Subject: AW: ET Voices of Terror
Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 11:45:51 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Asiaweek, June 4, 1999
East Timor: VOICES OF TERROR
Correspondent Jose Manuel Tesoro's East Timor story - told mostly through the words of
victims who cannot be named for their safety
TRUST NO ONE
"One Monday afternoon in February, a group of Besi Merah Putih [see following
Context] entered our village. They started shooting the pigs, goats and cows, as well as
looting from our houses. I tried to run away, but I was caught by them. I was beaten with
a rifle butt and with a piece of iron pipe; my back was pierced with a spear twice and my
shoulder was cut with an old wood saw. I passed out. I was taken to the general hospital
in Dili. I was confined there for only two weeks, because though I had not yet fully
recovered, some of the BMP came to the hospital and took me out forcibly along with
another victim of that Monday. We were both taken back to Maubara. At Maubara, we were
told to prepare ourselves for we would be killed. We were locked up in a room in a
dilapidated building. When we saw our chance, we escaped. We are still in hiding. Our
relatives tell the BMP we died in the Liquica massacre [of dozens taking refuge in a local
church April 6]. This way, the BMP will no longer look for us. Some of them are our own
relatives. They have been paid, and they want that kind of work."
- Young man from Maubara
Context: Besi Merah Putih is the name of a militia based in Maubara, in Liquica regency
west of Dili. Like the other pro-integration militias, they appeared late last year,
supported by arms from the Indonesian military and funds from quarters favoring East
Timor's continued status as the country's 27th province. The militias have steadily seized
control of the countryside and major cities. They have inaugurated a reign of terror.
These recent accounts from various residents of the half-island make it seem that the
issue facing East Timorese now is not only their vote Aug. 8 between autonomy within
Indonesia or independence, but their own survival.
RECRUITING, MILITIA STYLE
"In Belekasa village, Bernardino was on his way to wash at the public bath. A
militia truck came along the road, and a shot was fired. Only his shirt was hit. Then some
militia got down from the truck and slashed him with a big knife. He ran and hid among the
houses in the town. [Two days later] Bernardino came back to Belekasa to get his things.
He was passenger-riding a motorcycle. The militia saw him and ordered him to join them. He
was afraid and asked the motorcyclist to speed up. They shot at him. Upon reaching a
seemingly safe distance, the motorcyclist ran for a house, while Bernardino continued
running into the grass. They ran after him, and stabbed him. Meanwhile, [his fellow]
students locked themselves up in the house. Some militia fired shots and told the students
to open the door. The militiamen entered and looked for Bernardino. Not finding him, they
told the students to get out of the house. One named Joao hid in the water closet.
Thinking the militia had already gone, he emerged. He was stabbed and killed. Joao and
Bernardino were loaded into the truck. One of Bernardino's eyes was gone, but he was not
yet dead. It was reported he was subjected to slow torture until he died."
- University of East Timor student
Context: The forced recruitment of young East Timorese is one of the charges leveled at
the militias. The others include summary killings, kidnappings, looting, harassment - a
laundry list of crimes occurring while the military looks the other way, or even actively
backs the militias. Their leaders take what they want, as do their followers. One rights
group estimates some 18,000 people have been displaced. Reports in Dili say the militias
now run a camp in Liquica for people relocated from their homes in the surrounding areas.
They are made to listen to speeches promoting the benefits of integration with Indonesia.
International aid groups have not been able to verify what perhaps amounts to a
concentration camp.
THE NEW REGIMEN
"In the town of Liquica, there are now thousands of people who have been forced to
be there. They are not allowed to go home. Every morning they are made to stand in platoon
formation. They are indoctrinated for about an hour. These people, even mothers with newly
born infants, sleep in the open. So do the children and sick people. Food and medical
service are minimal. Every night, the Besi Merah Putih call some young men to go with
them. We do not see them anymore. Where are they? Some say they have been killed. We do
not know."
- Liquica resident
Context: On April 17, the militias were given free rein to rampage in Dili. A few days
before, a list of 300 people targeted for "liquidation" had been leaked. On that
list were pro-independence figures such as Manuel Carrascalao, whose house was attacked
(see KILLED LIKE ANIMALS) as well as nine journalists on the local paper, the Voice of
East Timor, which the militias consider too sympathetic toward independence and too frank
in its reporting on the militia's activities. The paper's office was surrounded and
besieged on the same day. The militia hate witnesses as much as they do pro-independence
activists.
OUT OF CONTROL
"They broke the windows. They took the telephone, took the computers. We watched
them. There were four people inside the office. Two went underneath a table and covered
themselves with a board. When they heard my voice, they got out, hugged me and cried. The
others were in the printing office. Our position is firm. We report the reality in the
field. What do we hear? What do we see? That's what we write. [Of the other threatened
journalists] only I didn't flee. Two fled to Jakarta, one to Australia. I stayed in Dili.
What did I do wrong that they are looking for me?"
