During the Indonesian military occupation of East Timor, Filomena Barros dos Reis led a double life, helping to organize the underground civilian resistance to military brutality while working as a civil servant for the Indonesian regime.
Since 1997, she has continued to advocate for women's rights and has become the advocacy officer for the East Timor Non-Governmental Organization forum.
Barros dos Reis will speak tonight at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union as part of her national tour titled \Finding Justice for East Timor."" The tour's national organizer at the East Timor Action Network, John Miller, said Barros dos Reis is a powerful speaker with an impressive message.
""Her personal story is extremely compelling and her passion for justice comes across very clearly,"" he said. ""I don't think anyone could come away from hearing her speak without a strong sense of what the East Timorese people have been through'even if she's only one woman.""
On Aug. 30, 1999, almost 80 percent of the East Timor population voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum, resulting from an Indonesian occupation which began in 1975. The referendum results were announced five days later and within hours, Indonesian armed forces and their militia began a campaign of terror, murder, rape and torture against an unknown number of East Timorese.
""[Barros dos Reis] was nearly 8 years old when the Indonesians first invaded East Timor,"" Miller said. ""She has been an activist since she was old enough to become one.""
According to local ETAN organizer Eric Piotrowski, Barros dos Reis was chosen to speak on the UW-Madison campus because of her unique history and a strong student interest in conditions in third-world countries.
""She is able to provide a prospective that students at UW are not likely to get many other places,"" he said. ""It will help students recognize that they have power, not only as students in the United States, but also as U.S. citizens and the dramatic world impact of the policies our government enacts.""
Barros dos Reis has worked for FORKUPERS, the largest women's rights organization in East Timor, educating women in isolated rural communities on human rights, gender and reproductive issues, Piotrowski said.
In her speech, Barros dos Reis will be focusing on the United Nations call for an international tribunal, a way of prosecuting the Indonesian military for the violence in East Timor, as well as the East Timor refugee crisis and women's rights issues.
