| Subject: AFP:
Pro-Indonesian militias rampage through Dili in violent spree
also Soldiers watched Timor massacre - Australian embassy report
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 09:13:41 -0400
Agence France Presse -- English
April 17, 1999 09:56 GMT
Pro-Indonesian militias rampage through Dili in violent spree
By Bernard Estrade
DILI, East Timor, April 17 (AFP) - Armed pro-Indonesian militia rampaged
unchecked through the East Timor capital Dili Saturday in a looting and
killing spree which reports said left more than 20 people dead.
Witnesses said around 1,500 militiamen drove round the city's deserted
streets in a convoy of some 25 trucks, firing in the air and attacking the
homes of known pro-independence activists.
They burned down the house of Leandro Isaac, the leader of the National
Council of Resistance of East Timor (CNRT), an umbrella group for the
pro-independence movement and also the house of a late activist.
They also attacked offices of the Suara Timor Timur (the Voice of East
Timor) daily, a human rights office and the house of pro-independence figure
Manuel Carrascalao, where some 150 unarmed refugees were sheltered.
Pro-independence sources quoted residents as saying the bodies of more
than 20 people could be seen strewn on the lawn of Carrascalao's house, and
that four others could be seen in a neighbouring garden.
The Indonesian military meanwhile said eight people were confirmed dead
in "clashes" between pro-independence supporters and the militia, although
witnesses at the scene saw no sign of fighting between two sides.
An AFP reporter at the scene said the assault began with stones before it
intensified as the militia advanced into the front garden and the reception
room, shooting and smashing down doors.
The refugees, who had been camping in the back garden could find no way
out, barred by high walls. Some 30 of them lay crying in fear on the floor
of a back dining room.
Only 300 meters away, visiting Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews was
meeting with Nobel Laureate Bishop Carlos Ximines Belo in his house.
Manuelito Carrascalao, the 18-year-old son of the former MP, was killed
in the attack, his family said.
The AFP reporter and another French reporter emerged from the front of
the house shouting that they were journalists. They were hit and threatened
at gunpoint by the militia, before one of their leaders bundled them into a
car and sent them back to their hotel with orders to stay there.
Shortly afterwards, a second group of militia armed with wooden poles
entered the hotel and demanded the journalists hand over film from their
cameras.
No troops or police were in sight and there was no attempt to stop the
attack on the house, which is close to the governor's office, the AFP
reporter said.
As dusk fell on the city armed militia were still roaming the streets at
will and there was no attempt by the security forces to intervene.
Indonesian army Colonel Tono Suratman said violence erupted in "clashes
between returning militia and pro-independence groups," who he said ambushed
the militia.
"So far eight people have died from both sides," Suratman, chief of the
East Timor military command, told AFP by phone. He declined to give details
of the casualties.
An official at a clinic in Dili said seven people had been brought into
the building with gunshot wounds.
One, a 58-year-old man shot in the chest as he stepped down from a bus at
Dili's Becora terminal, died later at the Wirahusada military hospital.
Two youths shot in the chest and in the stomach were in grave condition.
The militias, who are backed by the Indonesian military and firmly oppose
calls for East Timor to become independent, went on the rampage after
holding a rally in Dili on Saturday morning.
Eurico Guterres, the leader of the Aitarak (Thorn) militia, told the
morning parade his militia was launching a purge to weed out
pro-independence supporters from the administration.
"Today, we are going to each government office, we will rid them of civil
servants who are against Indonesia ... It is not right for them to accept
Indonesian money and facilities," he added.
Last week jailed independence leader Xanana Gusmao called from Jakarta to
his supporters in East Timor to take up arms to defend themselves in the
face of threats from the pro-Jakarta militia.
The militias distributed threatening leaflets to intimidate independence
activists before their show of strength.
Some leaflets carried a list of people to be beaten and outlined a series
of steps to be taken before mid-May to crush pro-independence sentiment.
Indonesia, which invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following
year, said in January it will offer the territory independence if its people
reject autonomy proposals still being formulated.
The rising violence has however threatened a planned UN-supervised vote
on autonomyu tentatively scheduled for July.
be-bs/kw/pch
---
Received from Joyo:
The Australian 17 April 99
Soldiers watched Timor massacre - Australian embassy report
By DON GREENLEES Jakarta correspondent
A CONFIDENTIAL Australian embassy report on the killing of East Timorese civilians in
the town of Liquica concludes that allegations of a massacre are plausible and accuses the
Indonesian military of colluding with militia forces in the lead-up to the incident.