- Dili journalist
Context: The Voice of East Timor resumed printing on May 3. A week later, Dili-based
militias again seized the streets. Eyewitnesses say Mobile Brigade police and other troops
escorted militia trucks as they left their headquarters, and even joined in their raids on
the poor, hardscrabble neighborhoods of Bemori and Santa Cruz. There is no longer any
pretext of searching out pro-independence supporters; the aim seemed to be pure
criminality. Seventeen-year-old Elizier dos Reis was shot as he tried to run away. His
parents' neighbors buried him in the front yard because they feared the military would not
allow a funeral, where people could gather, in the Santa Cruz cemetery. The militias took
everything they could find from dos Reis's house, including 50 kg of rice, a television, a
telephone and 3 million rupiah (about $380 at current rates). Says a Santa Cruz resident:
"The clothes that people had they took. The gold that people had they took. If we
want to change clothes, we can't even do that."
THE CHRISTIAN THING TO DO
On May 13, East Timor's priests and nuns held a silent late afternoon march through
Dili to pray that peace would return. But even the widely respected Catholic Church admits
that it has limited influence over the militias. Despite the presence now of the U.N.,
they still retain the power of life and death in the territory. Says one priest:
"There is one thing we definitely do: We pray for them."
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT from testimony given by 19-year-old Victor do Santos Lay to
the East Timor human-rights group HAK Foundation on April 22. Do Santos Lay survived the
April 17 militia attack on the home of pro-independence figure Manuel Carrascalao. The
official death toll is 12, though more are believed to have died.
"On April 17, at about 9 a.m., I was dropped off by motorbike at the home of
Manuelito Carrascalao, the son of Manuel Carrascalao. As usual, I came to that place to do
nothing other than to visit and chat with Manuelito, who is one of my close friends. At
first, we were outside the house. However, we heard that the rally of the militia in front
of the governor's office had dispersed, and some members could be seen heading for their
base at the Tropikal building located west of the Carrascalao residence. Because we were
afraid of being attacked, we entered Manuelito's house and got busy with light
conversation about young people's affairs. I couldn't imagine at the time that just a few
hours later that place would be attacked. At about 12:30, about 15 militia members
complete with traditional weapons like parangs [knives] and carrying automatic and
homemade weapons, spears and samurai blades came to the Carrascalao house. They took apart
the fence in front and asked the whereabouts of Manuel Carrascalao. [Then] these people
left and went back to their secretariat.
"About half an hour later, the militia plus soldiers and police came back in
greater numbers. While shouting abusive words, the militia members encircled the house
from all directions. I tried to run out, and I was shot at by the militia. I saw clearly
the [police] Mobile Brigade and military involved with the militia encircling the house.
What happened next was banjir darah - 'a flood of blood.' Without discriminating, the
militia, Mobile Brigade and soldiers started shooting and killing the people inside the
house of Manuel Carrascalao, mostly the refugees [from militia attacks in the countryside
who were living there]. I tried to defend myself, evading several times the stabs from the
parangs and samurai swords. My arm was severely wounded from the strikes of the blades. My
left thumb was almost cut off. My right arm from the elbow to the finger tips had terrible
and deep cuts. The killing went on despicably and sadistically. I saw with my own eyes the
people beside me killed like animals. There were three or four children, their age about
one or two years old, who were taken from their mothers, then tossed and thrown at the
wall. At the same time, their crying mothers were also stabbed. There was a young girl,
about 17 years old, whom I saw stabbed in the back and when she fell, the militia,
soldiers and police cut off her left breast. On witnessing this tragedy, I, who was
already so cut up, reflexively pretended to be dead. In this state of feigning death, I
heard the voices of those being killed shrieking, shouting and begging for mercy, cries
mixed in with the abuse of the killers.
"My feigning death saved my life, because the militia and some members of the
police and military left me just sprawled beside the kitchen door. I also overheard the
soldiers, police and militia telling their friends to hide the bodies straightaway because
later they would be discovered by journalists and foreign parties. [So] the corpses were
heaped up like game animals gathered by hunters to form a small hill. When I was out of
sight of the killers, I was able to help two refugees sprawled beside me. These two
people, who were also severely wounded, I carefully and stealthily hid under cardboard
while asking them to feign death. My efforts successfuly saved these two people even
though their condition was also really terrible. The killing continued for an hour. When I
saw the situation calm again (about 4 p.m.), I escaped through the back door. Though the
pain from the wounds in my arm hurt incredibly, with whatever remaining strength I had I
tried hard to slip into the house next door in order to save my life. Midway, I felt a
little faint, probably because I had lost so much blood. I sat down for a moment though I
got up and tried to cross to the [other] house. In my heart, I thought that even though in
the end I would probably die, at least there would be someone who could witness that I had
been in the house of Manuel Carrascalao. And if I died, my body could be taken by my
family so it could be buried as an orang kecil [ordinary person] who didn't know anything
about politics."
Do Santos Lay, along with the two refugees he saved, escaped and were treated in a
church clinic. Until now, the clinic remains constantly under threats by the
pro-integration militias, who seek the eyewitnesses to the massacre.
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