Timor-Leste Commemorates the Santa Cruz Massacre

DILI – The people of Timor Leste and the international community will not forget the Santa Cruz massacre at that time. With this massacre woke up the UN and the international community about the struggle in Timor Leste to become a new independent nation.

The Santa Cruz massacre was the shooting of at least 250 East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and is part of the East Timorese genocide.

From 1974 to 1975 the international community, especially the UN closed their eyes and ears to not see and hear about what was happening in Timor Leste. The whole world and the United Nations deliberately do not want to know the struggle of Timor Leste.

For 24 years, East Timorese have been difficult. Thousands of people die constantly. The Indonesian military tortured and raped young woman as they pleased, and the whole world closed their eyes and ears. They say the struggle for independence in Timor Leste is gone, it's finished. Timor Leste already wants to live together with the Republic of Indonesia.

Suddenly the gates of the UN and the international community were wide open with the massacre of 12 November 1991. East Timorese youths woke up the UN. Using the opportunity to sow flowers at the tomb of Sebastião Gomes in Santa Cruz, Dili, thousands of young people demonstrated to the whole world that the process of the struggle for independence in Timor Leste is still ongoing and still exists. Timor Leste does not want to live together with Indonesia.

East Timor has never lost. The struggle for independence began in various places. Both in the mountains and in the city. Both domestically and abroad. Youth Loriku Aswain on November 12 opened their chests to hot bullets. They are all not afraid. They were all not surprised by the sound of long-barreled weapons. Grains of Indonesian army decay penetrated the fence of Santa Cruz, many young men died, but still shouted "dead or alive must be free".

In October 1991, a delegation consisting of members of the Portuguese parliament and 12 journalists were scheduled to visit East Timor. The students were getting ready to welcome the delegation. However, this plan was canceled after the Indonesian government raised objections to the planned presence of Jill Jolliffe as a member of the delegation. Jolliffe was an Australian journalist who was seen as supporting the FRETILIN independence movement.

This cancellation caused the disappointment of pro-independence students who tried to raise issues of struggle in East Timor. This disappointment caused the situation to heat up between the Indonesian government and students. The climax on 28 October, a confrontation broke out between pro-integration activists and pro-independence groups who were holding a meeting at the Motael church in Dili.

In the end, Afonso Henriques from the pro-integration group was killed in a fight and a pro-independence activist, Sebastião Gomes, was shot dead by Indonesian soldiers.

On November 12, 1991, demonstrators consisting of students and youths held their protest action against the Indonesian government during the burial procession of their colleague, Sebastião Gomes. During the funeral procession, students held banners asking for self-determination and independence, showing pictures of pro-independence leader Xanana Gusmão.

When the procession entered the cemetery, Indonesian troops began firing. Of those who demonstrated in the Santa Cruz cemetery, 271 were killed, 382 were injured, and 250 disappeared. One of the dead was a New Zealand citizen, Kamal Bamadhaj, a political science student and human rights activist based in Australia.

The massacre was witnessed by two US journalists; Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn; and recorded on video tape by Max Stahl, who secretly made recordings for Yorkshire Television in the United Kingdom. The cameramen managed to smuggle the video tape into Australia.

They gave it to a Dutch woman to avoid arrest and confiscation by Australian authorities, who had been informed by the Indonesian side and carried out a nude search of the cameramen when they arrived in Darwin.

The video was used in a First Tuesday documentary titled In Cold Blood: The Massacre of East Timor, aired on ITV in Britain in January 1992. The broadcast was then broadcast throughout the world, to the great embarrassment of the Indonesian government.

In Portugal and Australia, which both have a fairly large East Timor community, there were strong protests. Many Portuguese people who regretted the decision of their practical government to have left their former colonies in 1975. They were moved by broadcasts depicting people shouting and pray in Portuguese.

Likewise, many Australians felt ashamed of their government's support for the oppressive Suharto regime in Indonesia, and what they saw as a betrayal for the East Timorese who had fought alongside Australian forces against Japan in World War II.

Although this led the Portuguese government to step up their diplomatic campaign, for the Australian government, the assassination was, in the words of foreign minister Gareth Evans, "a deviation".

This event is now celebrated as Youth Day by the independent State of Timor-Leste. The 12 November massacre is remembered by the people of Timor Leste as one of the bloodiest days in their history, which gave international attention to their struggle for independence.

East Timor Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak's message to young people to stay strong when facing challenges.

"I want a message for all young people scattered in the country to give your whole heart to learning. If you face an obstacle, don't back down because to pick, you have to plant, and also to be smart, you have to learn a lot. The future of Timor-Leste is in the hands of a new generation, "said Matan Ruak.

In the same place, the Committee President of November 12, Gregorio Saldanha, asked all young people not to participate in any conflict but had to promote dialogue when conflict occurred. And also ask all political party leaders in Timor Leste to sit together in dialogue to resolve the political deadlock that is happening in the country.

President of the Republic Francisco Guterres Lu Olo also called on all young people to continue promoting dialogue.

"I heard an order from the November 12 committee president about dialogue," said President Lu Olo commemorating the Santa Cruz tragedy.

A version of this article published in TEMPO Jakarta, Indonesia with title: Timor Leste Peringati Tragedi Santa Cruz on November 13, 2019. https://dunia.tempo.co/read/1271950/timor-leste-peringati-tragedi-santa-cruz#4i2QY3wePz7GGb50.41

 

Benny Wenda Not Expelled from the UN General Assembly Room, Here Are the Facts

 Benny Wenda, pemimpin perjuangan Kemerdekaan Papua saat menghadiri Sidang Umum PBB di New York, AS, pekan lalu. TEMPO/Raimundos Oki. 

NEW YOK - A number of media in Indonesia reporting that Benny Wenda, a figure fighting for Papuan independence from Indonesia, was expelled from the UN General Assembly room last week turned out to be untrue.

A source who explained to the media that Wenda was expelled was a Papuan figure, Nick Messet. The reason for the expulsion, according to Messet, is because Wenda who joined the Vanuatu delegation was not a citizen of Vanuatu.

"It is not true that Benny Wenda joined the courtroom with the Vanuatu delegation because the UN made strict rules and only allowed state representatives to enter the courtroom in New York," Messet said, as reported by Antara on Sunday, September 29 and quoted by Liputan6.com.

"The rules applied by the United Nations are very strict. Only citizens can represent their countries and enter the delegation at the UN General Assembly," continued Messet who attended the 74th UN General Assembly.

Benny Wenda's Identity Card attends the UN General Assembly.

"The rules applied by the United Nations are very strict. Only citizens can represent their countries and enter the delegation at the UN General Assembly," continued Messet who attended the 74th UN General Assembly.

Tempo correspondent Raimundos Oki, who attended the 74th UN General Assembly on September 23-28, 2019, said he did not see and hear the UN police or United Nations Police and UN staff expel Wenda from the courtroom.

"Benny Wenda has followed delegations from Vanuatu and he has always attended Vanuatu events at various commissions at the UN, even to the point of sitting in the UN General Assembly room when Vanuatu raised the issue of Palestine, New Caledonia and West Papua," Oki explained the results of his report during attend the UN General Assembly.

In addition to interviewing Wenda, Oki also interviewed Vanuatu's Foreign Minister, Ralph John Regenvanu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"Vanuatu asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to enter West Papua to investigate the cases of violations that have occurred so far," he said.

The Vanuatu Foreign Minister later stated that it was not true that Wenda was expelled from the UN General Assembly room.

"The report that Wenda was banned from entering the UN General Assembly is untrue, he was allowed to enter because he was officially accredited as a Vanuatu delegation and in fact during a state statement by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu and other world leaders he sat in the General Assembly room," Ralph said via electronic mail to Tempo Correspondent, Raimundos Oki, 30 September 2019.

In addition, Benny Wenda and his entourage used the official UN identity card to attend the UN General Assembly. On the card, a photo and name of Wenda was written as Vanuatu's advisor.

A version of this article published in TEMPO.CO, Jakarta: 

https://dunia.tempo.co/read/1254486/benny-wenda-tidak-diusir-dari-ruang-sidang-umum-pbb-ini-faktanya/full&view=ok

Attending the UN General Assembly, Benny Wenda Urges the UN to Visit Papua

 Benny Wenda, leader of the Papuan Independence struggle while attending the UN General Assembly in New York, USA, last week. TEMPO / Raimundos Oki

Tuesday, 1 October 2019

NEW YORK - Benny Wenda, leader of the Papuan Independence struggle while attending the UN General Assembly in New York, USA, last week. TEMPO / Raimundos Oki

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Benny Wenda, a figure fighting for Papuan independence from Indonesia, urged the United Nations to visit Indonesia to witness firsthand what really happened in West Papua.

Wenda said, Indonesia as a member of the United Nations has a moral responsibility to cross-check human rights issues, especially in a demonstration at a high school that ended with 31 people killed and dozens injured.

Wenda conveyed this in a special interview with Raimundos Oki, Tempo Correspondent on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, September 27, 2019 at 7 pm local time. Benny was present as part of the Vanuatu delegation.

Benny responded to the heated situation in Papua with a number of demonstrations that killed 31 civilians, children, immigrants and damaged a number of buildings in Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency.

The main trigger for this deadly demonstration was the remark of a high school teacher in Wamena calling his students monkeys. Then the students held their own peaceful demonstrations and the Indonesian military opened fire on them.

"I am very worried about seeing West Papua, that's why I urged the United Nations to visit Papua to witness what really happened in West Papua," Benny said.

Benny accused the Indonesian military of killing dozens of civilians in West Papua.

The Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Human Rights or Menkopolhukam, Wiranto has deployed around 16 thousand additional troops to West Papua as a Papuan guard guard. But in reality, these additional troops triggered an escalation.

"So this is the responsibility of the Indonesian government," said Benny.

The National Commission on Human Rights revealed its findings related to the riots in Wamena, Papua. According to the National Human Rights Commission a demonstration that led to riots caused by miscommunication in PGRI high school.

"The chronology of the investigation conducted by representatives of the National Commission on Human Rights shows there is miscommunication," said Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, Ahmad Fauzan Damanik, in a press conference at his office, Jakarta, Monday 30 September 2019.

The Komnas HAM representative team began the investigation by interviewing high school teachers and students at PGRI. The story begins on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, when the Riris Panggabean teacher became a substitute.

Riris, said Damanik, admitted that he had a quarrel with one of the students. The reason was, the student thought Riris mentioned the word "Monkey".

"Actually, according to this mother's version she doesn't say monkey but is loud," said Damanik. But the problem was claimed to have been completed.

Only on Saturday, September 21 did some students return to the issue. But the commotion that day was claimed to be resolved by mediation by other teachers at the school.

When the mediation process was finished, Riris and the students mentioned forgiving each other, even singing together to celebrate one of the students' birthdays. "Alright, there's nothing," he said.

Later, said Damanik. On Sunday morning, suddenly there was an attack on PGRI High School. On Monday, teachers discovered that many facilities had been damaged by the attack.

Komnas HAM noted that 31 people died and 43 injured were recorded as patients at Wamena Hospital, Papua. As many as 43 victims were seriously injured.

A version of this article published in TEMPO.CO, Jakarta.  

https://dunia.tempo.co/read/1254455/hadiri-sidang-umum-pbb-benny-wenda-desak-pbb-berkunjung-ke-papua