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Truth the last casualty?             It took 24 years for the world to learn the truth about Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.  Will the truth be buried again 9 years later?   The first casualty of war is truth. [1]  The truth about Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor was concealed for 16 years.  East Timor remained closed to the outside world through the 1980s as Indonesia’s army (TNI) committed a series of atrocities.  Finally, in November 1991, a few brave journalists revealed the secrets of 16 years by filming the massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili.  Typically, the Australian Government response was damage control, to protect its relationship with the Suharto dictatorship.  Foreign Minister Evans called it an “aberration”.  It took 8 more years for the world to learn that Santa Cruz was one of many atrocities.  Following a UN-supervised vote in 1999, East Timor gained independence in May 2002.   East Timor’s Commission for Reception, Truth & Reconciliation (CAVR) presented its report [2] to the UN in January 2006.  It exposes the slaughter of 180,000 civilians by TNI from 1975 to 1999.  8,000 witnesses testified to massacres, rapes, torture & starvation.  Experts working on the report verified witness accounts & made recommendations to the UN.  Indonesia’s Government has denied claims that napalm was dropped on people in jungle areas.  Experts who drafted the report said there was clear evidence of napalm use.  TNI had strong support in weapons & training from 1975 to 1999, mainly from USA, Britain & Australia.  The American-made OV-10 Bronco was ideal for dropping bombs & napalm; it was so quiet it took people by surprise.  The State Department reported that 90% of the weapons used in the 1975 invasion were US-made.  When the US stopped training TNI after the Santa Cruz massacre, Australia took over that role.   CAVR found that rape was used as a weapon of war.  “Rape, sexual slavery & sexual violence were tools used … to inflict a deep experience of terror, powerlessness & hopelessness upon pro-independence supporters.” [3]  Women were often raped in front of their families & many were tortured & killed afterwards.  There was also widespread abuse of children, mass executions, forced resettlement & deliberate starvation.  Militia attacks, which killed 1,000 people before & after the independence vote in 1999, were planned & controlled by TNI officers at the highest level.  Reports from both CAVR & a UN Commission of Experts (COE) recommend an international tribunal if “Indonesia persists in the obstruction of justice.”[4]  The “experts” were 3 international judges appointed by the UN to assess all trials held since the 1999 bloodbath.  The COE found that all justice processes had failed.   Court a mockery In a Jakarta court, 17 of 18 defendants, including 16 TNI officers, were acquitted.  One Timorese militia leader was sentenced to 10 years jail.  International law expert Grant Niemann described a court which was certain to fail.  Prosecutors only called victim witnesses after international pressure.  Timorese witnesses were intimidated.  For “witness protection”, authorities put them in houses clearly labelled “Safe House”.  The courtroom was stacked with TNI officers who were ordered to display their guns & to frequently interject.  East Timor’s Bishop Belo refused to testify in such a “sham”.  Prosecutors slept during proceedings & often didn’t know who their witnesses were.  One prosecutor even changed sides to the defence in mid-trial. [5]  Judges criticised the “deceitful” behaviour of the UN mission (UNAMET) & the “arrogance” of pro-independence supporters.   Suai Church massacre Domingos dos Santos Mouzinho ran the gauntlet to testify.  She was denied a translator.  Soldiers jeered in court as she told how her daughter was raped by militiamen while TNI soldiers looked on.  It was minutes before the Suai Church massacre on September 6th 1999. [6]  At the Church an estimated 100 people & 3 priests were slaughtered.  Ian Martin, UN mission (UNAMET) head in 1999, said evidence showed the conviction of Colonel Sedyono for the Suai massacre should have been a mere formality.  I had met many of the victims in Suai in July 1998.  Father Hilario & some of his parishioners spoke good English & welcomed me warmly to their community & their Church.  When I tried to enter Suai a year later, as a vote observer in August 1999, I was turned away at the border “for security reasons”.  Did the TNI soldiers at that border post later murder my friends at the Church?  I may never know.   Maliana massacre General Adam Damiri treated the court with more contempt than most, with the help of powerful friends.  In April 2002, he missed his hearing because he’d been invited to the Palace by President Megawati.  In June he missed another hearing, instead touring Maluku with Vice President Haz.  