Kraras massacre

The Kraras massker describes a series of murders of civilians by Indonesian soldiers around the East Timorese town of Kraras ( Kararas , Krarás ) in the administrative office of Viqueque between August and October 1983. The region is now called the Valley of the Widows .

prehistory

After the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia , the majority of Bibileo's inhabitants lived in the mountains between 1976 and 1979, beyond the control of the Indonesian occupiers. In 1978/79 many civilians surrendered and were initially settled in the village of Viqueque with those who were captured. In 1981 they were moved to a level between the highway from Viqueque to Luca and the northern part of Bibileo. The newly established place was named Kraras. In the region, pro-Indonesian civilian security forces with East Timorese as members were set up. The Hansip were armed and paid, while the Ratih (Rakyat Terlatih, "trained people") received neither arming nor regular payments.

At the end of 1982 the Indonesians suspected several ratih in the region of making common cause with the FALINTIL resistance fighters . 80 Ratih were brought to Tasitolu for interrogation and punishment , two men were killed as double agents.

In late March 1983, FALINTIL and the Indonesian armed forces agreed on a ceasefire, which enabled resistance fighters to move more freely in the mountains. Flag ceremonies were even held in Kraras in the presence of civilians and Hansip. During this time, the Indonesian military decided to reorganize the civil security forces. To do this, some Hansip should be reduced to Ratih. However, many of them refused to surrender their weapons after units of the 100th Parachutist Battalion shot and killed four local residents. In addition, Indonesian soldiers sexually assaulted local women in July 1983.

The Kraras incident

On August 8, 1983, units of the FALINTIL attacked the Indonesian military post in Kraras together with local ratih under the command of Virgílio dos Anjos ( Sihik Ular ). 14 soldiers of the 9th Combat Engineering Battalion ( Zipur 9 ) were killed, only one or two soldiers managed to escape. Then the Ratih joined the resistance fighters in the mountains. Hundreds of residents of Kraras and the neighboring hamlets fled to the forests for fear of reprisals.

Four more FALINTIL attacks followed in the course of a month. Three East Timorese died in Lacluta. In Nahareca ( Ossu Administrative Office ), on August 10, there was an exchange of fire between FALINTIL fighters and the 745th Battalion . An East Timorese was wounded and later executed by the Indonesians. On August 19, FALINTIL units attacked Bahatata ( Uatucarbau administrative office ), killing a civilian, and on September 6, FALINTIL fighters attacked Indonesian soldiers in Sukar Oan .

The retaliation of the Indonesians

The response from the Indonesians followed a day later. On September 7, 1983, Indonesian soldiers burned the almost deserted village of Kraras, killing four to five of the remaining residents, including an old woman. In the weeks that followed, patrols roamed the area, forcing the refugees to return to the villages of Kraras and Buikaren ( Buikarin ) and Viqueque. At least four people were executed in the course of this, including a 15-year-old boy. Many people have been detained and tortured. There was also rape.

Residents of Kraras who had fled to Bibileo were interned by Indonesian soldiers in a school near Viqueque. On the morning of September 16, soldiers and Hansip took the prisoners, including women and children, to Suco Caraubalo. At Welamo they had to stand in a hole that had been created by a landslide. Then they were executed. An eyewitness who survived after others fell on his body reports that two young children were stabbed to death after soldiers missed them with their bullets. Depending on the information, between 18 and 55 people died. The CAVR registered 55 names of victims.

On September 17, Indonesian soldiers surrounded the village of Buikaren and arrested a large group of Kraras residents who had fled here. The men were separated from the women and forced to carry provisions for the military. Under the guard of six to eight soldiers and two Hansip, the men were led to the Tuco River ( Wetuku ). At Tahu Bein ( Tahubein ) they were surrounded and shot. Again, three eyewitnesses managed to hide under the lifeless bodies of their comrades and later escaped. There are conflicting reports about the number of deaths. They vary between 26 and 181. The CAVR registered 141 names of victims.

The CAVR has received reports of 14 other people who were murdered by Indonesian security forces in the region during this period. The Catholic Church in East Timor counted a total of 287 Kraras residents who were murdered in the action. The residents of the neighboring towns of Kraras were forcibly relocated to Clalerec Mutin .

After the massacres, groups of East Timorese members of the auxiliary forces of the Indonesian army ran over to the FALINTIL with their weapons. One of them was Falur Rate Laek .

Commemoration

Church at the meeting place in Kraras

On September 18, 2008, the foundation stone was laid for a memorial to commemorate the massacre in the Valley of the Widows .

Web links

• Timor Archives: Revisiting 1983: Thirty years on
• ETAN, April 26, 2001, Torture evidence mounts against Indonesian general
• ETAN, September 17, 2008, East Timor to remember 25 years of Kraras Massacre- Radio and Televizasaun Timor-Leste, September 16, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances" (PDF; 2.5 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)
2. ↑ Timor-Leste Memória ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Amnesty International: EAST TIMOR - Justice past, present and future ( Memento from February 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
4. ↑ 1999 East Timor Crimes Against Humanity: The Kraras Massacre of 1983 ( Memento of January 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
5. ^ Irena Cristalis : East Timor: A Nation's Bitter Dawn , 2013, ISBN 9781848136533 .
6. ↑ Late Night Live in Timor ( Memento from February 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )