61. Interview With Jose Ramos Horta 13/2/97 East Timor Path to Peace. nobel Peace Prize Winner jose Ramos-Hortatalked to HoriZons on his recent visit to Australia. Receiving http://www.caa.org.au/horizons/h20/horta.html

Search/Site map Home Publications Oxfam Horizons ... April 1997 East Timor - Path to Peace Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta talked to HoriZons on his recent visit to Australia. Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize has had a profound impact on the East Timor struggle. It has raised greater hopes among the people in East Timor and even more determination. It has also raised awareness in Indonesia at large and internationally, not only in governments, but at the grass roots level. The effect has been just extraordinary - doors are thrown wide open for us, in most countries though not all. For me it has been an extraordinary physical challenge. For many reasons, Bishop Belo, my fellow Nobel laureate, is unable to travel or to be available for media. Most of the burden falls on me to carry the voice of the people by using the Nobel Peace Prize. I get requests, appeals, invitations from so many others to speak, ranging from Northern Cyprus to Colombia.. Everyone expects me to, and of course I am willing to do it. If I an add my voice to the Aboriginal struggle or to the Tibetans or the Burmese or the Zapatistas, if I can be of any service, I presume that is my obligation. The situation in Indonesia is that general elections are due this year and Presidential elections the year after. There is increasing unrest, particularly in some of the outer islands of Indonesia. I definitely believe that Suharto's days are numbered. The inevitability of ageing means that Suharto is losing control of the situation as he is losing control of his own children who are fighting each other over the spoils of the country. As he ages, the problems that have been suppressed for years are now surfacing and becoming more and more volatile.

62. BBC NEWS | Special Report | 1999 | 05/99 | East Timor | Profile: Timor's Exiled to contribute to maintaining the momentum, said the then nobel chairman, Francis Fora brief while jose Ramos Horta served as Foreign Minister of an East http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1999/05/99/east_timor/newsid_378

CATEGORIES TV RADIO COMMUNICATE ... INDEX SEARCH You are in: Special Report: East Timor News Front Page World ... Programmes SERVICES Daily E-mail News Ticker Mobile/PDAs Text Only ... Help EDITIONS Change to World Wednesday, 8 September, 1999, 12:28 GMT 13:28 UK Profile: Timor's exiled leader Mr Horta: A thorn in the side of Indonesia's Government By News Online's Joe Havely For almost a quarter of a century Jose Ramos Horta has been a leading figure in the campaign against Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. Since fleeing the former Portuguese colony just three days before Indonesian troops invaded, he has lived a life in exile lobbying foreign governments and the UN on the East Timorese cause. Mr Horta has led international protests over East Timor's plight Years of pressing the world to care about the plight of East Timor have turned his life into what he describes as an "emotional rollercoaster". Branded a criminal and a traitor by the Indonesian Government, in 1996 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Bishop Carlos Belo, the leader of East Timor's majority Catholic population. At the time the Nobel committee said it hoped its decision would spur efforts to solve East Timor's problems "based on the people's right to self-determination".

63. BBC NEWS | Talking Point | Forum | East Timor's Jose Ramos Horta East Timor's Foreign Minister, the nobel laureate jose RamosHorta, answered your questions in a live forum. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/forum/2026934.stm

CATEGORIES TV RADIO COMMUNICATE ... INDEX SEARCH You are in: Talking Point: Forum News Front Page World ... Programmes SERVICES Daily E-mail News Ticker Mobile/PDAs Text Only ... Help EDITIONS Change to World Wednesday, 12 June, 2002, 13:55 GMT 14:55 UK East Timor's Jose Ramos Horta Click here to watch the forum. Nobel peace laureate and East Timor's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta answered your questions in a live forum. For almost a quarter of a century he was a leading figure in East Timor's campaign against Indonesian rule. The country finally became independent last month. Jose Ramos Horta fled the former Potuguese colony a few days before Indonesia invaded in 1975, and worked in exile to lobby for a free East Timor. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 alongside Bishop Carlos Belo, the leader of East Timor's majority Catholic population. Now he is East Timor's foreign minster, with a key role in building the country's future. Jose Ramos Horta answered your questions in a live forum. The topics discussed in this forum were: Struggle for freedom Relations with Indonesia Economic future National language ... Citizenship Bridget Kendall: Hello and welcome to this News Interactive forum. I'm Bridget Kendall and today I'm joined by Jose Ramos Horta, East Timor's Foreign Minister and a man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the country's campaign for independence against Indonesian rule. East Timor got that independence last month and Jose Ramos Horta has played a leading role since in securing security and stability for what is the world's newest nation.

