Indonesian
soldiers among attackers in 1999 Dili incident: witness
Agence
France-Presse
8/10/ 2002
An East Timorese man, wounded in an attack on a refugee-packed compound
in
Dili in April 1999, told a court here that Indonesian soldiers were among
the
attackers.
I
am certain that the TNI (the Indonesian armed forces) launched the attack
because I recognized several people among the attackers as being TNI members
from the Maubara (subdistrict)," witness Florendo de Jesus told the
rights
trial at the Central Jakarta district court.
De Jesus, 21, a student from the East Timor capital Dili, was testifying
at
the trial of Lieutenant Colonel Endar Priyanto, a former East Timor military
chief, for gross human rights violations in the former Indonesian-ruled
territory.
When
asked to identify the soldiers among the attackers, the witness gave six
names whom he said were all soldiers serving in the Maubara subdistrict.
"One of them is my own uncle, Jose Matheus," de Jesus said.
He also insisted that the incident on April 17, 1999, could only be described
as a one-sided attack and not a clash between two East Timorese factions
as
the defendant had alleged.
"It was an attack and not a clash," de Jesus said of the events
which began
shortly after noon.
He
said a car had initially tried to ram the main gate of the residence of
pro-independence leader Manuel Viegas Carascallao, where de Jesus and
some
200 other refugees had sought shelter and protection.
When this failed, a truck broke down the gate allowing the attackers to
storm
the house. At least 12 people were killed in the attack, including a son
of
Carascallao.
"I tried to jump the fence and run but some men came after me and
I was
wounded by a machete slash on my back," said de Jesus, one of the
few East
Timorese willing to testify at the Indonesian rights court.
Others have declined to testify in Jakarta, mostly citing fears for their
security.
Priyanto
is one of 18 military and police officers, officials and civilians
who have faced charges of gross human rights violations for failing to
prevent or stop massacres by subordinates in Dili in April and September
1999.
In widely criticised verdicts, the court has already acquitted six officers
including the former police chief and sentenced the former governor to
just
three years in jail. The others are still on trial.
Pro-Indonesian
local militias, who were armed and organised by the Indonesian
military, launched a brutal campaign of intimidation before the August
1999
vote to break away from Indonesia and a revenge campaign afterwards. An
estimated 1,000 people were killed.
The trial continues next Monday.