E. Timorese remember massacre, demand international probe<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Dili<\/p>\n
Thousands of people gathered on Wednesday to remember the victims
\nof one of East Timor's worst massacres under Indonesian rule with
\na moment of silence and flowers as well as demands for an
\ninvestigation to find the perpetrators.<\/p>\n
The Nov. 12, 1991 massacre of more than 200 people at the
\nSanta Cruz cemetery in the capital Dili was secretly caught on
\nvideo and broadcast around the world. It galvanized opposition to
\nIndonesia's brutal 24-year rule of East Timor that ended eight
\nyears later with United Nations intervention.<\/p>\n
\"Today we are here to remember the martyrs, the heroes who
\ngave their lives for the liberation of this nation,\" Foreign
\nMinister Jose Ramos-Horta told a crowd of nearly 3,000.<\/p>\n
\"Young people should prepare themselves to study and work hard
\nto build this country and continue the struggle that has been
\nlaid by the heroes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nov. 12 was declared a national holiday in East Timor and all
\ngovernment offices were closed.<\/p>\n
During an emotional ceremony, the nation's flag was raised to
\nhonor the Santa Cruz victims followed by a one-minute moment of
\nsilence.<\/p>\n
The crowd -- mostly young people and relatives of the victims
\n-- then marched to the nearby Santa Cruz cemetery. Officials laid
\nflowers at the site of the massacre and families called for
\njustice for their loved ones.<\/p>\n
Dressed in black, many of the mourners carried banners that
\ncalled for the United Nations to set up a tribunal to investigate
\nthe killings.<\/p>\n
More than 200 people were killed at the Santa Cruz cemetery,
\nafter soldiers shot into a crowd that was protesting the killing
\nof a pro-independence activist by the military.<\/p>\n
The event symbolized Indonesia's ruthless occupation of East
\nTimor that started with an invasion in 1975 and ended in 1999,
\nwhen Indonesian troops and their proxy militias killed 1,500 and
\ndestroyed much of the half-island after voters approved an
\nindependence referendum.<\/p>\n
Indonesia set up its own rights court to investigate the 1999
\nviolence, that ended only after the deployment of an Australia-
\nled foreign peacekeeping force.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian court has been widely condemned as a sham,
\nconvicting only six of 18 Indonesian government and military
\nofficials. All remain free pending their appeals.<\/p>\n
The court's mandate did not include the 1991 killings and none
\nof those convicted were linked to the Santa Cruz massacre.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/e-timorese-remember-massacre-demand-international-probe-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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