João da Costa Tavares

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João da Costa Tavares (right)
on July 17, 1999 in Balibo

João da Costa Tavares (born April 6, 1931 in Atabae , Portuguese Timor , † June 8, 2009 in Atambua , Indonesia ), faulty João da Silva Tavares , was a politician in the Indonesian- occupied East Timor . He was a member of the União Democrática Timorense (UDT) and an advocate for the integration of East Timor into Indonesia.

Career

Tavares comes from a wealthy family. During the Portuguese colonial era, Tavares was a member of the Portuguese colonial forces.

When the UDT in the civil war in East Timor in 1975 the FRETILIN lost, Tavares fled to surrounding parts of Indonesia westtimoresische Atambua. With the later occupation of East Timor by Indonesia, he returned and supported the invaders in the fight against the FRETILIN.

From May 1976 to 1989 Tavares was President of the Government (Bupati) of the Bobonaro district . Here he commanded the Halilintar militia , which was inactive between 1980 and 1995, but was then reactivated. During this time he became a wealthy landowner. After his tenure as Bupati, Tavares became a member of the Council of Representatives of the People of Timor Timur Province , the legislature of the annexed East Timor in Indonesia. In addition, from April 17, 1999, he was supreme commander of the Pasukan Pro-Integrasi Militias (PPI). His runner-up was Eurico Guterres . During the demonstration by the militias after the appointment of Tavares, they, together with Indonesian security forces, committed the massacre in the house of Manuel Carrascalão , in which at least 19 people died. In the course of the wave of violence in 1999 there were further murders which are counted towards the Halilintar and the PPI. Tavares himself threatened war and the murder of independence activists if the East Timorese should vote for independence in the referendum on August 30, 1999 . He is also considered to be one of the leaders in the Liquiçá church massacre .

When the East Timorese opted for independence in the 1999 independence referendum and Indonesia withdrew from East Timor, Tavares left the country and moved to Atambua. There he worked as a consultant for the University of Timor Aswain (UNTAS), a political organization of the former pro-Indonesian militias in East Timor. Initially, Tavares supported openly armed incursions into East Timor by the 59,500 armed men under his command. Tavares also did not deny that his militias were involved in the destruction of Operation Donner . However, he denied contacts with the armed forces of Indonesia (TNI). In October 2000, four militia leaders wanted to return to East Timor. Tavares threatened them with extrajudicial consequences.

In July 2003, Tavares was tried in absentia in Dili for crimes against humanity and his active leadership role in the Bobonaro militia, which led to several offenses, culminating in the September 8, 1999 massacre at Maliana Police Station . Several Halilintar militiamen have been sentenced to long prison terms by the Dili District Court's Special Panels for Serious Crimes .

Tavares died of a stroke in Atambua in 2009 at the age of 78.

family

Tavares was married to the daughter of the Raja of Atambua and had several children. He may have been married several times. A son was elected to the Belu regional parliament for the Democratic Party in 2009/2010 . The son José da Silva Tavares previously worked as a diplomat at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and headed the offshoot of the militia Dadarus Merah Putih (DMP) in Maliana . The son Rui Basilio Tavares also ran a militia.

Another militia leader from the family was João's brother Jorge Tavares.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Master of Terror: João Tavares , accessed on November 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f ETAN: Joao Taveres - militia leader dies , June 8, 2009 , accessed on November 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Part 4: Regime of Occupation" (PDF; 563 kB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)
  4. ↑ "Chapter 7.3 Forced Displacement and Famine" (PDF; 1.3 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)
  5. ↑ Master of Terror: Natalino Monteiro , accessed November 27, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Tavares, João da Costa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tavares, João (short form); Tavares, João da Silva (incorrect name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indonesian-East Timorese politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Atabae , Portuguese Timor
DATE OF DEATH June 8, 2009
Place of death Atambua , Indonesia