To Bali or not to Bali....

[J. Charles Delbeek]

I think the issues here are many and complex. To move the ISRS meetings
might or might not send a political message, but at the very least it lets
the organisers of the conference exercise their moral stance based on the
human rights violations taking place in East Timor. However, if they are
not comfortable doing so, then the meetings could still be held but those
planning on attending can then make the decision on their own whether to
attend or not. Finally, perhaps one overall concern should be the welfare
and saftety of those attending the conference??

I am not sure why it takes this action in East Timor to highlite what has
long been known about the Indonesian government and their history of human
rights violations. I would ask the question, why was this country chosen
in the first place to host the meetings? If there are objections about
human rights violations now, where were those objections back in Panama
and what were the reasons then for ignoring them? I mean the track record
of this country in not new.

J. Charles Delbeek