
Issue No 69		01 September 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Letters to the Editor

Open Letter To William Shawcross

In the East Timor section of your book Deliver Us from Evil-there are some factual errors, omission of certain events and mixed up dates.

We, the foreign media who were in East Timor at that time feel it is important to put the facts straight. Many of us ended up under siege at the Dili UN compound.

Page 356

...Hundreds sought refuge in the UNAMET compound, throwing their children over the razor wire on the walls, cutting themselves badly in their desperate search for safety.

You implied the incident took place not long after the 30 August ballot. You got your dates mixed up.

The incident took place at around 7.30pm Sunday 5 September when a nearby Indonesian army position began firing tracer rounds into the hill behind the UN compound, starting the panic in the carpark next to the compound-the footage was shot by Max Stahl and smuggled out to Darwin on Monday 6 September.

Around the same time the journalists staying at the Turismo Hotel were also pinned down in the hotel.

Page 356

...Thousands of locally recruited East Timorese soldiers and police mutinied and joined the militias.

You implied the mutiny took place after the announcement of the ballot on Saturday 4 September.

What mutiny? The fact of the matter is members of the TNI and the local police (BRIMOB) had been swapping their uniforms for the militias uniform before, during and after the 30 August ballot-the militias were organised and run by the TNI.

How could there be a need for a mutiny? Documents abandoned in the Aitarak HQ after the militia fled showed plainly any such 'mutineers' were joining a force consisting largely (at least) of enlisted Indonesian military personnel when they 'joined the militias.'

These militias clearly continued to act under the command of Indonesian soldiers and officers who stood behind the militias or joined with them directly in all the major attacks of those days.

There is not only eyewitness testimony of this, including that of journalists present, but also of militia who later defected or gave themselves up or were captured-a leaked document from TNI sources showed the militias were included in a list of battle-ready forces at the disposal of the TNI regional commander for the East Timor region.

Page 357

...September 6 was worse...The city centre was looted, stripped and burned by the militias; telephone, water and electricity services were shut down.

The looting began on Saturday 4 September immediately after the announcement of the ballot.

By Sunday 5 September we were all forced to leave the Mahkota Hotel and retreated to the Turismo Hotel or to the UN compound.

Our mobile phones were initially cut off on Tuesday 7 September at around 6pm. It was then back on again on Thursday 9 September for a short while and was off again. The pattern seemed to be if the news was favourable to the authority the phone was on and if the news was unfavourable the phone was off.

Some local phones on the other hand were functioning throughout the crisis but could only receive calls.

Page 357

...They targeted UN officials, foreign aid workers and journalists in an attempt to terrorize all observers out of the territory, they largely succeeded.

The journalists (including Indonesian journalists) started the exodus on Friday 3 September and by the time we did a head count at the Makota on Sunday morning 5 September there were only 30 odd of us left-mainly freelancers.

During the ballot on 30 August there were over 600 media personnel in East Timor.

Page 357

...In the next few days...Two thousand people seeking refuge in Bishop Carlos Belo's house were driven out and Belo was forced to flee to Australia.

This incident took place on Monday 6 September not a few days later.

There were 15 of us foreign media personnel (and one East Timorese interpreter) who had decided not to go to the UN compound-we used the Turismo as our base.

At around 11.30am while we were having a meeting the militias started their attack and pinned us down. Their mission was to clear the International Red Cross (ICRC) compound next to us and Belos house next to the ICRC.

We had to retreat to a room and 12 of us ended up in the bathroom for our protection. Four were in another part of the hotel-Marie Colvin, Carmela Baranowska, Max Stahl and Robert Carol and witnessed what happened at the ICRC compound.

We were pinned down for about an hour while the militias and the TNI cleared the 2,000 odd refugees at the ICRC compound and 3,000 odd refugees at Belo's house.

When we got out of the room an hour later we noticed the refugees were on the beach and were herded towards the wharf to be shipped to Atambua. We also noticed about 200 of the refugees were herded in the opposite direction towards the statue of Jesus-their fate unknown.

The police came back and told us to leave as the militias were returning to burn down the hotel. They wanted to take us to the police station-had that happened we would have been flown out of Dili.

We refused and told them we wanted to go to the UN compound and rang the Australian Ambassador John McCarthy.

On the way to the Turismo McCarthy's car was shot at.

When McCarthy finally arrived it was agreed only those who would be filling stories would go to the UN compound.

