Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
in Timor Leste (CAVR)

Women and Conflict National Public Hearing

CAVR National Headquarters, former Comarca Balide, Dili
28-29 April 2003

"There was never a day without rape"
Olga da Silva Amaral

Timorese women recently completed two days exposing the realities of human
rights violations against women in East Timor over the 25 years of
political conflict and war between 1974-1999. In a national public hearing
conducted by the Commission on Reception Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR),
for the first time in Timor Leste's history women were given centre-stage
to tell of their experiences.

During the two days the CAVR, presided over by the seven Timorese National
Commissioners chaired by prominent human rights lawyer Mr Aniceto Guterres
Lopes, heard from 14 women who were themselves victims of human rights
violations, as well as related to victims and witnesses of violations
against others. In addition, the CAVR heard submissions from a number of
expert witnesses.

Mr Mario Carrascalao, Governor of the the Province of Timor Leste under the
Indonesian regime from1982-1992, gave sworn testimony. This is the first
time the CAVR has heard direct and public testimony from a senior member of
the Indonesian regime. Further submissions were made by the Indonesian
National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), who sent
a delegation from Jakarta to the hearings, a consortium of Timorese women's
groups, a research team of Indonesian NGOs from West Timor who had studied
conditions in 74 refugee camps in West Timor following the huge population
movements of September 1999, and a former Indonesian civil servant involved
in implementing the government family planning programme in East Timor from
1983-1999.

The result was two days of compelling first-hand testimony from women,
often deeply emotional and disturbing, mixed with a more studied analysis
of the key institutions, policies and practices behind these violations.
Across Dili, in homes, market places and workplaces, people followed the
hearing on television, and across the nation people were tuned into the
national radio live broadcast. As one international journalist traveling in
the border district of Maliana on the second day of the hearings said, "It
seemed like all of Maliana was tuned into the radio broadcast."

The most lasting impression of the two days is the dignity and inner
strength of the women who gave testimony. Again and again, as they relived
the most terrible moments of their lives, women had to pause amidst tears
to regain composure. Again and again they insisted that they wanted to
continue speaking, that to tell their story was important to them, that the
time of silence about this was over.
"My small village is in the hills where you can't even drive a car. No
leaders ever come to see us. But today, with the grace of God, the CAVR has
opened a way for us women to come to the table and tell our stories to the
nation,"
said Olga da Silva Amaral as she opened her testimony to the CAVR on the
first day of hearings.

It is difficult to highlight any given testimony. Each was compelling and
gave different insights into the way Timorese women have suffered. In
selecting women to give testimony to the hearing, the CAVR sought to
demonstrate a broad picture of the different eras of violence within the 25
year period of the CAVR mandate, and of the kinds of situations women found
themselves in within these eras.

During the civil conflict in 1975, women were targets of violence because
they or members of their families were thought to be members of an opposing
party. For example, evidence was heard that Fretilin members abused women
associated with the UDT party, and vice versa. A dramatic moment of the
hearing was when on the first morning, Rita da Silva was recounting her
experience in 1975 of rape by members of the Fretilin political party. As
she paused in her testimony another woman waiting to give testimony stood
and strode to the front of the auditorium, Victoria Henrique cried out:
"My sister suffered rape by Fretilin members. And I, a Fretilin member, was
raped by UDT members. We suffered the same at the hands of men . "
Victoria stood on the podium, embraced Rita da Silva in tears,
"We earned independence, we suffered because of this flag (draping herself
in the flag of Timor Leste) . we are sisters ."
and called on Timorese political leaders to ensure that this never happens
again. She said that independence was for all Timorese people, and called
on political leaders to embrace the way she and Rita were. The packed
audience cried and applauded all at once.

Fr Jovito Araujo do Rego, the Deputy Chairperson of the CAVR, summed up
this session saying that this painful testimony was a reminder of the
consequences of conflict to those Timorese men who thought it brave to have
a warrior culture.

Other women talked of the period after the Indonesian military conducted
its full-scale invasion in December 1975. The audience heard how families
ran to the mountains, and of how women often became separated from their
husbands who took up arms to defend the country. Women talked of how family
members, especially children, died in the mountains from lack of food or
medicines.

Maria Cardoso, a slim women in her 50s, spoke of years of trying to keep
her family together while her husband was in and out of Indonesian military
custody until he disappeared in 1982 in the Kablaki central mountain
region. A chilling episode occurred when, after the disappearance of her
husband, she was taken into custody by Indonesian military. Re-enacting how
10 soldiers marched her down to the river to be executed, she spoke the
words of the "foreign soldiers" barking orders for her to get on the ground
and prepare for death.
"Ten guns forced me to the ground, ten guns circled me, ten guns pointing
at me . but I was able to say 'Don't kill me yet. Give me time to pray.'
Then I took a bit of earth and wiped it on my forehead, I made the sign of
the cross and prayed 'God, my husband fought for this land. If you want me
to be handed over at this time, please, but if you are truly most powerful,
make these weapons not explode on my chest or head.' After I prayed . they
pulled the triggers three times but the weapons didn't give off any sound .
They . took me back home."
Maria Cardoso had three homes burnt over the 25 years of the commission's
mandate: in 1974 Timorese UDT members burnt her home and took all
possessions, in the 1980s the Indonesian military burnt her home, and in
1999 the Mahidi militia burnt her home.
"All these experiences have made us suffer. The cost of everyday living is
very difficult to get and the money to send my children to school I only
get through selling small things. But from that little income I have been
able to fund my children's schooling through university so that they may
become smart and useful in building our nation, the free nation of Timor
Leste."
Women told of their experiences during the 1980s, as the Indonesian
military established its apparatus at the village level. The story of Olga
da Silva Amaral brought the whole auditorium to tears with her as she
recounted years of terrible abuse in her village, experiences she said were
shared by many women in her area. Olga lives in the remote central
mountains village of Mauxiga, which even today cannot be reached by car.
She told of how in 1982 the men of her village were sent to the prison
island of Atauro by the Indonesian military after a huge military
operation, leaving the women of Mauxiga especially vulnerable. Olga spoke
of the nightmare that continued for months.
"At that time only women were detained at the Dare Military Command Post.
We were tortured one by one by ABRI and Hansip (Civilian Guard under
Indonesian military command). Before I was raped, they hit me in the head
with a wooden chair until I bled, I was hit with a firearm in my left
ribcage until I was injured, I was kicked in the back with military boots
until I was unable to walk. But the torture continued. I was given electric
shocks to my ears, hands and feet. I was jumped all over until I felt that
my blood no longer flowed and I had no more strength. That is when they
raped me . They tortured me like this for a month. .

"At that time, ABRI erected a building they called a school to hold the
women whose husbands had been exiled to Atauro. The women were ordered to
live with the soldiers. Every day I was interrogated . I was tortured and
raped . pregnant women and nursing mothers were also raped. Their children
would cry, but the soldiers didn't pay any attention to that."
Olga then told of how she was kept in a toilet for three months, where the
torture and sexual abuse continued. "There was never a day without rape."
She was released in April 1983 and reunited with her husband who returned
from Atauro later that year.

Beatriz Miranda Guterres gave testimony of how after the massacre of Craras
in 1983, when she was two months pregnant, she and her family ran to the
hills for safety. After being ambushed by military she surrendered. In the
course of her testimony, Beatriz spoke of how, over a period of the
following 10 years, she was forced to live with three different Indonesian
soldiers. In each case, she became pregnant, and in each case the soldier
returned to Indonesia leaving her and the child behind. When she was forced
to live with the second soldier, she told herself:
"Okay. I'll cut myself in half. The lower half I'll give to him, but the
upper half is for my land, the land of Timor."
Beatriz lives today in her village with her children. She spoke of how at
times she had been treated badly by her community for being an "army wife"
but that now her community accepted her and her children.

The CAVR heard also of the impact of the 1999 violence upon women.

Feliciana Cardoso was present at the massacre in the Suai church on 6
September 1999. She witnessed the murder of the local priest Fr Francisco
by militia members who first shot and then stabbed him. She then witnessed
her husband being killed, "his arms held out like Jesus Christ", as he was
sliced to death with a sword by a militia member. With other women and
children she was forced to the military post and later taken by militia and
police over the border to West Timor. She was held at the police station in
Betun for two months before fleeing and returning to Timor Leste in
November 1999.

Anguished testimony was given by Ines de Conceicao Lemos, the mother of
former UNAMET local staff member Ana Lemos from Ermera, who was raped and
murdered in September after the 1999 ballot. Dona Ines spoke of the
terrible last days of her daughter, when the TNI and the local militia
Darah Merah tortured and raped her in the front yard of her neighbour's
house, before she was taken away from her family and murdered. Ana's
clothes were returned to Dona Ines "from a grave without a name in the
middle of the forest in Ermera."