The report prepared by two Jakarta-based diplomats also confirms the military failed to
take steps to stop the killings in the grounds of the Catholic church in Liquica on April
6 despite being present in some numbers.
Evidence of a direct role by military personnel in the attack at the church and in
violence outside Liquica the previous day is only circumstantial, according to the report,
but includes gunshot wounds from weapons of a type issued to the military.
The report, handed to Alexander Downer on Wednesday, strengthens the case for Australia
to take a tougher line with Jakarta to improve security in East Timor and exercise greater
control over the military.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton has called on the Foreign Minister
to release the report and be more assertive in pushing Indonesia to disarm militia groups
and ensure the military act in accord with President B.J. Habibie's policy on East Timor.
Although diplomats have qualified their findings by pointing to the lack of genuinely
independent sources, they found enough testimony and evidence of a substantial number of
killings to warrant a detailed and impartial investigation. But they avoided using the
term "massacre".
Their conclusions lend some credibility to claims by the Bishop of Dili, Carlos Belo,
of a Liquica church death toll in excess of 25. Other human rights groups have produced
the names of up to 50 people they say died in the churchyard. The Indonesian Government
puts the toll at five.
The quick disposal of bodies and an attempt to remove bloodstains and cover up bullet
holes at the house of Liquica's Catholic priest has made it difficult to confirm the death
toll and gather evidence.
The Australian diplomats – a military officer and civilian bureaucrat –
visited Liquica four days after the attack and interviewed numerous witnesses, activists,
government officials and military commanders.
They found the military co-operated with the pro-integrationist Besi Merah Putih (Red
and White Iron) militia in the lead-up to the attack, including with transport and
logistical support.
During the attack on the church, the diplomats confirmed security personnel stood
behind the mob of militia, firing their weapons in the air which increased panic among
those villagers taking refuge.
They argue the 80-odd personnel in and around the town did not take up opportunities to
restrain or head off the brutal attacks by militia on villagers. Local military commander
Lieutenant Colonel Asep Kuswanto was said to be in the town but not actively involved in
the events at the church.
But the report's conclusions will bolster claims by a variety of observers that the
military is actively sponsoring the campaign by militia and paramilitary groups to keep
East Timor a part of Indonesia.
In the wake of the attack, the Indonesian Government agreed to set up an independent
commission to help solve the conflict and promote human rights. It has invited independent
observers, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to investigate the
violence.
But the ICRC claims threats by the militia have prevented Dili-based staff from
assessing the humanitarian needs or investigating the violence.
--------------------------------
Indonesia army failed to stop Timor killings-paper
SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - An Australian diplomatic report into an alleged massacre
in an East Timor village had found Indonesian troops were present but failed to stop the
killings, an Australian newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Australian newspaper said diplomats in Australia's Jakarta embassy had found that
reports of a massacre in the village of Liquisa were plausible, but their report did not
use the word massacre.
The newspaper said the diplomatic report found that the Indonesian military had
colluded with pro-Jakarta militia forces in the lead-up to the attack and were ``present
in some numbers'' at the time of the killings.
``Evidence of a direct role by military personnel in the attack... is only
circumstantial... but includes gunshot wounds from weapons of a type issued by the
military,'' the newspaper said.
It said the report ``found enough testimony and evidence of a substantial number of
killings to warrant a detailed and impartial investigation.''
East Timor's spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo says 25 people were killed in the
April 6 attack by the militias, but Indonesia rejected reports of a massacre, saying only
five people were killed.
A spokesman for Australia's foreign minister told Reuters on Saturday that the report
existed, but would not comment on its contents and said it would not be released for fear
of endangering contacts in East Timor.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters late on Friday that it had
not been possible to determine precisely how many people were killed in Liquisa.
``This report shows that between two and over 40 or so people were killed. We aren't in
a position to be able to prove what happened there,'' Downer said.
Amnesty International accused the Indonesian military on Friday of destabilising East
Timor by allowing pro-Jakarta militias to murder and rape East Timorese.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year, a move not
recognised by the United Nations. East Timorese rebels have waged a 23-year guerrilla war
for independence.
East Timor has seen an upsurge in violence between pro-Jakarta forces and rebels since
January when Indonesia offered East Timor autonomy or independence.
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