The 2 senior officers in charge at the Maliana Police Station massacre toured the Bali bombing site with President Megawati in October 2002.  I had met them in August 1999 at the Maliana Police Station in my role as a UN-accredited observer.  Lt.-Col. Budi Susilo turned on the charm.  He spoke fluent English & seemed at the time to be a reliable family man.  All UN observers were expected to advise local Timorese to seek shelter at the Police Station in the event of violence.  47 people were hacked to death there by police, soldiers & militias in a bloody orgy on September 8th.  I can only hope I didn’t send anyone to a horrible death in Maliana.   Most TNI generals involved in the 1999 bloodbath were promoted; Adam Damiri to command in Aceh, General Simbolon to command in West Papua.  Both promptly formed militias as they had done in Timor.  Gen. Mahidin Simbolon led one of the bloodiest militias in Timor – Mahidi.  It was named after him.  As TNI commander in Papua (newly promoted to Major General), he was first in line for huge payments from the giant Freeport mine. [7]  He received $¼ million in direct payments from Freeport from 2001 to 2003.  Altogether, $US 20million was paid directly to individual TNI & police officers. [8]   Injustice Lives On Not one TNI officer has been held accountable for crimes against humanity in East Timor.  Crimes against humanity are crimes of universal jurisdiction – the international community should see that the culprits are brought to justice.  Many were committed when the UN was conducting the 1999 vote, or after it left despite promises it would stay.  The Jakarta trials were supposed to show Indonesians what really happened in East Timor.  Now, many Indonesians regard the loss of their “27th province” as a UN conspiracy, aided & abetted by Australia.  They believe the 1999 massacres were caused by fights between pro- and anti-independence groups, not by TNI & its militias.  Impunity rules; the culprits went on to commit further atrocities in Aceh & Papua & to fill their bank accounts in the process.  Reformist President Yudhoyono has little hope of reforming TNI.  When Australia granted asylum to 42 West Papuans in March 2006, nationalist politicians whipped up hatred of Australia’s latest “conspiracy” against Indonesia.   The UN Security Council refuses to set up an international criminal tribunal (the existing International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over crimes committed before 2002).  A Truth & Friendship Commission set up by the governments of Indonesia & East Timor has been universally condemned as a whitewash – and ignored by the UN.  Justice has been denied for 9 years.  Will truth be both the first & the last casualty of East Timor’s 24-year nightmare (1975-1999)?  Before he retired in 2002, Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Belo wrote:  “… the voices of my people echoed in my ears with questions I could not answer.  When will we have justice?” [9] Could we now answer them “Never!”?     References:  1. Johnson, Senator Hiram 1918, “The first casualty when war comes is truth”, in the US Senate; paraphrasing Samuel Johnson in “The Idler” 1758 OR Aeschylus (525BC - 456BC) http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-21510,00.html 2. Commission for Reception, Truth & Reconciliation (CAVR) report 2005  HYPERLINK "http://etan.org/news/2006/cavr.htm" http://etan.org/news/2006/cavr.htm (accessed on 13/4/06) 3. CAVR report, Executive Summary, p 123 4. CAVR report, Executive Summary, p 187 5. Grant Niemann 2005, Law School, Flinders University, Senior Trial Attorney for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, author of the UNHRC report advising Kofi Annan to establish the Commission of Experts on East Timor 1999,  speaking to a public meeting of Australia-East Timor Friendship Assoc, Adelaide, South Australia, 10th April 2005 6. “First East Timorese civilian testifies in atrocities trial”, Canberra Times, 29th May 2002 7. Global Witness 2005, “Paying for Protection:  the Freeport mine & the Indonesian security forces”, July 2005  http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/419/en/freeport_payments_to_indonesian_military_draw_offi 8. Bonner, Raymond & Perlez, Jane 2006, “New York urges US Inquiry in mining company’s Indonesia payment”, New York Times, 28th Jan 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/international/asia/28indo.html 9. Belo, Carlos 2002, “Much done but much still to do”, International Herald Tribune, 30th Aug 2002 http://www.iht.com/articles/2002/08/30/edbelo_ed3_.php   Do you want justice for the East Timorese? Find out about Australians seeking Justice for East Timor Read:  "Indonesian war criminals and Australian law" to find out what could be done by Australians Recent news:  Letter to UN Security Council Recent news:  Report on the Truth & Friendship Commission New website:  http://www.timorjustice.info

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