Three decided not to stay and were dropped off at the Australian Consulate-they were later flown to Darwin-the remaining 13 of us including our East Timorese interpreter went to the compound arriving, after 1pm.

On the way to the UN compound we noticed armed militias in army trucks roaming the streets unchecked by the TNI and BRIMOB.

Bishop Belo was not evacuated from Dili but from Baucau. He was taken there and was evacuated with members of CivPol and the UNVs to Darwin on Tuesday 7 September when the UN decided to abandon Baucau.

CivPol officers, whilst being threatened themselves surrounded the local Timorese staff to prevent them from being harmed by the armed militias.

They refused to be evacuated until they were sure the local UN staff would be evacuated to safety-the local UN staff were eventually put on the UN (Lloyds) helicopters bound for Dili.

When they arrived at the Dili airport CivPol officers had to negotiate with BRIMOB for their save conduct to the UN compound.

According to an eyewitness Max Stahl spoke to, at least eight people were murdered inside the Bishop's house during the 'evacuation' on 6 September (the same day as a coordinated attack on churches in Suai, and elsewhere also began). One of the victims was just fifteen years old.

Page 359

...Annan woke after 3pm on September 8 to talk with Habibie, who rambled for almost an hour...Annan told him that was just not so, and that the situation was so bad that UNAMET would have to be evacuated...

Later that morning Annan briefed the Security Council and told them no government wanted to deploy troops in an international force without the consent of Indonesia. He did not want to pull UNAMET out and leave the East Timorese who had sought the UN's protection to be cut to pieces. He authorized only a partial withdrawal and told UNAMET to seek volunteers to stay behind to extend the UN's protective presence. There was no shortage of volunteers.

When Annan was speaking to Habibie it was 3pm Dili time-around this time Marie Colvin (Sunday Times, London), Irene Slegt (Dutch freelance) and HT Lee (Australian freelance) spoke to Ian Martin the UNAMET Head of Mission in his office. They wanted to know what plans if any the UN had-earlier at around 1pm the convoy came back almost empty and our supplies were therefore running out.

They also wanted to confirm the rumours of the impending UN pull out and if so would the local staff and the Timorese refugees be evacuated.

Martin's reply was the UN was monitoring the situation and was in constant contact with New York. There would be an announcement later that afternoon.

Ian Martin did not seem to have any contingency plans-in a media conference at the compound on Monday night 6 September when asked if there were any contingency plans Martin did not seem to know and could not give us a clear answer.

We had the briefing at round 6pm which is 6am New York time-about two hours after Annan's phone call with Habibie.

According to your account Annan told the Security Council no government wanted to deploy troops in an international force without the consent of Indonesia-when Annan was speaking to Habibie, Jakarta's position was not to support any peace keeping troops.

In the briefing we were told we would be evacuated the following morning at around 5am-all UN international staff would be relocated to Darwin.

When we inquired what would happen to the local UN staff we were told negotiations were still going on with the Indonesian authority to allow them to be relocated to Darwin.

More importantly the UN could not tell us what would be the fate of the 1,500 odd Timorese refugees in the compound-mainly women and children.

Members of CivPol and the UN international staff were also briefed separately and were told to pack up their bags and be ready for evacuation in the morning. CivPol officers were also told the Timorese would not be informed of the decision to evacuate until after midnight.

After filling our stories to the world media we had our own meeting at around 9pm-9am New York time.

We made the decision not to leave-the UN could not force us to leave because we were not employed by them. We refused to leave because we knew a human disaster worst than Srbenica would occur as soon as we all left-the militias, BRIMOB and the TNI would come in and kill all the refugees.

We thought by staying behind we could provide a human shield for the women and children in the compound and force the international community to act-surely the world would not stand by and allow a massacre of innocent women and children to take place. All we had to do was to rough it out with them for one or two days and the international peacekeeprs would arrive.

Immediately after our meeting we informed the world media of our intention to stay behind with the East Timorese refugees if the UN pulled out the following morning. Over 100 members of the UN international staff including CivPol officers had also volunteered to stay behind.

We decided to draft a petition which reads:

We the undersigned foreign media wish to express our deep concern about the sudden termination of the UN presence in East Timor and urge the UN Secretary General to urgently reconsider this decision.

We would give our warmest support to all efforts by the head of UNAMET to prolong the stay of the UN mission and to avert the imminent humanitarian tragedy.

All the remaining 25 journalists signed the petition.

