Graves of RI fighters in E. Timor need relocation
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Dili
One of the many problems faced by both the East Timor and the Indonesia administrations is the 13 heroes cemeteries where 5,000 Indonesian fighters are buried in separate areas in East Timor.
The graves of Indonesians who were killed in battles, before and after East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1974, have been neglected since the former 27th Indonesian province seceded from Indonesia in 1999.
Yet the East Timorese people have demanded that the Indonesian authorities exhume all the graves and remove the remains to Indonesian territory.
The head of Indonesian affairs in East Timor, Kristio Wahyono, confirmed the demand last week, saying that pressure had been applied by anti-Indonesian East Timorese to remove the remains.
"But an official request has never been submitted to the government of Indonesia, therefore the government has yet to give a serious response," said Kristio. "But we have conveyed the pressure to Jakarta."
The most neglected cemeteries are those located in Dili, Suai, Ainaro and Liquisa. The brick walls surrounding the cemeteries have collapsed, and most of the headstones have gone.
Kristio said the headstones had been removed by anti- Indonesian hard-liners.
"This may have happened at all Indonesian heroes cemeteries in East Timor," said Kristio.
"We could do nothing. A lot of money is needed to repair the walls of the cemeteries. We do not have a list of those buried here," said Kristio.
Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Wellem T. da Costa once revealed a plan to relocate the graves, but he did not say when or how the remains would be moved to Indonesian soil.
East Timorese interviewed by The Jakarta Post in Dili suggested that the Indonesian government remove all the graves soon. "Because the Indonesian heroes are traitors to East Timorese," Fernando Ximenes, who lives behind Seroja Heroes Cemetery in Dili, said.
"For us East Timorese the pro-Jakarta people are all traitors," he reiterated.