----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Olsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, 14 September 1999 2:43 Subject: East Timor Massacre Plans Known Months Ago The following report indicates that the massacre of East Timorese peoples was planned months in advance and "Western intelligence services knew about it." The Toronto Globe and Mail is Canada's daily conservative business newspaper. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990913/UDILIN2.html see also: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990913/UEASTN.html The Globe and Mail] Monday, Sep 13, 1999 How the Indonesian army plotted to destroy a nation For nearly a year, generals hatched murderous plan to block independence for East Timor - - and Western intelligence services knew about it London Observer Service; With reports from John Aglionby in Jakarta, Jason Burke in London, Christopher Zinn in Darwin, Eduardo Gonzales in Lisbon, Ed Vulliamy in New York. Monday, September 13, 1999 The morning dawned bright and humid. The dirty, dusty streets of Dili were emptier than usual. It was Tuesday, Aug. 31, and the people of East Timor had woken to an uncertain future. The day before, they had voted overwhelmingly for independence from their Indonesian overlords. The result of the poll, though some days away, was obvious. As far as the people of East Timor were concerned, their days of bondage were over. But in the anonymous military headquarters in Dili, a small group of men was deep in talk. For them, rule from Jakarta was anything but finished. The men were the leaders of Indonesia's military machine on the island and the chiefs of the three biggest militia gangs. And the topic was the total eradication of the pro-independence East Timorese population. Documentary evidence, clandestine intelligence intercepts and eyewitness accounts show that the atrocities in East Timor have been carefully conceived for nearly a year by the Indonesian army. The aim, quite simply, is to destroy a nation. Our investigation has also revealed that Western intelligence services were also aware of the army's plans -- and warned the United Nations, many months ago. At military headquarters in Dili, a greying, tight-lipped Indonesian soldier, Major-General (Zacky) Anwar Makarim, outlined what he wanted done. The militias were to conduct house-to- house searches in pro- independence towns and villages and put Dili under siege. All routes in and out of the city were to be blocked, and water and electricity supplies cut. All communications with the outside world would be stopped. Then, the commanders were told, their men would have to round up thousands of women and children who would be trucked across the border into Indonesian West Timor. Thousands of people who were more amenable to rule from Jakarta would be shipped in to replace them. Finally, and crucially, the United Nations and all journalists would be forced out. The generals wanted no witnesses to the killings. For the Indonesian military, a year of planning was about to bear fruit. For the people of East Timor, a nightmare was about to start. The townspeople living near the Indonesian army base at Atambua, just inside West Timorese territory, have grown used to the occasional helicopter and the Indonesian army patrols. If there is a sudden surge in activity, the pro-independence Falantil guerrilla commanders are informed. For years, such reports have been rare. In November, they increased. Around the same time, 5,000 West Timorese -- who are almost identical to East Timor's population in ethnic background, but Muslim rather than predominantly Roman Catholic -- were recruited into new militias by the Indonesian army. To reinforce their numbers, more recruits were brought from the Indonesian heartland of Java. Though concerns were growing in East Timor, the purpose of the troops and the militiamen and their eventual destination remained unclear. But a few days later, the riddle was solved. On Nov. 4, 1998, 400 elite troops from Indonesia's notorious Kopassus Group 4 unit -- crack soldiers trained to track down and eliminate political dissidents -- arriv= ed in the port town of Atapupu. Some of them were immediately stripped of their uniforms and went into East Timor in disguise and plainclothes. Others started transporting arms to the border. On Jan. 27, President B. J. Habibie took the world by surprise in announcing that East Timor -- under violent occupation since the Indonesian invasion of 1975 -- would be allowed to choose between political autonomy within Indonesia or independence. No one in East Timor expected the announcement, but the Indonesian army had been worrying about such an eventuality for months. The coffee estates of Ermera, nearly 30 kilometres south of Dili, paint a fertile green swath through the barren landscape. They might not look like it, but the estates are one reason the East Timorese are dying in their thousands. They are among thousands of properties owned by the Indonesian military in East Timor. If East Timor goes, the army's argument runs, everything will fall apart as the Indonesian archipelago's multitude of minorities press for their own autonomy. The preparations to launch a campaign of terror in East Timor were spotted as early as July, 1998, when it was reported that the Indonesian army was starting to establish civilian armed militias in East Timor. No one paid any serious attention to the report. The nation of 210 million people was in political and economic turmoil, and Mr. Habibie had been in office for slightly more than two months. Even when U.S. satellites spotted Indonesian troop movements along the frontier with East Timor late last year, little notice was taken. But by the end of January, when Mr. Habibie made his offer of a plebiscite, it was clear something serious was developing. Militias were not only active in all the western districts, but they were also starting = to terrorize and kill. Covalima, a district in the southwestern corner of the territory, was chosen as the testing ground for the army's strategy. Within days, thousands of people had fled to the district town, Suai, and set up a camp in the grounds of a half-built church. Witnesses interviewed in the church at the time said the soldiers had clearly been in charge of orchestrated attacks. The growing fears of the East Timorese were reinforced when it was learned that Gen. Makarim was to be the senior military adviser of the Indonesian government's plebiscite team in East Timor. A U.S.-trained intelligence specialist, he had done several tours in East Timor and had a reputation for callous violence. Many of his troops were also U.S.- trained. The truth of what was about to happen was dawning outside East Timor, too. On March 4, representatives of Australia's Defence Intelligence Organization in Jakarta cabled their headquarters that the Indonesian military was "clearly protecting and in some cases operating with" the militias. Basing their reports on intercepted satellite telephone conversations between senior officers in Dili and Jakarta, they said the militias would implement a scorched-earth policy if the vote went against them. The Australian government passed the damning information on to the UN. The UN also received documents from resistance sources revealing the Indonesian plans. Even their own security briefing for the third week of August noted preparations for a "full-scale offensive after the [plebiscite]." By this stage, there were militias in each of the territory's 13 districts= , their leaders carefully chosen by the army. The boss in Dili was Eurico Guterres. Reports say Gen. Makarim personally gave Mr. Guterres a list of 370 people to eliminate. Further orders were given in early May in an army document obtained by pro-independence leaders. "Massacres should be carried out from village to village after the announcement of the ballot if the pro- independence supporters win," it said, adding that the independence movement "should be eliminated from its leadership down to its roots." ----------------------------------- Copyright =A9 1999 Globe Information Services http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990913/UEASTN.html [The Globe and Mail] Monday, Sep 13, 1999 'UN betrayed Timorese,' Canadian charges. Election official regrets his role. Walter Dorn told the people of East Timor not to worry. They could vote in peace, he said, and the United Nations would help protect them against reprisals. ..... snip ........ ............................................. Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] ............................................. Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dsubscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=3Dunsubscribe%20leftlink
