East Timorese recall 25 years of massacres<\/p>\n
Guido Guillart, Associated Press, Dili<\/p>\n
Felismina da Conceicao told how her brother died in her arms,
\nwounded in the neck by Indonesian soldiers who invaded the tiny
\nnation of East Timor in 1975.<\/p>\n
Ilidio Maria de Jesus told the East Timor Commission for
\nReception, Truth amd Reconciliation how a pro-Indonesian
\npolitical party captured and killed his father and 10 others just
\nbefore Indonesia invaded.<\/p>\n
Their emotional testimonies -- aired live on national
\ntelevision and radio -- marked the start Wednesday of a three-day
\nhearing in East Timor on massacres and executions from 1974 until
\nIndonesia's brutal occupation ended in 1999.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has documented more than 120 massacres
\nduring that time.<\/p>\n
Witnesses were expected to recount the Nov. 12, 1991 killings
\nof more than 200 people at the Santa Cruz cemetery in the
\ncapital, Dili, and the 1999 killing of 22 refugees in a Liquica
\ntown church by Indonesia troops and their proxy militias.<\/p>\n
There will also be testimony on lesser-known tragedies,
\nincluding the 1983 Kraras massacre, in which Indonesian troops
\nkilled up to 400 Timorese.<\/p>\n
\"This hearing offers recognition to survivors and family
\nmembers of the many terrible massacres that happened across East
\nTimor,\" said Kieran Dwyer, an adviser to the commission, which
\nhas held hearings on issues from forced displacement to violence
\nagainst women.<\/p>\n
\"The first step is to speak the truth and acknowledge the
\nmassacres, which hasn't been done before,\" Dwyer said. \"We're
\ntrying to use the truth to ensure that these terrible violations
\nnever happen again.\"<\/p>\n
Conceicao, who was only 11 at the time, recalled the day
\nIndonesian troops invaded on Dec. 7, 1975. She said she was
\nseparated from her father and brother, then heard shooting and
\nran to find her father covered with blood. Her wounded brother
\nlay nearby and died later, she said.<\/p>\n
\"When (my brother's) head rested on my lap, I gave him the
\nwater,\" she told a crowd gathered in a building that held
\npolitical prisoners during Indonesia's rule.<\/p>\n
\"Then I realized that the water I was giving my brother came
\nout of his neck, because his neck had been seriously wounded by a
\ngrenade or maybe a bullet,\" she said.<\/p>\n
De Jesus said his father and 10 others were taken prisoner in
\nAugust 1975 by members of the United Democratic Party of East
\nTimor, which supported the Indonesian invasion. His family ran to
\nthe hills, and later returned to a horrifying scene.<\/p>\n
\"We arrived at the massacre site near Meti-Oan beach and found
\n10 of the bodies,\" de Jesus said. \"My father has been shot so his
\nintestines came out and (another victim) had his hand cut off.\"<\/p>\n
After the hearings, the Commission will prepare a report that
\nincludes recommendations for criminal prosecutions and give it to
\nthe president's office, Parliament and the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Since East Timor's independence in May 2002, former officials
\nand army officers in East Timor have been tried in both
\nIndonesian and East Timorese courts for crimes against humanity
\nthat took place before and after a 1999 referendum, in which East
\nTimorese voted for independence. Indonesian troops and their
\nproxy militias killed more than 1,000 people in the chaos that
\nfollowed.<\/p>\n
A special Indonesian rights court was dismissed as a sham
\nbecause it convicted only six of 18 Indonesian military and
\ngovernment officials. All remain free pending their appeals.<\/p>\n
East Timorese courts have charged 367 people -- including at
\nleast 32 Indonesian commanders and the country's former militant
\nchief Gen. Wiranto -- for the violence, and convicted 35. Of
\nthose indicted, 280 remain at large in Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timorese-recall-25-years-of-massacres-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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