At the end of each woman's testimony, National Commissioners asked them if
they would like to give a message to national leaders, government members,
or the nation as a whole. Something remarkable occurred each time one of
the women paused to gather her thoughts for this message. After recounting
deeply traumatic personal experiences, the women composed themselves and
asked national leaders to think about women all over the country who had
suffered like them.
"Don't just drive around in your big new cars, or fly around the world. In
villages in all thirteen districts there are so many widows and orphans. I
ask you to do something to help them in their daily lives," responded
Victoria Henrique of Liquica.
Broadcast across the country, these messages were a direct and personal
message to the nation by women who so often struggle to be heard even in
village meetings. In a very basic way, the hearing fostered this democratic
spirit.

In addition to the moving stories of women, the CAVR heard key expert
submissions throughout the two days. In the first occasion of hearing from
a senior member of the Indonesian regime in Timor Leste, former Governor Mr
Mario Carrascalao gave testimony for over two hours. Mr Carrascalao read
from a statement written in Portuguese, making explanations as he went in
Tetum. He was very animated, and spoke very directly of his experiences as
a Timorese within the Indonesian system.

Mr Carrascalao gave a wide ranging testimony, highlighting many aspects of
how women were abused throughout the years of Indonesian occupation. He
told of how until 1989, Timor Leste was entirely a military administration.
"Intel (military intelligence officers) were everywhere." Mr Carrascalao
pointed out that prior to 1989 Timor Leste's civilian administration had
very limited power and could not call the military to account for abuses.
He told of how the country was completely cut off from the international
community.
"Timor Leste was a closed land . it was a place of lies and falsities . the
people that came here could do anything. It was secret."
Mr Carrascalao said that the Indonesian military had a systematic approach
to abusing women, that it was not in any way incidental or accidental. He
gave many examples of practices of the military. He spoke of how lower
ranking military personnel looked to further their careers by providing
young Timorese women to higher ranking soldiers.

"Senior functionaries were given women as if they were facilities."

He told of the common practice of Indonesian military holding dance
parties, where young Timorese women were forced to attend and entertain
soldiers; these women were then vulnerable to sexual abuse. He said that
women from mixed families, with a Timorese mother and a Portuguese father,
were often targeted for such abuse. Mr Carrascalao said that the wives of
Falintil soldiers were often forced into sexual slavery by the Indonesian
military.

When he spoke of the Indonesian government family planning (KB) programme,
he said that in principle it had the same aims in Timor Leste as in other
parts of Indonesia. He pointed out that this was not an Timor Leste
programme, but an Indonesian national programme. However, he said, proper
implementation was impossible in East Timor because it was a war situation
and highly militarized. He said that in the villages, people were offended
by this programme. He said that the people looked to the Church for
guidance, and that it was against Church policies. Mr Carrascalao also
spoke of the thousands of children dead from the war. Timorese people asked
why on the one hand non-Timorese were brought to Timor as part of
Indonesia's transmigration programme, while on the other Timorese were made
to stop having babies themselves. He also said that one of the problems of
the family planning programme in Timor Leste, which made it different from
other parts of Indonesia, was the secrecy surrounding the programme he
said that people did not understand or consent to participating in the
programme.

Mr Carrascalao also spoke of the 1983 massacre in Craras, in the Viqueque
district in the east of the country, in which hundreds of people are said
to have been killed. 'We call this village the village of widows,' he said.
Mr Carrascalao named Prabowo, the son-in-law of then President Suharto, as
being a key figure in the massacre and told of how it involved a power
struggle within the Indonesian military, in particular with General Murdani.

In the course of his submission, Mr Carrascalao gave some disturbing
figures. He said that as Governor in 1985, he conducted a survey across
Timor Leste and determined that at that time there were 40,000 orphans. He
said that he was only able to gather support from the central government
for 5000 of these orphans. He also gave population figures from the early
years of the war, comparing them to a 1974 Church census. He said that in
1974 the Catholic Church in Timor Leste estimated a population of 640,000;
but that in 1980 the estimated population was 500,000.

