FYI ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Sun, 6 Aug 2000 17:56:13 -0600 (MDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [INDONESIA-NEWS] SMH - Robinson: Suai Massacre Militia Will Be Punished X-URL: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0008/07/text/world1.html Suai massacre militia 'will be punished' Date: 07/08/2000 By MARK DODD, Herald Correspondent in Suai, East Timor The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson, said yesterday that she would deliver the names of those responsible for the massacre of 200 East Timorese in Suai cathedral on September 6, 1999, to the Jakarta Government with a demand for prompt action. If there was not a credible process of bringing the worst perpetrators to justice, she said an international tribunal may have to be established in East Timor. Her comments, after a meeting with massacre survivors at Suai cathedral yesterday, followed a warning from the UN commander for border security that Indonesian forces are hesitating to crack down on pro-Jakarta militia for fear it will precipitate widespread social unrest in West Timor. Mrs Robinson appeared shaken when 50 East Timorese women, dressed in black, broke down in tears as she scattered pink bougainvillea petals over a circular pile of headstones laid on the spot where militia butchered their victims. Her visit to Suai was a sobering reminder of the legacy of the day when pro-Jakarta Laksaur militia killed up to 200 unarmed independence supporters sheltering in the cathedral grounds. The victims also included the priest, Father Hilario, and two other church officials. Massacre survivors from a group calling itself "Left Over from the Dead" also begged Mrs Robinson to ask Indonesian authorities to return for burial the bodies of family members murdered and then taken across the nearby border to West Timor. Cradling a baby born after its mother was raped by pro-Jakarta militia, Mrs Robinson said: "She should never suffer. "I believe it is urgent to have the perpetrators brought to justice. They know who is responsible for the massacre ... It is one month away before the first anniversary, and it's time we had arrests and prosecution of the perpetrators and I will be taking that message with me to Jakarta tomorrow." Brigadier Duncan Lewis, the Australian in charge of 2,000 UN peacekeepers based along the border, said the force was prepared for a mass return of refugees. "The Indonesian military authorities are not willing to take decisive action against the militia because they fear it will lead to civil disturbances," he said. "My concern now is what is happening on the other side of the border. We have more than 100,000 people, many of whom support pro-integration and have the potential to create fairly widespread destabilisation. We might soon have refugees coming the other way." Brigadier Lewis said the militias continued to operate with impunity in West Timor. He cited the dismissal of illegal weapons charges against former Aitarak leader, Eurico Guterres, despite having fired two shots at an Indonesian police vehicle. "It is time to move directly against the militia leadership - the extremists," he said. Brigadier Lewis accused militia rabble-rousers of threatening and intimidating East Timorese refugees wanting to meet relatives at the Motaain border last Saturday. He said Indonesian police and army failed to remove several militia road blocks behind the border. Four Australian Black Hawk helicopters arrived yesterday to help the search for militia infiltrating East Timor. Suspect captured Australian peacekeepers captured a suspected militia member near Batugade, on the northern part of the border with West Timor, after a gunfight yesterday in which the militiaman was wounded. He was being flown by helicopter to Suai last night for medical treatment. Two militia were killed in a gun battle with Australian soldiers near Maliana last week, and New Zealand peacekeeper Private Leonard Manning, 24, was shot dead two weeks ago near Suai. Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo ===================================== * Ijtihad untuk mencerdaskan ajaran Islam yang sekarang ini penuh ketololan, kedunguan, kegoblokan dan kebodohan * Ijtihad untuk memanusiawikan ajaran Islam yang sekarang ini biadab, keji dan nista