We wanted to see Ian Martin earlier but he did not have the time or did not want to see us. We finally went to his office at 1.30am Thursday morning-1.30pm Wednesday New York time. We confronted Ian Martin but he refused to see us and we gave the petition to his off-sider.

Less than an hour later we were told the decision to completely pull out in the morning had been delayed for at least 24 hours.

You claimed Annan briefed the Security Council 'later that morning' and authorised only 'a partial withdrawal and told UNAMET to seek volunteers to stay behind...'

This seems to contradict with events unfolding in the compound-Annan could not have briefed the Security Council before 9am New York time-9pm Dili time. The briefing must have taken place well after 9am New York time-by then the foreign media, and over 100 UN international staff and CivPol officers had already made the decision not to leave.

We believe the UN would have pull out of Dili as planned on that Thursday morning and left the East Timorese to fend for themselves had we not taken the stand we took.

Late Thursday afternoon we were told the UN mission would not be abandoned:

� About 40 UN personals would remain

� All other UN staff, including local Timorese staff, would be relocated to Darwin

� The refugees in the compound would be given safe conduct to Dare escorted by CivPol

� All the remaining journalists must leave for Darwin or leave the UN compound.

We were under pressure to leave for Darwin. We had another meeting and six decided to stay-Marie Colvin, Irene Slegt, Minka Nyhuis, Max Stahl, Robert Carol and Alan Nairn.

The rest of us were evacuated to Darwin on Friday 10 September-to put it bluntly, we were expelled.

Max and Robert left the compound in the early hours of Friday for the hills and resurfaced after the arrival of Interfet on 20 September.

Alan left the compound and stayed in Dili but was arrested shortly after. He was transported to Kupang and was subsequently deported.

Marie, Irene and Minka moved out of the compound to a nearby house. However, they were forced back into the UN compound when renewed militia activities occured (unchecked by the TNI and BRIMOB) at the carpark next door to the compound.

They had the support of CivPol and later that day their stay was 'formalised'-so long as they did not mention they were reporting from the compound. They were subsequently evacuated to Darwin with the 1,500 Timorese refugees on 14 September.

We believe in the negotiations between New York and Jakarta that went on throughout Thursday we were used as pawns-the local UN staff were allowed to be relocated to Darwin, the refugees were to be given safe conduct to Dare, there would be a small UN presence in Dili but in return we were sacrificed-we the media had to leave for Darwin or leave the compound-Jakarta wanted us out and the UN agreed to their demand.

August 2000

H T Lee (Australian, Freelance, Sydney, Australia)

Email: [email protected] Mobile: +61 (0)419 411 240

Liam Phelan (Australian, Freelance, Sydney, Australia)

Email: [email protected]

John Martinkus (Australian, Freelance, Melbourne, Australia)

Email: [email protected]

Carmela Baranowska (Australian, Independent film maker, Melbourne, Australia)

Email: [email protected]

Marie Colvin (American, Sunday Times, London, UK)

Email: [email protected]

Max Stahl (British, Independent film maker, London, UK)

Email: [email protected]

Joanna Jolly (British, Freelance/Scotland on Sunday, Jakarta, Indonesia)

Email: [email protected]

Tom Fawthrop (British, Freelance, London, UK)

Email: [email protected]

Jerry O'Callaghan (Irish, Independent film maker, Dublin, Ireland)

Email: [email protected]

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Issue 69 contents

Interview: Global Warrior
International unions have won a game of political football with soccer`s hierarchy - and Aussie Tim Noonan is behind the victory.

History: King of Broken Hill
John Shields recounts the colourful life of William Sydney 'Shorty' O'Neil (1903-2000) and his place in the rich history of a remarkable town.

International: History Repeats At Firestone
More than 8,000 workers, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), are set to strike at nine Bridgestone/Firestone plants in the United States at midnight tonight.

Politics: The Past We Need To Understand
In his Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Malcolm Fraser retraces the path of Australian race relations and laments the terrible impasse we've reached.

Unions: Economic Democracy
Sharan Burrow on making Working Australia's money talk and reforming corporate culture for the 21st Century.

Satire: Another windscreen washer joins millionaire list
SYDNEY, Monday: After just a year in his new job, John Samuels has added his name to the burgeoning list of enterprising Australians who have made their fortunes by offering partial car-washing facilities in convenient inner city road-side locations.

Review: No Long Term
Much political commentary is about the global marketplace and the use of new technologies as hallmarks of the new capitalism. Richard Sennett investigates another dimension of change: new ways of organising time, particularly working time.

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