Essential reading for the military<\/p>\n
From the Place of the Dead, Bishop Belo and the Struggle for East
\nTimor; by Arnold S. Kohen; Published by Lion Publishing, Oxford,
\nEngland, 1999; 398 pages<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Carlos Filipe Ximenes may have remained totally
\nunknown to the world but for a surprise decision by Pope John
\nPaul to elevate him as a young man to his current position as
\nBishop of Dili. It may well prove to be one of the best decisions
\nof this long papacy.<\/p>\n
Reading this inspiring biography of Bishop Belo -- the name
\nBelo is an additional one given to honor him as a grandfather --
\nit is tempting to say this most famous son of a small and tragic
\nnation will count among the great individuals of the passing
\ncentury. Too modest himself to say so, Bello deserves to be
\nremembered with Fridtj of Nansen, Nelson Mandela, Helen Keller
\nand others who have risen above the mire of an era marked by the
\ngravest of excesses.<\/p>\n
From The Palace of The Dead should be compulsory reading in
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) barracks, but, of course it won't be.
\nIt would be too much to ask that retired military officers whose
\nnames occur equally as often in Arnold Kohen's highly readable
\naccount might read it and \"look in to the dark circle of their
\ncrimes\". Leonardus Benny Murdani: \"we will crush them\"; Try
\nSutrisno: \"delinquents, we will shoot them \"; and Prabowo
\nSubianto, whose specter, some believe hung over East Timor in the
\nviolence of 1999, would benefit from reading about the life of a
\nman who knows the meaning of personal integrity. But they won't
\nand it is left to others to unearth the crimes committed under
\ntheir jurisdiction and that of others; crimes which a brave and
\noften lonely bishop has repeatedly exposed and denounced.<\/p>\n
Belo of course, has often himself been a target both of death
\nthreats and attempts on his life. Kohen describes how one day \"a
\njittery woman\" delivered a cake to his residence. The cake was
\ngiven to a dog, which died painfully.<\/p>\n
All manner of means of intimidation, including a ludicrously
\ninept surveillance operation on the bishop in Dublin, Ireland by
\ntwo intelligent agents posing as insurance agents, were applied
\nby the Indonesian Military. The Soeharto regime had Bishop Belo
\nin its sights from very early in his tenure, manipulating even
\nsome of the East Timorese priesthood and applying pressure on the
\nVatican.<\/p>\n
But Belo refused to bow even to the pressure that came from
\nwithin the Vatican bureaucracy, where some officials of that
\nnotoriously secretive and possessive institution were bitterly
\nopposed to him. One bureaucrat sarcastically asked him after he
\nwon the Nobel Peace Prize if he would bend the knee to the East
\nTimorese, and one wonders if there was not perhaps some racism at
\nplay here.<\/p>\n
As Kohen makes plain, Bishop Belo endured pressure from all
\nsides. He was often criticized by the proindependence faction,
\nespecially the youth, for not appearing to stand up to the
\noccupation forces. But Belo is nothing if not prudent and saw no
\npoint in throwing his people, who had already suffered so much,
\nonto the guns of a trigger-happy military, all too ready to kill.
\nAfter the Santa Cruz massacre -- let's dispense with the
\nOrwellian word \"incident\" -- Belo, who had not been informed of
\nthe protest march that ABRI, the Indonesian Armed Forces -- now
\ncalled TNI, so mercilessly attacked, redoubled his efforts to
\npersuade the youth not to take futile risks.<\/p>\n
If L. Benny Murdani, a Catholic himself, does not have pangs
\nof conscience for crimes against humanity committed in East
\nTimor, and the sinister Prabowo, one-time head of Kopassus, the
\nArmy's Special Force that stalk through these pages, likewise,
\nperhaps a few more reasonable figures in Abdurrahman Wahid's new
\nCabinet might find the time to read it. Then they would
\nunderstand the urgent need to press charges against one or more
\nof those responsible for the great stain on Indonesia's honor
\nthat East Timor is.<\/p>\n
-- David Jardine<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/essential-reading-for-the-military-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }