Asia Times: Australia Wades into Claims of East Timor Massacre



	January 14, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Australia Wades into Claims of East Timor Massacre
By Sonny Inbaraj

DARWIN, Australia - Australia has ordered an inquiryinto claims of a civilian massacre in East Timor last November,despite Indonesian military denials of fresh allegations ofkillings and torture aired on Australian television last week.

The Australian government probe will be jointly undertaken bythe Department of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Ministry. Itsresults, officials say, will determine Australia's relations withthe Indonesian government in the future.

But Canberra might find itself in a tight corner, especiallywhen the official Indonesian military version of events is closerto the findings of a team from the International Red Cross whichsays there is not enough clear evidence of a massacre.

Acting Prime Minister Tim Fisher on Thursday promised the probeafter SBS TV aired, nationally, graphic footage filmed in aguerrilla camp.

The tape, said to have been smuggled out of East Timor, gavecredence to allegations of a civilian massacre in November at thetown of Alas, 175 kilometres south of the capital Dili.

The Indonesian military denied any massacre took place and saidonly four people were killed. Also on Thursday, Jakarta denied theallegations of torture and killings on the SBS programme.

The footage included a photograph of the tortured and mutilatedbody of an East Timorese man whose nails were allegedly pulledfrom his fingers and tongue cut out by soldiers. The broadcastalso contained a personal account of a man who said he had beenbadly beaten and kicked by the military.

Indonesian troops invaded East Timor, a former Portugueseenclave, in December 1975 and annexed it a year later. The UnitedNations does not recognise Indonesian rule and considers Portugalas the territory's administrator.

Human rights groups say that as a result of the invasion,more than 200,000 East Timorese or a third of the population werekilled either fighting the Indonesians or from hunger and disease.

Critics say human rights abuses have been rampant underIndonesian rule, even as talks toward a political settlementproceed between Jakarta and Portugal.

''The federal government will evaluate any fresh evidence,''Fisher told reporters.

''Obviously there needs to be every effort made to ascertainthe extent of any massacre that occurred last year, as opposed topreviously in East Timor, and the Australian government would viewthat with greatest concern,'' he said.

Claims of another mass killing in the disputed territory ofEast Timor surfaced less than two months ago, leading to yetanother international outcry about Indonesian military atrocities.

The events were apparently sparked by a pro-independence attackby the Falintil resistance on a military outpost in the village ofAlas. Three soldiers died and 13 were taken hostage. More soldierswere immediately brought in . At least 140 civilians were forcedto flee taking refuge in churches.

East Timorese groups claim more than 50 people were killed byIndonesian soldiers out of revenge for the Falintil attack. Laterreports suggest hundreds more had been forced out of their villageand are living as refugees in the capital Dili.

Last month the United Nations was refused access to Alas,preventing efforts to confirm reports of any massacre.

An Australian military attache who visited East Timor lastmonth but was denied access to Alas concluded there wasinsufficient evidence to prove or disprove massacre allegations.

But the International Red Cross did visit Alas on two separateoccasions. And according to its South-east Asia head Tony Fenner,a Red Cross team found a scene of disaster but no evidence of 50people dead.

''We spent two to four weeks in Alas. We have learnt thatseveral persons have been killed -- in fact six persons to ourknowledge in several villages and several incidences in and aroundAlas. There are about three persons missing or still unaccountedfor. And hundreds of persons have fled the area,'' he told theAustralian Broadcasting Corp Friday.

''It's very difficult to say how many people have actuallydied. You have, certainly also within the period, excessive use offorce of the security forces or even the revenge killings,'' headded.

''What I can say is only what we could observe during themission,'' Fenner pointed out.

But the matter appears far from settled.

The Australian government's decision to conduct a probe addsweight to what East Timor Nobel Peace Laureates Bishop CarlosXimenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta had been saying for weeks --that something horrible happened in Alas.

On Nov 21, Belo sent a list to the United Nations containingthe names of 11 people killed in Alas.

A few days later the Melbourne-based East Timor Human RightsCentre, through what it called extensive cross-referencing andcross-checking, reported the extra-judicial execution ofapproximately 50 East Timorese between 10 and 16 November.

''Even after (former president) Suharto's collapse, whenIndonesia's supposed to be going through democratic reforms, youstill have people in East Timor arrested arbitrarily,interrogated, tortured and killed,'' said Ramos-Horta. ''This isgoing on daily throughout the country."

(Inter Press Service)

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