New report on Dili massacre

New report on Dili massacre

LISBON — A new report demonstrates that the death toll in the November 12, 1991, massacre of civilians in Dili greatly exceeded the Indonesian government's claim of 50 killed and 90 "missing".

The report, recording 273 people killed, 255 disappeared and 376 wounded, was smuggled out of East Timor after several months of investigation. It provides names and ages of all persons killed, missing or wounded.

Almost half of the people killed were 21 years or younger, and almost all were below the age of 30.

"The Indonesians always claimed that only the older generation are anti-integration. But now they are killing all our young people because they too oppose integration", said Jose Ramos-Horta, overseas spokesperson for the East Timorese resistance.

The report's release coincides with the airing on Portuguese television of a homemade video interview smuggled out of East Timor. The video shows five East Timorese survivors and witnesses of the Dili massacre who say that more than 200 people were killed and more than 100 corpses were dumped into the sea.
[From Tapol via Pegasus.]

From GLW issue 71