64. FDL - AP Archives: "Interview With Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta" Illuminating Atrocities . Disturbing the Purchased Peace with nobel Laureate JoseRamos Horta. Interviewed by W. David Kubiak Japan Civil Liberties Union, Kyoto. http://www.nancho.net/fdlap/jrhorta.html

FDL-AP Archives "Illuminating Atrocities" Disturbing the Purchased Peace with Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta Interviewed by W. David Kubiak Japan Civil Liberties Union, Kyoto WDK : Sri Jose Ramos Horta, here you are a Nobel Laureate for a lifetime spent campaigning for the freedom of East Timor. Can you give a capsule history of this struggle and how you became involved in it? I became much more involved then in the 70s prior to and after the invasion of East Timor in l975. My role has always been in the area of international relations and media. My job has been to canvas support at the grassroots level in Australia, New Zealand, in that region. That was in the beginning. To engage in dialogue with the governments of the region, parliamentarians, NGOs. And then as the invasion came I left for New York leading a delegation to the UN Security Council. There I remained for almost 15 years before I got exhausted, burned out with New York and left for Sydney, Australia. WDK : So, a day in the life of a New York revolutionary. How did you actually occupy your time there? JRH: Well, I was always busy, every single day going to that place called the United Nations, meeting with diplomats, finding them in the corridors, in the delegates' lounge, phoning them at the missions, always briefing them, talking to them, persuading them, preparing for the debates in the decolonization committee, in the General Assembly of the UN every year, also trying to give some lectures around the United States; also going to Washington, D.C. to meet with US Congressional Aides; also occasionally I would do some travels outside the United States like going to Cuba once. I went to Barbados, Ghayana, Mexico, Brazil, a few European countries, half of Africa I covered at that time. At the same time, trying to cultivate the American media: New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, NPR all without much success.

65. José Ramos-Horta - Curriculum Vitae José ramoshorta – Curriculum Vitae. José ramos-horta, born December 26, 1949in Dili, East Timor. Single with one son. Catholic. From Les Prix nobel 1996. http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1996/ramos-horta-cv.html

, born December 26, 1949 in Dili, East Timor. Single with one son. Catholic. Living in Lisbon and Sydney. Current positions Special Representative of the National Council of Maubere Resistance of East Timor. CNRM is a non-partisan supreme national body based inside East Timor comprising all East Timorese nationalist political forces and resistance groups. Coordinator, East Timorese Resistance Diplomatic Front Coordinating Commission. Executive Director, Lecturer Diplomacy Training Program, Law Faculty, University of New South Wales , Sydney, Australia. Expert, International Service for Human Rights, Geneva. Past positions Minister of External Relations and Information, first provisional government of East Timor, prior to Indonesian invasion in 1975. Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the East Timorese independence movement from 1975 onwards for over a decade. Major fora addressed UN Security Council, Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly, UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, UN Commission on Human Rights, Council on Foreign Relations, European Parliament, etc.

66. Jose Ramos Horta http://www.nobel-paix.ch/bio/ramos.htm

Prix Nobel en 1996 avec son compatriote Ca rlos Belo Droits de l'homme Invasion du Timor-Oriental

67. The Peacemakers Speak José ramoshorta, East Timor, nobel Peace Laureate, 1996. Dr. José ramos-horta,nobel Peace Laureate and Foreign Minister, East Timor. Earlier statements. http://www.thecommunity.com/crisis/horta.html

East Timor Nobel Peace Laureate, 1996 (photo by Michael Collopy) October 10, 2001 As human beings we must always pause and ask ourselves if the use of force to deter violence or to halt the perpetrators of terrorism and genocide is the only option available. Again I have reflected on the decision by the US and its allies to use force against the Taliban regime and Osama Bin Laden terror network. In confronting this painful and agonizing question, my conscience tells me that the use of force was inevitable and necessary. In 1999, the East Timorese people were brutalized, murdered, and the country thoroughly destroyed. We appealed to the US, Australia, Portugal and the UN to send in forces to save our people. More than 30 countries responded and an international force finally landed in our country. They saved our people. As human beings we must always pause, reflect and resist the temptation to use force and the practice of an eye for an eye. However, there are times, when the use of force is legitimate and necessary. In the face of evil, invocation of false pacifism leads to inaction and betrayal of the victims of oppression. For this reason, as I stand here today, I endorse the use of force against the Taliban regime that oppresses its own people, has taken Afghanistan back to the Dark Ages, and is harboring an international terrorist network.