In summing up, the Chair of the CAVR asked Mr Carrascalao if he felt
regretful about being the Governor of Timor Leste.
"In my time as Governor of Timor Leste I never broke the Indonesian law. I
tried to use the law to improve life for the people,"
he said to loud applause from the large audience.
"I cried for the first time when the massacre of 12 November (1991)
happened . I resigned from being governor in 1992 ."
Asked by the Chair of the CAVR what he thought the objective of violence
against women was, he said,
"The aim of this violence against women was to reduce the power of the
resistance."
Mr Carrascalao's submission was followed by a submission by Mr John
Fernandes, an Indonesian civil servant who promoted the family planning
programme in Manufahi district on the southern coast from 1983 to 1999. He
testified as to how the programme was implemented at the village level by
military and civil servants together, how this joint programme was
"developed directly by military commanders," and how it was carried out
"continually from year to year."
"According to me the KB programme was a political strategy used . by the
Indonesian government to bring in more Indonesians. Indirectly this
programme also murdered the indigenous people of Timor Leste. I say this
because there was special medicine to treat the side effects of KB. Nurses
in the hospital would give this medicine to the wives of Indonesians
whereas the people of Timor Leste were left to suffer.

". It can be said that the KB programme was 'forced' because it was
designed and regulated from above. . "
Earlier, on the first day of the hearings, the CAVR heard a submission from
a group of Timorese women. These women highlighted that unequal power
relations between men and women that existed in Timor Leste before the
conflict were worsened by conflict. The submission examined the experiences
of women since the conflict between Timorese political parties in 1975, the
invasion by Indonesian military of 1975, during the time of resistance in
the mountains and the following Indonesian occupation, to the period of the
1999 UN-organised referendum.

The group concluded that Timorese women experienced specific forms of
violence such as rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery. Women became
caught in a cycle of violence, where victims were further victimized and
discriminated against by their families and community members following
violations. In a series of recommendations, the group focussed on measures
necessary to assist the healing and rehabilitation of women victims.

To conclude the first day of hearings, the CAVR heard a submission from the
Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas
Perempuan), formed in 1998 following the shocking violence against Chinese
women during the period when President Suharto fell from power. The
delegation from Komnas Perempuan included members from Aceh and West Papua,
who in particular were warmly welcomed by the audience.

In giving submission to the CAVR, members of the delegation spoke of how
patterns of violence similar to those used against women in Timor Leste are
still occurring against women in Aceh and West Papua. Their testimony
brought home the contemporary urgency of this hearing for women still
suffering abuse in parts of Indonesia.

Komnas Perempuan Commissioner Ms Samsidar, herself from Aceh, spoke of the
Indonesian military operations in Aceh between 1994-98 where women suffered
terribly.
"I am reminded of a house in Aceh which is a house of rape. In that house
women are raped daily, their bodies violated. They are forced to cook and
clean for soldiers, while in rooms throughout the house at all times of the
day rape goes on . We have a situation where rape is accepted by armed
forces who are supposed to be responsible for protecting the population. .

"When the New Order was undertaking these programmes, including military
operations, women were used like land. Why do I say this? Because they were
like a field where violations could take place. In this situation women
don't feel themselves to be part of humanity anymore. What has been
violated is their sense of who they are and their possibility of living
without fear. These violations are carried out especially in areas of
special military operations such as Aceh, Papua and Timor Leste .

"Whenever there is conflict, in Timor Leste, Aceh, Papua, in all these
places - women are exploited."
Ms Samsidar also talked of the wider social and cultural implications of
violations against women:
" According to our cultures, women are responsible for the life of the
family. When women are violated, this is a violation against the family.
Women are a symbol of the morality of the community, and when they are
raped and violated so too is the moral basis of he community."
Mr Aniceto Guterres Lopes, CAVR Chairperson, asked the delegation how the
CAVR might go about establishing institutional responsibility for these
violations. Ms Kamala Chandrakirana responded:
"Efforts to establish institutional responsibility is a new development. In
Indonesia there is practical immunity, not only because there is a lack of
political will but because the legal system is very underdeveloped. For
example, it is almost impossible to gather evidence in rape cases.

"We also work with village officials and leaders from all religions to open
a dialogue about how to deal with violence against women.

"In Indonesia we are still living in the cycle of impunity. We are working
on cases in Aceh and Papua to deal with them legally, but realizing the
limitations of the legal system we also work on cultural and political
levels."
Ms Ita Nadya of the delegation spoke of the need to work with local and
national institutions to ensure that women victims of violence are included
in society:
"Justice comes from the voices of victims. In a new country we can only
develop as a community if we include the victims as a part of the
foundations of this new society."

She also highlighted the need for a common basis in all national
institutions, law and policy to prevent violence against women, and of how
Komnas Perempuan's "hands and hearts are open in solidarity with the women
victims of Timor Leste to work for peace, justice"

The final testimony of the two-day hearing was the submission by the West
Timor Humanitarian Team (TKTB), who conducted research in refugee camps
across West Timor in 2000.

The team of researchers was comprised o 45 women members who worked in 74
refugee camps in West Timor. They spoke of the tense conditions in the
camps, and challenges they faced to enter the camps and conduct their
research. They spoke of how the situation in the camps for women was an
extension of the violence many had suffered in Timor Leste.

The team told of how the camps are socially organized in a structure of
concentric circles. On the outside, in overall control, is the Indonesian
military. The next ring is the militia, followed by civil servants and with
the inner circle being the ordinary people.

The team said that people living in the camps had been in a cycle of
violence from the time they entered the camps until now. There is a lot of
domestic violence, gambling, alcoholism and stress with people living on
top of each other in the camps. They also said that there is a lot of
aggression by members who have been recruited into militia groups in the
camps. They said it seemed that many of the men were taking out their
political frustrations through violence against women in the camps. It was
clear to the TKTB that militia members mimicked many of the forms of
violence used by the Indonesian military.

The testimonies were closed, as they were opened, with a prayer given by
Sr. Estochia who accompanied the West Timor Humanitarian Team in itself a
sign of the people to people reconciliation and solidarity developed by
this process.

The following extracts are taken from a final reflection by National
Commissioner Ms Olandina Caeiro at the end of the hearing.
"What an honour I feel to be Timorese and to be a woman after experiencing
this extraordinary event over the past two days. By opening their hearts to
us our sisters have taken us on a journey through darkness we can only
imagine, but also shown us the brightest light of their strength,
character, and solidarity, in surviving.

". Each of the women who has come forward with great courage to speak to us
speaks not only for herself, but stands in front as a representative of
hundreds, in fact thousands of other women who have experienced similar
terror and violation . Timor Leste, Indonesia and the world should know
what has happened in Timor Leste, so that it may never happen again, here
or in other places.

". A question which often arises in Timor Leste today is who deserves the
benefits of independence? Who fought and suffered most for our freedom? In
this discussion the role of women is never given the place it deserves. .
Who owns our independence? The answer to this includes a major place for
women, and we must not forget this.

". The past two days have been a painful experience for many. Yet we must
go through this pain so we can learn to settle our past in order to build
our future. The voices of those who have spoken here have been clear in one
thing - they have asked our community, political, and religious leaders to
help the people of Timor Leste to deal with the past of massive violations
towards women, to learn from it so that our future will be without fear and
we can grow without conflict into prosperity. In order to achieve this we
need to change the values which allow violations against women to be
tolerated. Perpetrators must be held responsible and prosecuted for
violations of women's bodies and minds. Victims must be given the highest
place of honour and must never, never be blamed in any way for the evil
actions of these perpetrators. Let us indeed grow flowers from the mud of
our painful past."
The CAVR is committed to conducting a participatory process of truth
seeking in Timor Timor, that will allow for community sharing and the
building of a new foundation for lasting peace. The CAVR will hold five
more national public hearings:
· Famine and forced displacement (July)
· Civil War (August)
· Massacres (November)
· International (February 2004)
· Children and conflict (April 2004)

CAVR district teams also regularly facilitate community reconciliation
hearings at the village level. These hearings are aimed at assisting the
reintegration of those who have harmed their communities in the past. Each
three months, as a team completes its work in a sub-district, a community
hearing is held to listen to the testimony of people who have given
statements to the CAVR as a way of sharing the story of the community.

From this national hearing on Women and Conflict, the CAVR hopes that
other women across the country will feel encouraged to come forward and
record their stories. Understanding how difficult this is for many women,
the CAVR has strict confidentiality measures and teams of women
statement-takers trained in each district. As the voices of Timorese women
are heard, they will bring a new understanding of Timor Leste's history and
with it a stronger commitment to prevent such violations occurring ever again.

For more information on the CAVR and its activities see the commission website:
www.easttimor-reconciliation.org or contact Kieran Dwyer
dwyer@easttimor-reconciliation.org or by mobile telephone +670 723 4705.

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