TNI soldiers among attackers in Dili incident: Witness
TNI soldiers among attackers in Dili incident: Witness
Agence France-Presse, Jakarta
An East Timorese man, wounded in an attack on a refugee-packed
compound in Dili in April 1999, told a court here Tuesday that
Indonesian soldiers were among the attackers.
"I am certain that the TNI (Indonesian Military) launched the
attack because I recognized several people among the attackers as
being TNI members from the Maubara (subdistrict)," witness
Florendo de Jesus told the rights trial at the Central Jakarta
District Court.
De Jesus, 21, a student from the East Timor capital Dili, was
testifying at the trial of Lt. Col. Endar Priyanto, a former East
Timor military chief, for gross human rights violations in the
former Indonesian-ruled territory.
When asked to identify the soldiers among the attackers, the
witness gave six names whom he said were all soldiers serving in
the Maubara subdistrict.
"One of them is my own uncle, Jose Matheus," de Jesus said.
He also insisted that the incident on April 17, 1999, could
only be described as a one-sided attack and not a clash between
two East Timorese factions as the defendant had alleged.
"It was an attack and not a clash," de Jesus said of the
events which began shortly after noon.
He said a car had initially tried to ram the main gate of the
residence of pro-independence leader Manuel Viegas Carascallao,
where de Jesus and some 200 other refugees had sought shelter and
protection.
When this failed, a truck broke down the gate allowing the
attackers to storm the house. At least 12 people were killed in
the attack, including a son of Carascallao.
"I tried to jump the fence and run but some men came after me
and I was wounded by a machete slash on my back," said de Jesus,
one of the few East Timorese willing to testify at the Indonesian
rights court.
Others have declined to testify in Jakarta, mostly citing
fears for their security.
Endar is one of 18 military and police officers, officials and
civilians who have faced charges of gross human rights violations
for failing to prevent or stop massacres by subordinates in Dili
in April and September 1999.
In widely criticized verdicts, the court has already acquitted
six officers including the former police chief and sentenced the
former governor to just three years in jail. The others are still
on trial.
Pro-Indonesian local militias launched a campaign of
intimidation before the August 1999 vote to break away from
Indonesia and a revenge campaign afterwards. An estimated 1,000
people were killed.
The trial continues next Monday.