68. Statement On East Timor On The Nobel Prize to express our grave disappointment that your prestigious nobel Peace Prize Unfortunately,the sharing of this prize with Mr. jose Ramos Horta, an individual http://www.dfa-deplu.go.id/english/parada.htm

EAST TIMOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE STATEMENT OF THE EAST TIMORESE PEOPLE ON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE We the members of the East Timor House of Representatives, on behalf of our constituents the people of East Timor, wish to express our grave disappointment that your prestigious Nobel Peace Prize has been used to reopen wounds that we have been trying to heal since our integration with Indonesia brought an end to a bloody civil war and a beginning to a process of development never witnessed during more than 450 years of Portuguese colonial rule. If we were convinced that your award was truly meant to honour a man of peace like Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and reward him for his commitment to the betterment of our society, our concern would be abated. Unfortunately, the sharing of this prize with Mr. Jose Ramos Horta, an individual who has been a party to the extermination of his political opponents, does a great disservice to all East Timorese who value the peace for which so many have sacrificed. Of this we are certain: if Mr. Ramos Horta and his part, the FRETILIN, had been more cooperative and if they did not disrupt the decolonization process, there would have been peace in East Timor instead of a civil war. But they never gave peace a chance. For this and for his part in a massacre Mr. Ramos Horta gets the Nobel Prize for Peace?

69. CNN - 2 Accept Nobel Peace Prize For East Timor Work - Dec. 10, 1996 It is my fervent hope that the 1996 nobel Prize for peace will advance thesegoals. . Both Belo and activist jose Ramos Horta, who now lives in Australia http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9612/10/nobel.peace/

2 accept Nobel Peace Prize for East Timor work Indonesia boycotts ceremony December 10, 1996 Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT) OSLO, Norway (CNN) An outspoken bishop and an exiled activist accepted the Nobel Peace Prize Tuesday for their efforts to bring a peaceful end to a two-decade long conflict with Indonesia in their native East Timor Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo accepted his share of the $1.2 million prize in the name of the church and the "voiceless people" of East Timor. "What the people want is peace, an end to violence and the respect for their human rights," Belo said. "It is my fervent hope that the 1996 Nobel Prize for peace will advance these goals." Both Belo and activist Jose Ramos Horta, who now lives in Australia, called for talks with Indonesia. Ramos Horta said that a committed effort from all sides would be needed to succeed in bringing peace to East Timor. "Our society will not be based on revenge," he said. "Because of its credibility and standing, the Catholic Church will be expected to play a major role in the healing process." Indonesia was incensed over Ramos Horta's selection, and refused to attend either a reception with Norwegian royalty or the Nobel ceremony itself, held on the 100th anniversary of the death of Swedish dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, the prize's benefactor.

70. 1996 Nobel Peace Prize is the Press Release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Republic of Indonesiain response to the awarding of the 1996 nobel Peace Prize to jose Ramos Horta. http://www3.itu.int/MISSIONS/Indonesia/Nobel.htm

The following is the Press Release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Republic of Indonesia in response to the awarding of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize to Jose Ramos Horta On 10 October 1996, the Nobel Prize Committee announced its decision to award Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos Horta, in two equal parts, the Nobel Prize for Peace for 1996. The Indonesian Government has always shared Bishop Belo's determination to enhance the welfare and well-being of the people of East Timor and to ensure that they live in peace in an atmosphere of religious freedom and tolerance. The growth in the number of adherents of the Catholic religion and other religions in East Timor as well as the dramatic increase in the number of churches in the province attest to this fact. The Indonesian Government, however, has been astounded and surprised at the reason given for the award to Bishop Belo and to Ramos Horta. It has been announced that the award was for their "sacrifices for the oppressed people of East Timor." This is not true for in no way are the people of East Timor being oppressed. The Indonesian Government has always given the highest priority to the social and economic welfare of the people of East Timor. The record shows that it was only when East Timor integrated itself with Indonesia that the East Timorese began to enjoy universal suffrage, adequate political representation in decision-making centres of government, and real opportunities for socio-economic upliftment so that they could break away from the stagnation that had been the result of centuries of exploitation by the former colonial power. In fact

