No service to mark St Cruz incident
No service to mark St Cruz incident
JAKARTA (JP): Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo said on
Monday his diocese would hold no formal public commemoration of
the seven-year anniversary of the Santa Cruz shootings, but
advised relatives of those killed to attend local church
ceremonies.
Belo was quoted by Antara as saying in the East Timor capital
that he decided to clearly explain the schedule after receiving
many enquiries over whether there would be a ceremony for the
East Timorese killed in the incident on Nov. 12, 1991, at the
Santa Cruz cemetery.
"Many people, including those residing here in East Timor and
outside (the province), have questioned us on whether the Dili
bishopric will host activities on Nov. 12 to observe the Nov. 12
Santa Cruz incident.
"Based on the questions, I declare that the bishopric has no
plan to do any activities on that day."
He said the name of the Church should not be used to spread
rumors that events were scheduled.
"If those rumors were widely circulated to the general public,
then this kind of thing (the message) is incorrect," Belo said.
According to the security authorities, 20 people -- including
New Zealand national Karmal Barnadhaj -- were killed and 91
others injured when troops fired on demonstrators in the
cemetery.
They were part of a crowd of over 1,000 who had just attended
a mass at the Motael church to commemorate the death of two East
Timorese youths. Some of them climbed the cemetery wall and
raised the flags of the armed wing of the independence movement,
Fretilin, and Portugal, the former colonial power in Indonesia's
youngest province.
Maj. Gen. Sintong Panjaitan, then Udayana Military commander
which supervised East Timor, said later that the demonstrators
had gone berserk and stabbed two military officers, opened fire
on security officers and thrown a grenade at them.
On Monday, Belo urged all East Timorese to conduct their usual
activities on Thursday.
Relatives of those who died in the incident should pray for
their loved ones at churches near their homes or workplaces, he
added.
The bishop strongly hoped there would be no unrest and
demonstrations on Thursday. He believed they would only serve to
disturb the local economy and unity of the East Timorese people.
"Hopefully, the people could run their business in a normal
way, peacefully and orderly without any riots that could only
inflict losses for all of the people."
Prominent East Timor resident Clementino C. Branco urged
people from all walks of life in the province to maintain the
current peaceful situation and ignore provocative rumors.
"We have to always realize that there's a certain group of
people who do not want to see East Timorese live in a peaceful
and tranquil climate.
"They often like to spread rumors to fish in troubled waters,"
Branco said.
He advised families of the Santa Cruz victims to honor their
memory by praying at their churches and visiting their
gravesites. (bsr)