Josefa Adao da Silva

Josefa Adao da Silva (* around 1963 ) is an East Timorese independence activist.

Career

When Indonesia began to occupy East Timor in 1975, the then 12-year-old Silva and her family fled to the forest. Her parents and four younger siblings died in 1978 of illness and starvation, only she and her older brother survived.

Later Silva became a member of the resistance, taught children in the resistance base and went on patrol. In 1979 she was captured by the Indonesians and taken to the Remexio detention center. She was arrested and tortured several times for this. The soldiers wanted to take her to Java , but Red Cross employees hid her in her car and she managed to escape to her aunt in Dili . In Dare she found refuge in the diocese .

On June 10, 1980, Silva was arrested again as she was returning from a party by resistance members. The celebration was intended to distract Indonesian soldiers from preparing for a large-scale attack. On that day, FALINTIL units attacked the television station in Marabia , the weapons depot of the Indonesian B Company of Infantry Battalion 744 in Becora and military facilities in Dare and Fatu Naba on the outskirts of the capital Dili. It was the first major attack since the resistance movement was almost completely crushed in 1978. The Indonesians responded with retaliatory measures. Silva was interrogated and tortured again. Likewise her uncle, cousin and brother. Shortly afterwards, the uncle disappeared forever. Silva was raped by the commander of the Provincial Military Command (Korem). More torture followed. She was detained in Comarca Prison for six months . Then she was released.

Silva had to report to the Korem every day. A member of the Civil Defense Unit ( Hansip ) threatened to kill her family if she does not marry him. Silva agreed. In 1984 their son was born. Shortly afterwards, she got a job in Dili as an officer in the field of ID issuance for civilians. She used this to produce ID cards for her comrades in the resistance. Since she now had her own job with the Indonesian state, she finally dared to leave her husband. When she announced this to her husband, he attempted to shoot her, but missed her. Silva fled and reported him to the Kodim (military district command). The man was released from the Hansip and the marriage divorced. A year later, Silva met another man and married again.

Today the couple lives from a small shop and gardening.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Dodi Yuniar and Matt Easton: Enduring Impunity: Women Surviving Atrocities in the Absence of Justice , Asia Justice and Rights 2015 (English, tetum, Indonesian), pp. 168-171 , accessed on March 4 2020.
2. ↑ ACbit: Josefa Adao da Silva , November 18, 2015 , accessed on March 4, 2020.
3. ↑ "Part 3: The History of the Conflict" (PDF; 1.4 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)