71. Int'l Code Of Conduct -- Jose Ramos-Horta: Deadly Arms Sales Deadly Arms Sales. by jose ramoshorta, Co-Winner of the 1996 NobelPeace Prize in the July 23, 1997 Washington Times OP-ED section. http://www.arias.or.cr/fundarias/cpr/code10.shtml

Deadly Arms Sales by Jose Ramos-Horta, Co-Winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize in the July 23, 1997 Washington Times OP-ED section On May 30, I joined with fourteen other past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize including the Dalai Lama, Betty Williams and Ellie Wiesel to launch a campaign for an international "Code of Conduct" on Arms Transfers. This initiative is the brain-child of Oscar Arias, the former President of Costa Rica, and winner of the Peace Prize in 1987. The Code would require arms suppliers to certify that all arms recipients meet certain common-sense criteria, such as compliance with internationally recognized human rights and democracy standards, before transferring weapons. We have presented our idea at the European Union and United Nations, and we are encouraging all arms exporting countries of the world to adopt it. The United States the world's leading exporter of weapons has an opportunity this week to lead the world in the formulation of responsible arms transfer policy by establishing its own Code of Conduct. Legislation setting democracy, human rights and non-aggression standards for U.S. arms customers is currently pending in a House-Senate conference committee on a State Department funding bill. The conference committee, scheduled to begin meeting this week, should retain the measure, both for practical and moral reasons. I did not hesitate when President Arias asked me to join him in this effort, since my own family has been on the receiving end of weapons supplied by the Western democracies to one of the most brutal regimes in the world.

72. East Timor: An Interview With Prof. Jose Ramos Horta It’s been seven months now since jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Bello wonthe 1996 nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to help resolve the long running http://www.ahrchk.net/hrsolid/mainfile.php/1997vol07no01/231/

Asian Human Rights Commission - Human Rights SOLIDARITY Main Archives Mailing List Subscription ... AHRC Website Search this section: Advanced Search ISSN 1682-4156 (online version) ISSN 1682-4148 (print version) East Timor: An Interview with Prof. Jose Ramos Horta We publish the interview of Prof. Jose Ramos Horta with CNN, which was aired on 14th January, 1997. Professor Horta, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, visited Hong Kong on 14 January 1996, and presented a lecture entitled "Self-determination of East Timor and Democracy in Southeast-Asia." The event was co-hosted by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong and was attended by members of local and regional NGOs as well as the press. Later he was interviewed by the CNN representatives based in Hong Kong. The news reporting including the interview is as follows. Prof. Horta: CNN: What does victory mean to you? When we spoke with Bishop Bello he said that for him it was self-determination for the East Timorese people. But you talked much in the past of self-rule. Is that the goal? Prof. Horta:

73. EAST TIMOR: Jose Ramos Horta To Succeed Xanana Gusmao As Leader Of Parliament Gusmao as leader of parliament UN News, April 1 2001 United Natiosn officials sayNobel laureate and East Timorese Foreign Minister jose ramoshorta has been http://www.ahrchk.net/news/mainfile.php/ahrnews_200104/1321/

Asia Human Rights News AHRC Home News Home News Archives Search this section: Advanced Search Print This Article EAST TIMOR: Jose Ramos Horta to Succeed Xanana Gusmao as leader of Parliament Jose Ramos Horta to succeed Xanana Gusmao as leader of parliament : UN News, April 1 2001 United Natiosn officials say Nobel laureate and East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has been nominated to succeed Xanana Gusmao as leader of the country's embryonic parliament. Portugal's Lusa news agency quoted UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Melo as saying in the East Timorese capital Dili that Mr Ramos-Horta would suspend his ministerial duties until the National Council had completed its preparatory work in about three months. Mr Gusmao, who led the guerrilla war against Indonesia's occupation and annexation of East Timor by Indonesia before his capture and imprisonment, was widely favoured to become the first president of the world's newest nation. A spokeswoman for Mr Gusmao said he would remain leader of the National Council of Timorese Resistance an umbrella group of pro-independence supporters, of which Mr Ramos-Horta is Vice-President. Mr Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was the East Timorese independence movement's chief spokesman at the United Nations throughout Indonesia's 24-year occupation.

