EAST TIMOR AFTER THE BALLOT After visiting East Timor to observe the process of the Ballot for the future of East Timor, I went back to Jakarta by Flores. But in a very quick time the situation in East Timor has changed dramatically. Dili, a small but nice city has been burnt down. Many people have been shot to death. According to the last rapport there have been hundreds and hundreds people killed. About hundred-thousands people have left East Timor as refugees to West Timor. Our Minister Provincial sent us, Peter C. Aman and Mike Peruche to Timor (Kupang and Atambua) to get some information about the Friars who are working . they are: fr. Bonaventura Satuan, fr. Kornelis Keyrans, fr. Andrew Hama, fr. Stanis Gallis and fr. Kornelis L. Namang. We would like to inform you about recent situation in East Timor. I. Dili, a death city It is really an irony, the festivities of celebration of the victory the pro-independence in the ballot of August 30, 1999, have been turned to agony within only a few days. They were arrested, and expelled out of East Timor. Many of them were tortured, raped and killed. They who alive were forced to leave their houses and collected in the reception-centers prepared by the Indonesian Military. They were brought into Indonesian territory (West Timor) escorted by Indonesian military or police officers. Dili has become a death city. It lost its beauty. Nobody passes in the streets but the Indonesian military personnel’s and militias. It seems that the militia and Indonesian military have an absolute power to do whatever they want to do. They burnt down the city: people’s houses, convents/ monasteries, bishop’s residence and offices. The people who seek refuge in churches and schools, monasteries have been compelled to leave. In those actions the militia in cooperation with the Indonesian military have killed some priests (Jesuits priests and diocesan ones) and several nuns. We do not have an exact amount of the victims, but according to some eye-witness, they have killed about thousands of people. It is unthinkable that the East Timor Militia have committed all these horrible actions. The refugees we met in camps of refugees informed us that Indonesian military cooperate with the militias in those actions. Military personnel’s wore the uniform of the militias such as Aitarak, Besi Merah Putih and other groups. Militia and military have expelled the people from their homes and then they robbed and burnt the houses. There are many corpses in the streets. It is said that instead of burying them, they have burnt them to abolish the facts/proofs. 2. Turmoil in the South of East Timor. To day we met many refugees from the Southern part of East Timor, especially from the region of Manufahi, where the friars are working. The Sisters of CIJ (The Follower of Jesus) arrived last night in Kupang (Sept. 16,1999) by car. They escaped from Same with hundreds of refugees. The situation in the last few days in Same was extremely horrible. Many people have been killed. The bodies of the victims were beheaded and hung up on the trees. The whole town has been torn down by military. They burnt and destructed the buildings built by the Indonesian government. Many people left the town to West Timor, while others have fled away in the mountains and forests around the town. The military has burnt all buildings in the country side. They compelled the people to leave East Timor by ships form Betano to Kupang. There are thousands of refugees arrive to day in Kupang by ship from Betano. As I have written above, there is no war in East Timor until today. The life of the people is in a very dangerous situation. They have no other choice, but leave East Timor in a very poor condition, physically, psychologically and economically. They bring whatever they can bring with them. Their houses have been burnt out and their goods/possessions have been robbed. Two other towns nearby have turned into fire-field. Nobody remains, but militaries and militia who are being busy to collect and bring away the possessions they plundered. In Atambua militia and military compelled some car owners to lend their cars to take out from Dili the goods they had robbed from the people. 3. Where are our friars? The sisters of CIJ informed us that fr. Kornelis Keyrans is still remaining in Alas with his people (about one hundred people). The sisters did not get any information about the other friars in Welaluhu. We met also people from Alas. They informed us that military have left Alas but fr. Kornelis and his people are still remaining there. In one camp of refugees we met some refugees from Welaluhu. One of them is the officer in our Junior High School. They left Welaluhu on Tuesday (Sept. 7, 19999). They were with the friars before leaving. The friars at that time were fine. On the next day, they got information that the friars had left Welaluhu, but they did not know where they left for. It is difficult to get into East Timor now. It is said that there will be war against the international forces mission.

4. How to understand this bad situation of East Timor? About hundred thousands of refugees have left East Timor. The condition of the refugees in uncertain and bad. They left East Timor because the Indonesian military forced them to leave. There is no war in East Timor, but the East Timor people have to leave their home land. This action to remove the people of East Timor out from their home land is a political tactic run by military or Indonesian government to create an opinion that the people of East Timor still want to unite with Indonesia. Indonesian navy has removed hundred thousands people from East Timor. Actually, Indonesia wants to support the will of the pro-autonomy 9who lost the ballot) to defend the integration with Indonesia or to divide East Timor into two part: the pro-autonomy area and the pro-independence area. Nowadays militia and Indonesian military force has cooperated to expel the people from East Timor and to commit crime and violence: killing, raping, torturing, robbing etc. The militia get many weapons from the Indonesian military. They get salary of Rp 300.000,- (some 40 USD) and 50 kg of rice. Some members of militia have infiltrated to NTT (West Timor, Flores etc.) with the refugees. New Papers in Kupang reported that they have committed violence in Atambua and Kupang. The people of NTT are anxious that the location of conflict will move to NTT. It seems that the Indonesian Police and military are not too seriously to disarm the militia from East Timor. There is a rumors that the militia are allowed to act in NTT to induce the region to conflict. It would be a reason for military to prolong their presence in NTT. The military will move the KOREM (headquarter) from Dili to Ende, Flores. The violence in East Timor and the murder of priest and nuns who have been working for East Timor give another nuance of the conflict. According to some eye-witnesses the murder and violence is not primarily committed by East Timor militia, but by new personnel’s who arrived in East Timor in a great number (who are they?). It is said that the future of the Christianity is also at stake. East Timor needs an international attention and pressure especially to the Indonesian government.   These are all about the condition of East Timor. We hope that you will get some other information from mass media, to complete your knowledge and information about East Timor. Kupang, September 17, 1999