Kontras reports violence, terror for East Timor refugees

JAKARTA (JP): The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) reported on Friday rampant violence and terrorization targeting East Timorese taking refuge in Dare and its neighboring areas on the outskirts of Dili.

Kontras' coordinator Munir told a news conference here that four people were feared killed after they descended from the hills on Thursday to seek food supplies.

"The four went out of their camps to look for food but up to now they have not returned," Munir said without giving details.

He said at least 13,000 people, including children, were facing shortages of food and medicine in Dare, about 15 kilometers south of Dili.

The commission received reports from its staff working in the refugee camps that some infants and children were starving or had died. The staff also reported that five babies were born in the refugee camp on Thursday.

He said full details of the reports were not available due to communication problems.

Thousands of East Timorese fled their villages to escape the prolonged attacks and terrorization after the majority of East Timorese voted against the autonomy package offered by the Indonesian government.

Prointegration militia groups have been accused of killings and destruction.

Kontras noted that 10 days after the announcement, 140,000 people left the territory for neighboring East Nusa Tenggara, while in Dare, there were at least 31,000. About 40,000 others are staying in Baucau.

In other areas, there are around 3,500 people in Oecusi or Ambeno and in Dili, at least 13,000 people taking refuge at several places, including the Dili Seaport, local police and military headquarters.

"Thousands of people have sought refuge in safer places but the violence and terror continue," Munir said.

He quoted a Kontras staff member who said that the terror was spreading to refugee camps in the East Nusa Tenggara towns of Atambua and Kupang.

"People living in the two refugee camps felt unsafe as the proautonomy militia members watched them closely," Munir said. "Those who fled to Atambua and Kupang are chased."

Munir said Kontras was verifying reports that three East Timorese students were killed after they were captured by a group of armed militiamen on a state-owned Pelni ferry which was bound for Ende in East Nusa Tenggara.

"The students are believed to have died and their bodies dumped onto the sea," he said. Kontras staff members discovered the body of one of the students, identified as Ismail, washed up on Alak beach on Alor Island.

Another report said that Leonardo Ulan, 27, was stabbed by militia members in Kefa.

Fernando Maria were killed in Dili when he attempted to save his family and his parents from the militia attack.

Militia members are conducting frequent patrols of the streets, refugee camps and hospitals in search of proindependence supporters, Kontras said. (33/emf)