74. Jose Ramos Horta: `I Appeal For Solidarity' Green Left Weekly's MAX LANE interviewed jose RAMOS HORTA after Horta,along with Bishop Carlos Belo, was awarded the nobel Peace Prize. http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1996/251/251p16.htm

Jose Ramos Horta: `I appeal for solidarity' Green Left Weekly s MAX LANE interviewed JOSE RAMOS HORTA after Horta, along with Bishop Carlos Belo, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Question: What impact will the award of the Nobel Peace Prize have? First of all, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Bishop Belo and the people of East Timor, not to me personally. It reflects the work of East Timor supporters around the world; from those involved in the high profile meetings, to those demonstrating in the streets, climbing consulate walls, burning flags, spray-painting walls, all activists who have made sure that public attention is drawn to the issue. The prize opens doors around the world for the resistance in institutions and governments that previously weren't interested. It greatly adds to the legitimacy of the struggle for self-determination. As for the impact on the people in East Timor, well, kids who had never phoned before got hold of the telephone number of my mother's place to congratulate me. One of them said they were not too worried about Suharto's visit to Dili because "we are too happy". It created a kind of cooling off effect. Question: What has been the response here in Australia?

75. Indonesia Regrets Nobel Peace Prize To Belo And Horta Antonio Freitas Parada stated that he was shocked to hear that Bishop Mrg CarlosFilipe Ximenes Belo, SDB and Dr jose Ramos Horta obtained the nobel Prize for http://www.seasite.niu.edu/flin/belo_kompas_eng.htm

Saturday, 12 October 1996 Indonesia regrets Nobel Peace Prize to Belo and Horta Oslo, Friday The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee gave on Friday (11/10) the Nobel Prize for Peace for 1996 to the Bishop of East Timor (Timtim) Carlos Ximenes Filipe Belo DSA and Jose Ramos Horta. "This prize symbolizes very hard work which still must be done in the future. We must work...to prepare the future," said Bishop Belo whose motto is "Justice from Love, and Love from Justice" to CNN when asked what will further be done. The Chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee Francis Sejersted said at the announcement of granting the prize that they were evaluated "to have given a significant contribution to peace through negotiation and reconciliation." In its statement the Committee hoped that the rewarding of the Nobel Prize for Peace would more urge the creation of peace. At the announcement of the Nobel Prize winner for Peace, Bishop Belo who was born on 3 February 1946 in Kelikai, Baucau, Timtim was leading the mass in Dili.

76. Go Asia Pacific On Location Asia - Ramos Horta Lends Support To Force Against Sa a possible war against Iraq has come from what may seem an unlikely source; the NobelPeace laureate and now East Timorese Foreign Minister, jose ramoshorta. http://www.goasiapacific.com/location/asia/GoAsiaPacificLocationStories_793387.h

Asia home page Ramos Horta lends support to force against Saddam windows media help Support for a possible war against Iraq has come from what may seem an unlikely source; the Nobel Peace laureate and now East Timorese Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta. Transcript: MARK COLVIN: As I mentioned a little earlier in the program, support for a possible war against Iraq has come from what may seem an unlikely source; the Nobel Peace laureate and now East Timorese Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta. Mr Ramos-Horta has warned of the consequences for the Iraqi people if the world fails to bring Saddam Hussein to account, and he says European leaders opposed to war are undermining the "only truly effective means of pressure on Saddam Hussein, the threat of the use of force". In an article in the New York Times today, Mr Ramos-Horta compared the plight of the East Timorese under Indonesian oppression with that of the Iraqi people under their own dictator. Anne Barker reports. ANNE BARKER: Jose Ramos-Horta has drawn on his family's own tragic experience under Indonesian rule to make the case for a possible war against Iraq. The Indonesians he says murdered three of his siblings; two brothers executed

77. Jose Ramos Horta Speech jose Ramos Horta 1996 nobel Peace Prize CoLaureate IPPNW nobel OrationINTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR XIII http://www.mapw.org.au/congress/josespeech.htm

Jose Ramos Horta 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate IPPNW Nobel Oration INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR XIII World Congress Melbourne, Australia 6 December 1998 East Timor - a footnote of the Cold War Perestroika and end of the Cold War The end of a myth A window of opportunity for human rights ... The East Timor conflict and the futility of war Mr. President, Members of the Board, Distinguished Physicians, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, My sincere appreciation for the kind invitation extended to me to join you this year on the occasion of the Xlllth World Congress of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Addressing such a prestigious group as yours is not only a great honor. There is also the opportunity to meet with so many dedicated physicians, scientists, peace activists, human rights defenders, and for this I am very grateful. Your profession is one of the most delicate, stressful and rewarding. Physicians are trusted by their patients and the community as they would trust the local priest. Hence you can be a potent force for peace, tolerance, reconciliation. You have my admiration for your commitment to social justice and peace. We are gathering here today together with millions of our fellow human beings all over the world who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In the course of this half century significant progress has been made in the promotion and protection of human rights. Numerous treaties, conventions, declarations and resolutions have been adopted. Enforcement mechanisms have been established to follow up on the implementation of the binding treaties and conventions.

