E. Timorese hold mass service for St. Cruz incident
DILI, East Timor (JP): Thousands of Catholics here enjoyed silent and peaceful prayers to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the bloody Santa Cruz shootings Thursday.
Not a single incident was recorded. Earlier, the swirling grapevines had it that the city and several areas in the province would be rocked by fresh outbreaks during the Nov. 12, 1991 commemoration.
Attired in black clothes and headbands, the congregation started flocking into the Balide church to take part in the Mass in the early hours as prayers were scheduled to be held at 6 a.m.
To their amazement, Father Aurio Jose da Costa Gusmao began the Mass earlier than the scheduled time, leaving many of the people -- carrying crosses and flowers -- unable to join the service.
According to Gusmao, the Mass was not specially held for the souls of the victims in the incident. It's an ordinary service, he insisted.
From the church, the crowd marched to the Santa Cruz cemetery with crosses and the colorful flowers in their hands. They said prayers along the way.
It was at this cemetery the bloody incident took place seven years ago, which according to government figures, left around 50 dead (not 20 as reported on Tuesday), including a New Zealander, and 91 others injured when troops fired on demonstrators.
At the cemetery, leaders from five different movements -- Fretilin, UDT, Apodeti, Kota and Trabalhista -- delivered free orations to the crowd.
After the speeches, the people then placed flowers on the graves of the victims and later dispersed peacefully.
Tense and quiet
Despite the favorable atmosphere, the entire situation in the East Timor capital of Dili was tense and quiet. Fearing fresh riots, many government employees and school children as well decided to stay at home as many buses disappeared from the streets. The city's two largest bus terminals in Tarsitolu and Bekora were left deserted.
A number of police and military personnel were deployed at several spots, including at the Santa Cruz cemetery and their respective posts, from the early morning.
Shops in the main business centers of Colmera and Audian were closed. Only a few people were seen visiting Dili's main markets in Bekora, Mercado Lama and Komoro.
On Monday, Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo said his diocese would hold no formal public commemoration of the Santa Cruz anniversary.
He, however, advised relatives of those killed to attend local church ceremonies.
In Yogyakarta, the incident was commemorated with a peaceful demonstration by 200 students grouped in the East Timorese Students on the campus of the Gadjah Mada University on Thursday morning.
Besides holding a free speech forum, the demonstrators also carried banners strongly urging the government to probe the incident thoroughly.
"The government should completely investigate this case. The main plotter of this massacre should be tried," shouted one of the students.
"We don't want scapegoats," yelled another student, Pedro. (33/23/bsr)