Allan Nairn

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Allan Nairn

Allan Nairn (* 1956 in Mobile , Alabama ) is an American investigative journalist . He became known for his imprisonment by the Indonesian military during a report on East Timor . His written work focuses on US foreign policy in countries such as Haiti , Indonesia and East Timor.

Nairn got a job with Ralph Nader during his time in high school , for whom he worked for six years.

In 1980 he visited Guatemala in the middle of a series of attacks against students. Nairn interviewed representatives from US corporations who approved of the actions of the death squads. He then decided to continue investigating the death squads in Guatemala and El Salvador .

In the following years Nairn devoted himself to the developments in East Timor, where he was involved in the establishment of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). The aim of the group was to make the independence movement in East Timor known internationally.

Nairn and the journalist Amy Goodman witnessed the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre of Timorese protesters by the Indonesian military . 271 people were killed and 382 injured in this incident. He himself suffered a skull fracture when he was hit with a rifle butt in the crowd. Nairn was declared a national security threat by the local authorities and expelled from the country. A short time later, however, he returned illegally to East Timor.

His later reports helped move the US Congress to end military aid to Indonesia in 1993. In a dispatch dated March 30, 1998, Nairn exposed the fact that the US military continued to train Indonesian troops involved in the torture and killing of civilians.

In 1999 Nairn was briefly detained by the Indonesian army.

In an article published in "The Nation" in 1994, Nairn disclosed the US government's involvement in the establishment and funding of the FRAPH paramilitary unit in Haiti.

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personal data
SURNAME Nairn, Allan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American investigative journalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Mobile , Alabama