78. Jose Ramos-Horta: Deadly Arms Sales Deadly Arms Sales. by jose ramoshorta, Co-Winner of the 1996 NobelPeace Prize in the July 23, 1997 Washington Times OP-ED section http://www.fas.org/asmp/atwg/code/ramoshorta.html

Deadly Arms Sales by Jose Ramos-Horta, Co-Winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize in the July 23, 1997 Washington Times OP-ED section On May 30, I joined with fourteen other past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize including the Dalai Lama, Betty Williams and Ellie Wiesel to launch a campaign for an international "Code of Conduct" on Arms Transfers. This initiative is the brain-child of Oscar Arias, the former President of Costa Rica, and winner of the Peace Prize in 1987. The Code would require arms suppliers to certify that all arms recipients meet certain common-sense criteria, such as compliance with internationally recognized human rights and democracy standards, before transferring weapons. We have presented our idea at the European Union and United Nations, and we are encouraging all arms exporting countries of the world to adopt it. The United States the world's leading exporter of weapons has an opportunity this week to lead the world in the formulation of responsible arms transfer policy by establishing its own Code of Conduct. Legislation setting democracy, human rights and non-aggression standards for U.S. arms customers is currently pending in a House-Senate conference committee on a State Department funding bill. The conference committee, scheduled to begin meeting this week, should retain the measure, both for practical and moral reasons. I did not hesitate when President Arias asked me to join him in this effort, since my own family has been on the receiving end of weapons supplied by the Western democracies to one of the most brutal regimes in the world.

79. Jose Romas-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate, East Timor Timor The peacemakers speak ~ words of nobel Peace Laureates ~ More writings ~*Kaleah*~*~*Hisholiness the Dalai Lama*~*~*Dr. jose Ramos Horta, East Timor http://www.angelfire.com/stars3/bonita/jose.html

~ P e r s p e c t i v e ~ *Dr. José Ramos-Horta, * Nobel Peace Laureate and Foreign Minister, East Timor October 10, 2001 As human beings we must always pause and ask ourselves if the use of force to deter violence or to halt the perpetrators of terrorism and genocide is the only option available. I have often agonized over this dilemma. As a human being, I agonized over NATO’s use of force in Kosovo. I supported it once I concluded that all diplomatic channels and efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing of Kosovars by the Milosevic regime had failed. Again I have reflected on the decision by the US and its allies to use force against the Taliban regime and Osama Bin Laden terror network. In confronting this painful and agonizing question, my conscience tells me that the use of force was inevitable and necessary. In 1999, the East Timorese people were brutalized, murdered, and the country thoroughly destroyed. We appealed to the US, Australia, Portugal and the UN to send in forces to save our people. More than 30 countries responded and an international force finally landed in our country. They saved our people. How could we East Timorese, today, profess a false “pacifism” in the face of the barbaric act of September 11, that victimized thousands of people at the World Trade Center, and in the face of the barbaric Taliban regime that has enslaved millions of Afghans?

80. Jose Ramos Horta José Ramos Horta, nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 1999 Opening Plenary I would startwith an extraordinary story that I was indirect witness to or listener of a http://www.haguepeace.org/conference/speeches/opening/speech10.html

back to speeches Opening Plenary Beyond the moral and ethical dimension of selling weapons, you have also security, strategic nonsense in selling weapons to dictatorship. When you say it enhances our strategic our security because we learn from the past that weapons sold to unstable regimes, regimes that are unstable because they are not based on popular will, in the end they harm your own interest. And because of the consequences of the weapons you sold to the developing countries during the Cold War period, that have devastated economies of South Africa, Central America, East Asia, I would appeal to them to forgive, delete completely, the debt of the least developed countries. And last but not least, the case of East Timor.

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Page 4     61-80 of 99    Back | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | Next 20