Wedauberek massacre
 
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Location of Wedauberek in East Timor |
The Wedauberek massacre or Meti-Oan massacre was the murder of eleven supporters of the left-wing FRETILIN party by fighters of the conservative União Democrática Timorense (UDT) during the civil war in East Timor in 1975 .
The Portuguese Timor colony was preparing for independence when the UDT broke its alliance with FRETILIN. On the night of August 11, 1975, the UDT tried to forcefully take control of the colony. The Portuguese governor Mário Lemos Pires refused to intervene in the conflict.
On the day of the coup, UDT fighters captured eleven FRETILIN supporters in Alas ( Manufahi district ). These included members of the FRETILIN youth organization UNETIM . On August 17, the eleven prisoners were taken to the district capital , Same . The UDT learned that fighters from the Forças Armadas de Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste (FALINTIL), the FRETILIN party army, were on their way from Aileu to Same. That is why the UDT brought the prisoners on 24 August after Natarbora ( subdistrict Barique , District Manatuto ). Here, however, locals prevented the FRETILIN supporters from being executed. Therefore, the UDT fighters drove their prisoners in a truck to Besusu ( Suco Uma Berloic , Alas subdistrict ) on August 27th . From there the FRETILIN followers were brought to the beach of Meti Oan near Wedauberek (Suco Maha-Quidan , Alas sub- district) and shot.
On August 31, ten of the eleven murdered by FALINTIL fighters were discovered on the beach. Domingos Lobato , president of UNETIM and brother of FRETILIN leaders Nicolau and Rogério Lobato, was one dead . The other murdered were José Maria de Jesus , Nurse Ponciano , Regional Secretary of FRETILIN, Sabino Soares Pereira , Vice Secretary , Bernardino Hornay , Second Vice Secretary , António Guterres , Deputy Delegate, UNETIM members Chiquito Kaduak , Francisco , Domingos Ribeiro , Alexandre da Costa and the only 17-year-old Tonito Ribeiro . Domingos and Tonito were the sons of Nurse Ponciano .
The massacre resulted in a spiral of violence. In early September 1975 the victorious FRETILIN also took control of Manufahi. One of the UDT leaders allegedly involved in the massacre was arrested. Although he managed to escape, he was tracked down by FRETILIN supporters and killed. Shortly thereafter, Indonesia occupied the country. Parts of the UDT cooperated with the occupiers. In February 1979, the population of the village of Manus (Suco Taitudac , Alas sub- district) surrendered to the occupiers. When the Indonesian auxiliaries (Hansip) arrested men of the community, Luis Monteiro tried to flee and was killed. The four arrested Duarte Almeida, João da Silva, Martins Fernandes and Remigio Baptista disappeared. Her death is believed to be related to the murder of the UDT chief. The leader of the Hansip was his son.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Frédéric B. Durand: History of Timor-Leste, pp. 105-106, ISBN 978-616-215-124-8 .
- ↑ a b “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances” , p. 23 (PDF; 2.5 MB) from the “Chega!” Report of the CAVR (English).
- ↑ Chapter 7.2 “Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, p. 110.