US is sullied from the contents of this report. Bruce Moon -- For MAI-not (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and links to other MAI sites please see http://mai.flora.org/
