International action for East Timor resource rights

The East Timor Action Network/US (ETAN) marked the January 26, 
Australia/Invasion Day national holiday by drawing attention to 
the fact that Australia does not honour the national sovereignty 
and resource rights of East Timor.

East Timor supporters around the world phoned, faxed and e-mailed 
Australian diplomatic missions to urge a speedy and fair 
resolution of the maritime boundary between the two countries.

"What is at stake here is billions of dollars that rightly belong 
to East Timor under international law. The world is watching how 
Australia treats East Timor in boundary negotiations", said John 
MMiller, spokesperson for ETAN.

The Laminaria-Corallina oil field, which is twice as close to 
Timor as it is to Australia, is now mostly depleted after 
generating more than US$1 billion in revenues for the Australian 
Government; not a cent has gone to East Timor, ETAN said. If 
international law were obeyed, some 60 per cent of the oil and 
gas entitlement that Australia is claiming would belong to East 
Timor.

East Timor is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a 
severe lack of essential services and high unemployment.

In October 2002, East Timor enacted a Maritime Boundary Law, 
claiming a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone in all 
directions, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of 
the Sea.

Where neighbouring claims overlap, as is the case with East Timor 
and Australia, countries must negotiate a permanent maritime 
boundary, usually halfway between their coastlines.

In March 2002, Australia gave formal notice that it was 
withdrawing from international legal mechanisms — the 
International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for 
the Law of the Sea — to resolve boundary issues that cannot be 
settled by negotiation. The withdrawal prevents East Timor from 
taking Australia to the Tribunal to contest its refusal to engage 
in timely and co-operative boundary negotiations.

The two countries held their first negotiating session last 
November, more than a year after East Timor requested it. They 
will not meet again until April.

Representatives of 100 organisations from 19 countries sent a 
letter to the Australian Prime Minister John Howard last 
November, which stated: "We have been troubled by your 
government's callous disregard for East Timor's sovereignty and 
rights, which seems contrary to the deep concern for East Timor 
expressed by so many Australians. Australia's long-term national 
interests are best served by a stable and prosperous East Timor "

"This is the 21st century, not 1788. The Australian government 
needs to wake up and realise that it no longer acceptable to 
seize territory or resources belonging to another people", said 
Karen Orenstein, Washington co-ordinator for ETAN.