-Caveat Lector-
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: West Knew of E. Timor Massacre in Advance
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 23:51:29 -0500 (CDT)
From: Michael Eisenscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: ?
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: East Timor Massacre Plans Known Months Ago
The following report indicates that the massacre
of East Timorese peoples was planned months in
advance and "Western intelligence services knew
about it."
The Toronto Globe and Mail is Canada's daily
conservative business newspaper.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990913/UDILIN2.html
see also:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990913/UEASTN.html
The Globe and Mail] Monday, Sep 13, 1999
How the Indonesian army plotted to destroy a nation
For nearly a year, generals hatched murderous plan
to block independence for East Timor -- and Western
intelligence services knew about it
London Observer Service; With reports from John Aglionby in
Jakarta, Jason Burke in London, Christopher Zinn in Darwin,
Eduardo Gonzales in Lisbon, Ed Vulliamy in New York.
Monday, September 13, 1999
The morning dawned bright and humid. The dirty, dusty streets of Dili
were emptier than usual. It was Tuesday, Aug. 31, and the people of
East Timor had woken to an uncertain future.
The day before, they had voted overwhelmingly for independence from
their Indonesian overlords. The result of the poll, though some days
away, was obvious. As far as the people of East Timor were concerned,
their days of bondage were over.
But in the anonymous military headquarters in Dili, a small group of
men was deep in talk. For them, rule from Jakarta was anything but
finished. The men were the leaders of Indonesia's military machine on
the island and the chiefs of the three biggest militia gangs. And the
topic was the total eradication of the pro-independence East Timorese
population.
Documentary evidence, clandestine intelligence intercepts and
eyewitness accounts show that the atrocities in East Timor have been
carefully conceived for nearly a year by the Indonesian army. The aim,
quite simply, is to destroy a nation. Our investigation has also
revealed that Western intelligence services were also aware of the
army's plans -- and warned the United Nations, many months ago.
At military headquarters in Dili, a greying, tight-lipped Indonesian
soldier, Major-General (Zacky) Anwar Makarim, outlined what he wanted
done. The militias were to conduct house-to- house searches in
pro-independence towns and villages and put Dili under siege. All
routes in and out of the city were to be blocked, and water and
electricity supplies cut. All communications with the outside world
would be stopped.
Then, the commanders were told, their men would have to round up
thousands of women and children who would be trucked across the border
into Indonesian West Timor. Thousands of people who were more amenable
to rule from Jakarta would be shipped in to replace them. Finally, and
crucially, the United Nations and all journalists would be forced out.
The generals wanted no witnesses to the killings.
For the Indonesian military, a year of planning was about to bear
fruit. For the people of East Timor, a nightmare was about to start.
The townspeople living near the Indonesian army base at Atambua, just
inside West Timorese territory, have grown used to the occasional
helicopter and the Indonesian army patrols. If there is a sudden surge
in activity, the pro-independence Falantil guerrilla commanders are
informed. For years, such reports have been rare. In November, they
increased.
Around the same time, 5,000 West Timorese -- who are almost identical
to East Timor's population in ethnic background, but Muslim rather than
predominantly Roman Catholic -- were recruited into new militias by the
Indonesian army. To reinforce their numbers, more recruits were brought
from the Indonesian heartland of Java.
Though concerns were growing in East Timor, the purpose of the troops
and the militiamen and their eventual destination remained unclear.
But a few days later, the riddle was solved. On Nov. 4, 1998, 400 elite
troops from Indonesia's notorious Kopassus Group 4 unit -- crack
soldiers trained to track down and eliminate political dissidents --
arrived in the port town of Atapupu. Some of them were immediately
stripped of their uniforms and went into East Timor in disguise and
plainclothes. Others started transporting arms to the border.
On Jan. 27, President B. J. Habibie took the world by surprise in
announcing that East Timor -- under violent occupation since the
Indonesian invasion of 1975 -- would be allowed to choose between
political autonomy within Indonesia or independence. No one in East
Timor expected the announcement, but the Indonesian army had been
worrying about such an eventuality for months.
The coffee estates of Ermera, nearly 30 kilometres south of Dili, paint
a fertile green swath through the barren landscape. They might not look
like it, but the estates are one reason the East Timorese are dying in
their thousands. They are among thousands of properties owned by the
Indonesian military in East Timor.
If East Timor goes, the army's argument runs, everything will fall
apart as the Indonesian archipelago's multitude of minorities press for
their own autonomy.
The preparations to launch a campaign of terror in East Timor were
spotted as early as July, 1998, when it was reported that the
Indonesian army was starting to establish civilian armed militias in
East Timor. No one paid any serious attention to the report.
The nation of 210 million people was in political and economic turmoil,
and Mr. Habibie had been in office for slightly more than two months.
Even when U.S. satellites spotted Indonesian troop movements along the
frontier with East Timor late last year, little notice was taken.
But by the end of January, when Mr. Habibie made his offer of a
plebiscite, it was clear something serious was developing. Militias
were not only active in all the western districts, but they were also
starting to terrorize and kill.
Covalima, a district in the southwestern corner of the territory, was
chosen as the testing ground for the army's strategy. Within days,
thousands of people had fled to the district town, Suai, and set up a
camp in the grounds of a half-built church. Witnesses interviewed in
the church at the time said the soldiers had clearly been in charge of
orchestrated attacks.
The growing fears of the East Timorese were reinforced when it was
learned that Gen. Makarim was to be the senior military adviser of the
Indonesian government's plebiscite team in East Timor. A U.S.-trained
intelligence specialist, he had done several tours in East Timor and
had a reputation for callous violence. Many of his troops were also
U.S.-trained.
The truth of what was about to happen was dawning outside East Timor,
too. On March 4, representatives of Australia's Defence Intelligence
Organization in Jakarta cabled their headquarters that the Indonesian
military was "clearly protecting and in some cases operating with" the
militias.
Basing their reports on intercepted satellite telephone conversations
between senior officers in Dili and Jakarta, they said the militias
would implement a scorched-earth policy if the vote went against them.
The Australian government passed the damning information on to the UN.
The UN also received documents from resistance sources revealing the
Indonesian plans. Even their own security briefing for the third week
of August noted preparations for a "full-scale offensive after the
[plebiscite]."
By this stage, there were militias in each of the territory's 13
districts, their leaders carefully chosen by the army. The boss in Dili
was Eurico Guterres. Reports say Gen. Makarim personally gave Mr.
Guterres a list of 370 people to eliminate.
Further orders were given in early May in an army document obtained by
pro-independence leaders. "Massacres should be carried out from
village to village after the announcement of the ballot if the
pro-independence supporters win," it said, adding that the independence
movement "should be eliminated from its leadership down to its roots."
Copyright � 1999 Globe Information Services
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