War crimes in the 1975 invasion of Dili

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The Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of East Timor (CAVR) documented Chega! including the war crimes in the invasion of Dili , when Indonesian troops openly attacked and occupied the East Timorese capital on December 7, 1975 with the start of Operation Seroja . This article reproduces the documented incidents during the first days of the invasion.

background

In the final phase of Portuguese colonial rule , the situation was chaotic due to Indonesian influence . A civil war broke out. Indonesia began to occupy the border regions with Operation Flamboyan and camouflaged its soldiers as East Timorese militias who fought against FRETILIN , who had emerged victorious from the civil war . When FRETILIN unilaterally proclaimed independence on November 28, 1975 , Indonesia responded by reporting that the leaders of the other East Timorese parties had signed the so-called Balibo Declaration on November 30, calling for East Timor to join Indonesia. The attack on Dili began nine days later.

In addition to arbitrary executions of civilians, a number of mass murders were committed by Indonesian soldiers in the first days of the invasion. Members of the Chinese community in Dili were targeted victims of the soldiers.

There were no disciplinary consequences for the Indonesian soldiers due to the massive violations of human rights. This also corresponded to incidents in the following years of the occupation.

Chinese murders in Colmera

The Toko Lay (2015)

At the Toko Lay business building , the body of a paratrooper was caught with the umbrella on the building. There were more than 100 people in the building, all civilians of Chinese origin. On the morning of December 7th, the Indonesians began shooting at the house at 10 a.m. Tsam Yi Tin, who is from Same , came from the outhouse to surrender and was shot. His son survived because he pretended to be dead after being hit. The Indonesians stormed the Toko Lay and sent all residents out. They were taken to the beach by the Sporting Clube de Timor clubhouse and had to sit in a row in the sand.

When the people cried out in fear, they were led 50 meters further to the harbor , where they were supposed to line up according to their size, facing the sea. The soldiers reloaded their rifles and pretended to shoot the prisoners. Then they were driven to the port gate and the rifles were reloaded again. Afterwards, women and children were sent to the Chinese school, the men had to dig graves for the victims of the invasion or throw the bodies into the sea. 16 Chinese dug graves for 20 fallen Indonesian soldiers in Jardim 5 de Maio . After doing the work, 20 men were again placed facing the sea and then shot in the head. This was followed by other groups who were also killed. A total of 59 Chinese and Timorese were executed. The population was asked to keep count. The executions were justified by the Indonesians in retaliation for the death of the Indonesian paratrooper at the Toko Lay. The victims were weighted with stones by prisoners and thrown into the water. Chong Kui Yan was one of the workers who had to dispose of the bodies and was allowed to leave afterwards. Among the named victims of the shootings are eleven people named Lay, between the ages of 16 and 60 years.

In other parts of the Colmera district, too , residents were sent out onto the streets so that the soldiers could look for weapons in their houses. They discovered nine Chinese in a ditch behind Li Nheu Ki's house on Rua Sebastião da Costa (now Rua de Loriko on the Tais market). They were murdered, as were at least five other people of Chinese origin in Colmera.

Executions in Mata Doro

Several civilians were murdered in the Assistência (Edifício da Assistência Pública Social) building , near the FRETILIN base in Mata Doro . The building from the early 1970s is located on the southeast corner of Avenida Mouzinho de Albuquerque (now Avenida Mártires da Pátria ) and Rua de Caicoli. Today the library of the Universidade Nasionál Timór Lorosa'e is located here . It housed families whose houses in Vila Verde had burned down during the civil war in August. When Indonesian soldiers arrived at the Assistência on the afternoon of December 7th, they discovered a paratrooper who had become entangled in a power line and had been shot. The Indonesians took the dead man down and took him to a flagpole next to the Assistência, on which the FRETILIN flag was flying. They took down the flag and ordered all residents of the building to come out and assemble in a field. 80 men were separated from the women and children. They first had to clear out the neighboring building of the Portuguese 15th Infantry Company (Companhia 15) . Then they should line up in three rows. After the soldiers had discussed about 15 minutes, three of them turned their guns on the East Timorese, who then fled. The soldiers opened fire. According to witnesses, the number of victims varies from 23 to 70 people. It wasn't until December 9 that East Timorese civilians were ordered to cremate the rotting bodies behind Companhia 15 . There were also executions in the building of the Mata Doro slaughterhouse, but there are various testimonies about them. Eight fatalities are known by name.

