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An eyewitness account of EastTimor's descent into hell, 1997-2000 John Martinkus FOREWORD BY XANANA GUSMAO UD AvFAIRS COUNCILUBRAOT . SUTTERSTREET %%% %fc$ Fft£NOSGO.CA «M108 "V A War Dirty Little A Dirty War Little John Martinkus RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA Random HouseAustraliaPtyLtd NSW 20AlfredStreet, Milsons Point, 2061 http//www.randomhouse.comau : . Sydney NewYork Toronto London Auckland Johannesburg FirstpublishedbyRandom HouseAustralia2001 Copyright©John Martinkus2001 All rights reserved. No partofthis publication maybereproduced, stored inaretrievalsystem, ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordingorotherwise,without thepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher. NationalLibraryofAustralia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry Martinkus,John. A dirtylittlewar. Includes index. ISBN 174051 016X. 1. Politicalatrocities-Indonesia-TimorTimur. 2. TimorTimur (Indonesia) -Politicsandgovernment. 3. TimorTimur (Indonesia) -Autonomyand independence movements. I.Tide. . 320.95986 Coverandtextdesign byGreendot Design TypesetbyMidlandTypesetters, Maryborough, Victoria Printedandbound byGriffin Press, Netley, SouthAustralia Historical details in introduction courtesyofParliamentofAustralia Senate Committee inquiryreportinto EastTimor, October 1999. 98765432 10 1 1 contents Foreword vii Introduction xi Glossary xvii CHAPTER ONE January 1997 Dili, EastTimor 1 CHAPTER TWO 31 May 1997 Jakarta, Indonesia 29 CHAPTER THREE 9August 1998 Dili, EastTimor 5 CHAPTER FOUR 1 November 1998 Dili, East Timor 82 CHAPTER FIVE 27January 1999 Suai, East Timor 116 CHAPTER SIX 24 February 1999 Dili, EastTimor 139 CHAPTER SEVEN 19April 1999 Kupang, WestTimor 174 CHAPTER EIGHT 29June 1999 Maliana, East Timor 215 CHAPTER NINE 30August 1999 Maliana, East Timor 263 CHAPTER TEN 6September 1999 Dili, EastTimor 300 CHAPTER ELEVEN 20September 1999 Darwin, Australia 347 Postscript 404 Acknowledgements 419 Index 421 Foreword When reading this book it is important to try to under- stand what the effect ofthe violence catalogued here has had upon the East Timorese people today. Remember that theviolent consequences ofIndonesian military rule ofEast Timor in the period covered here were only the final stages of a 25-year brutal occupation. Far worse atrocities than those detailed here were carried out against the EastTimorese people in the late seventies and eighties. Sadly for us, these were not well documented. The international media were largely silent because of foreign governments' concern for their relations with Indonesia and the great impossibility ofanyone gaining physical access to EastTimor. Until 1989, EastTimorwas barred to all outsiders and the internal conflict, which all Timorese knew very well, was largely unknown beyond our prison-island. In 1991 the brave Youth resistance led a massive demonstration that had an extraordinary political impact. The dramatic footage of Indonesian forces murdering unarmed East Timorese civilians opened the world's eyes to the violence that until then had been kept hidden. Despite the widespread international attention the footage aroused, only a very small number ofjournalists VII JOHN MARTINKUS vin and politicians continued to pay close attention to, report, and speak out about the continuing repression inside East Timor. Although I often said we were alone in our struggle we were not; there were people all over the world who worried about us and helped us. The work ofjournalists, such as John Martinkus, in East Timor became increasingly important throughout the nineties. Comprehensive and impartial documenta- tion ofincidents ofviolence conducted against the East Timorese people paved the way for the international pressure on the Indonesian government to allow the United Nations to conduct the ballot in August of1999. When the Indonesian military and their militia proxies embarked on the campaign ofkilling, depopula- tion and the destruction and theft of property in East Timor in response to the independence result, it looked as though East Timor and the suffering of its people would once again be hidden from the outside world. It was only a handful ofinternationals who remained to try and document the final crimes of the Indonesian military that took place before international peacekeep- ers were allowed into the country. This book is one such document. John Martinkus covered our conflict from inside East Timor through the period of armed struggle by our heroic Falintil guerrillas, the years of brave yout;h and clandestine resistance, to the violence before and after the ballot as well as the eventual arrival of the peace- keepers and the departure ofthe Indonesian forces. The stories he wrote about the atrocities helped to bring international attention to the genocide the world was ignoring. This book provides a first-hand account ofsome ofthe key events that led to the long awaited independence of