fwd/d from: University Students for East Timor - http://www.uset.org.au ------ This message was sent by students in Dili to a friend in Australia this week: "In here the situation is getting worse. The militias slaughtered many university students last two days. Every people has left their house. Some are in the bush while the others are in the seminary or convent. The dead bodies were not buried properly. Human beings are treated as animals here. I hope the situation will be getting well this coming weeks." ---- The following information was received from TAPOL, a UK Indonesian Human Rights group. Yayasan HAK is the East Timorese Legal Aid and Human Rights Organisation based in Dili. Report from Yayasan HAK received from Fortilos: Yayasan HAK reports that they still do not have a complete list of all the people killed and wounded on 9 amd 10 May in Dili, but the death toll continues to rise. It is known for certain that three people were killed on 9 May and eight were killed on 10 May including two or three women. The dead who have been identified include Flavio Ribeiro, 25, a student at a university in Denpasar, a young man known only as ANO, whose body is still at Wirhusada hospital, having not yet been claimed by anyone, and a schoolpupil, Cesaltino da Cost, 17. One of the wounded is Juju Riberio, the brother of Flavio. Before torching or smashing homes, the militias helped themselves to goods like TV sets, radios, valuables and money. Some people avoided being shot because they let the militia take their things or gave them money. One woman, Ibu Maria, saved her family because she gave the militia Rp 1.5 million and let them help themselves to the goods in her shops. It was very clear that the militia operations on 10 May were supported by soldiers and Brimob troops. When the militia started out from their base in Tropikal, vehicles carrying army and Brimob troops drove ahead and behind and later, the militia were instructed to drive ahead of the Brimob contingent who came up behind while the soldiers blocked off some of the roads along their route. The militia broke up into several smaller units and went off in different directions - Quintal Kiik, Quintal Boot, Audian, Bemori, Bairo Central and Hudi Laran. Each of the militia groups was guarded by between 7 and 10 Brimob troops. A source inside the ranks of the militia says that the Brimob accompanied the militia for two reasons - to help them in their cleaning-up operations and to make sure that, if any militia member was killed, his weapons would not fall into the hands of local people. Further evidence of the support of the security forces is the fact that none of the people who took part in murdering refugees at the home of Manuel Carrascalao has been arrested. In fact the ones who have been arrested are the victims of these militia attacks. A large number of survivors of the attack on Manual Carrascalao's home are being held at police headquarters, Polda. The police say that they sought protection but the fact is that they are being treated very badly, far worse ordinary criminals. They are isolated and relatives and people from humanitarian agencies are having difficulty visiting them. One rather unusual thing happened Thursday, 13 May. Besides the 62 survivors of the massacre on 17 April who are in Polda, there are dozens of students and staff from Hera Polyclinic taking refuge there. They went there after their Polyclinic was attacked and assaulted by Aitarak militia on 8 May. It so happens that most of them are from Baucau and some of them have relatives who are members of the Saka militia which operates in Baucau. When these Saka members heard about the attack on Hera Polytechnic they became very angry and decided to take revenge. They travelled from Baucau to Polda in Dili, were quickly given access to their relatives and were allowed to take them away. Thirty minutes later, two truckloads of Aitarak militia turned up to protest that the people from the Polyclinic had been allowed to go. We have no idea what has happened to them. Today, a number of pro-integration people from the militia, the political wing and army leaders left by plane from Dili, en route to Denpasar where they are due to attend a meeting Friday with Ali Alatas. There was quite a commotion at the airport before they left because the militia threatened to burn down the Merpati agency office if they refused to take a number of other people off the planes. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign 111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HW, UK Phone: 0181 771-2904 Fax: 0181 653-0322 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol Campaigning to expose human rights violations in Indonesia, East Timor, West Papu and Aceh. ------ Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