Executions on the shipyard site

The port of Dili (2002)

There were several executions at the Dilis shipyard on December 8th . The circumstances indicate that FRETILIN members were specifically singled out from among the civilians and executed. It is believed that there was a blacklist . Among the victims there were the women's rights activist Rosa Bonaparte , her brother Bernardino Bonaparte Soares (who, like his sister, was a member of the CCF), Isabel Barreto Lobato (the wife of Prime Minister Nicolau dos Reis Lobato ), but also Roger East , the last foreign reporter in Dili. Witnesses speak of dozens of bodies. East had been captured at his hotel that morning. FALINTIL boss Fernando do Carmo, who had driven to the Hotel Turismo in a jeep to save East, was killed in an Indonesian ambush.

The body of Francisco Borja da Costa , the lyricist of East Timor's national anthem " Pátria " and a member of the CCF, was later found on the beach. His name was also on a death list. He was last seen alive at the port, as were the members of the FRETILIN youth organization UNETIM Bimba da Solva and Silvinia Epifana M. da Silva, who disappeared forever after December 8th.

Witnesses report further mass executions at the port on the afternoon of December 8th. In groups of 20 people, the victims had to stand in a row and were shot. The dead fell into the water. Then the next group followed. Witnesses speak of at least four groups. It is no longer understandable who exactly these victims were. The total number of those executed in the shipyard is estimated at 150 people.

More murders

The road on the Maloa river

Several civilians were executed on December 7th on the Maloa River in the Bairro Pite district , among other things to avenge the death of an Indonesian soldier. Another execution with at least 17 dead followed on the Maloa in Ailoklaran on December 8th. Many of these victims came from Ainaro and were actually supporters of KOTA, which was officially allied with the Indonesians.

About 50 people were captured, lined up and shot at the military police headquarters in Caicoli .

The East Timor Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) gathered between 203 and 272 reports of civilians killed during the Dili invasion. Then there are reports of people who have disappeared. It is believed that around 2,000 Dilis residents were killed in the first days of the invasion, which would mean eight percent of the population. About 700 of them were ethnic Chinese. As a result, the Indonesian military led to further arrests, torture and disappearances in Dili. The victims were suspected of having links to the resistance in the mountains.

See also

supporting documents

Main evidence

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "Chega!": "Part 3: The History of the Conflict", Invasion of Dili and Baucau , pp. 62–67.
  2. ↑ a b c d Vaudine England: Chinese legacy of fear in Dili , South China Morning Post, August 30, 1999 , accessed on 19 March 2018th
  3. ^ "Chega!": "Part 3: The History of the Conflict", The cost of full-scale invasion , pp. 65–66.
  4. ↑ a b “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Unlawful killings of ethnic Chinese civilians in Colmera, December 7, 1975 , pp. 34-35.
  5. ↑ a b “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Mass executions, early afternoon , pp. 43–44.
  6. ↑ a b “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Disappearance of ethnic Chinese work party, late afternoon on December 8 , pp. 44-44.
  7. ↑ James E. Waller: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing , p. 129, 2007, ISBN 9780199774852 .
  8. ^ "Chega!": "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", Killings at he Assistencia building, 7 December 1975 , pp. 35-38.
  9. ^ "Chega!": "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", Executions in Matadouro, December 7, 1975 , pp. 38-40.
  10. ^ Frédéric Durand: Three centuries of violence and struggle in East Timor (1726–2008) , 2011.
  11. ↑ a b “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Dili wharf on December 8, 1975 , pp. 40-43.
  12. ↑ a b ABC: Australia received East Timor 'hit list' before Indonesian invasion , November 27, 2015 , accessed December 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ ABC News: East Timor's latest attempt to find the body of its first prime minister Nicolau dos Reis Lobato , February 21, 2018 , accessed February 21, 2018.
  14. ↑ Thesis .
  15. ^ Jill Joliffe: Run for Your Life , Simon and Schuster 2014.
  16. ↑ Clinton Fernandes: “Populist Catholics”: Fretilin 1975 , p.263 , accessed on May 16, 2016.
  17. ↑ a b Peter Carey: East Timor under Indonesian Occupation, 1975-99 , pp. 14ff., Accessed on December 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "Chega!": "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", Maloa River killings, 7 December 1975 , p. 40.
  19. ↑ “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Executions in Ailko Laran, December 8, 1975 , pp. 45-46.
  20. ↑ “Chega!”: “Part 3: The History of the Conflict”, Mass violence against civilians , pp. 64–65.
  21. ↑ “Chega!”: “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Individual executions and corpses found in Dili , pp. 47-48.
  22. ^ "Chega!": "Part 3: The History of the Conflict", East Timorese experience of the early occupation , pp. 70-71.