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Witness from Dili
I came, along with other youth groups, from cities all across East Timor to Dili. Upon arriving, the preparations had already begun. T-shirts with the name of the clandestine youth organisation called OJETIL with symbols of the Lorico bird and banners were ready. On November 12, I also went to the church to join a religious ceremony there. But I left early for the cemetery to help my friend with their task.
As you know, on that day several thousand East Timorese youth with shouts of "Free East Timor", and "Viva Xanana Gusmao" marched from the church to the Santa Cruz cemetery. There were also many other people, including civil servants, who joined in with the demonstrators. Upon arriving at the Santa Cruz cemetery the demonstration had become even more intense, although still peaceful. The crowd was met by Indonesian soldiers who, with harsh and vile shouts, began shooting. And finally, as we all know, more that 250 people were shot dead.
The November 12 demonstration informed the whole world that the East Timorese youth will not surrender and will continue to demand independence for East Timor. The massacre at Santa Cruz also reminded the whole world of the brutality of the Indonesian military occupation of my country, East Timor.
I would like to explain a little of this story.
In the 1980s myself and many other young people were still in school or had only just left to find jobs. Actually, many of us were not involved in politics or the independence struggle but were more concerned with living life and being young. We knew that FALANTIL - the East Timorese freedom fighters - were still in the mountains. Occasionally, our parents, or other family members from the older generation, would relate to us the things they had heard on radio Australia. But in general, we were not concerned with the struggle. During the 70s and 80s, we had no patriotic feelings, we did not take life very seriously. And didn't know exactly what had happened in our country. At that time, in the 80s, we and other young East Timorese were still blind and did not understand what was meant by this struggle.
Perhaps this was because we were still young. And perhaps also because the struggle in the towns was destroyed in the 70s. Most of the older generation had been forced to retreat from open politics and to look after their homes and families.
Such was the situation of Dili youth in the 80s, in general. But not everyone was like this. There were others who were different. That is, students from a school called Esternato. This school was the only school which could give lessons in Portuguese. This school was for Portuguese citizens who did not want to attend an Indonesian language school. The school's name was known throughout East Timor. And its teachers were chosen from pastors and veterans who had "surrendered" at the time when the leader of the struggle, Nicalao Lobato died. These people taught and gave advice on politics which were full of the issue of independence.
In general there was still many youth who remained silent, and those who asked what was meant by the struggle. And many East Timorese youth did not yet feel that they should do something for their country.
But in the '80s a section of youth had already begun to prepare and work with Falantil veterans who came down from the mountains in 1979.
From these veterans young people began to hear that the East Timorese youth must do something for their country and from there began the emergence of a feeling of solidarity among East Timorese youth. And a section began to join with other young people from the Esternato school and work together until December 10 1989.
And from that time, young people in East Timor began to become the target of the Indonesian military. Young people were often arrested, intimidated, and sometimes their houses were ransacked without reason. If someone was to be arrested, the military always arrived at the person's house in the middle of the night, and often broke up the person's house. All young people were under suspicion, at every moment, in every place. The Indonesian military presence in our country began to be felt far more than before. Young people's frustration and anger became very widespread.
This frustration began to give birth to a new attitude in us. Initially this new attitude was half play and very spontaneous. There was no plan or strategy. But what was clear was that young people began to demonstrate their frustration directly at the Indonesian military.
When soldiers passed, young people would throw cakes. But you know, the next day we began to throw rocks. The frustration and anger spread everywhere.
I remember clearly one incident which can illustrate this attitude of frustration. An Indonesian Air Force helicopter crashed in Dili. Suddenly the helicopter was surrounded by East Timorese youth. And while the Indonesian soldiers were examining the helicopter and pulling the corpses from that machine of war, all of us -- without a plan -- began taunting them by singing the song Indonesia Raya, the Indonesian national anthem. Who knows how this could have happened without being planned. But that was the nature of our frustration at the Indonesian military at that time.
Previously, when our parents spoke about what they had heard on the radio about East Timorese politics, we were not very interested. Before, if we heard gunfire, we were not very distressed. In the past if we heard that our uncles or grandparents were killed in the '70s by the Indonesian military, we were unconcerned.
But with this new atmosphere, all of this changed. We began to be interested in our parent's stories about the Indonesian invasion in 1975. We wanted to hear the latest news from the mountains. And our frustration grew to become anger.
The first time I heard a cassette from Xanana, he spoke in Portuguese. I could understand what he said, but at first I didn't grasp everything he meant.
But that was only the first cassette. More letters, cassettes and stories about Xanana began to be distributed. Xanana called on the youth to rise up for their country, for the Maubere people.
"Stand before your mirror, and see who you are," said Xanana in a cassette. "Who are you. Are you one of them, or one of us, the East Timorese and Maubere people."
He reminded us to think about the Timorese people who wore "red and white ties" -- the colours of the Indonesian flag -- and he explained: "Who are they really, they are the servants of Indonesia, helping people who arrive from outside." And he asked that we think about those in the mountains. "Those in the mountain are whose servants?" he asked. The answer: the servants of the Maubere people.
Those who wear the red and white ties, sleep in a comfortable bed. Those who become the servants of the Maubere people, sleep on the open ground. And he called on us: which side will youth take, what will you do?
There was also a pamphlet from Xanana which had been distributed for some time which said that youth are the heart of FALANTIL and that FALANTIL is like a tree which for so long has been rooted in East Timor.
Xanana Gusmao's voice opened the hearts of all East Timorese youth. We all were moved by his call to join in struggling against the Indonesian invaders. Many young people took the decision to do something.
But what could we do? What did those in the mountains want from us?
To carry out the task given by the ESTAFETAs, young people established a clandestine group. Actually, many young people had also already left school. Schools are Indonesian places and young people no longer wanted to attend. The frustration of young people in school had also begun to be visible. Each Monday morning, all of the students had to gather to sing Indonesia Raya while the Indonesian flag was raised. Often a young person would damage the flag's rope so when the flag had been raised, it would just fall straight back down again. And when they sang, the students would all change the line "Indonesia negeri-KU" (Indonesia MY country) to "Indonesia negeri-MU" (Indonesia YOUR country)".
I had already left school and was working as a driver when I was first contacted by a member of the clandestine group. I often agreed to involve myself and thus became a member of OJETIL, a clandestine youth organisation in East Timor. OJETIL was openly declared for the first time on November 12 in Dili, but in fact it had already existed since 1990. Any young people who wanted to be active in helping the struggle became OJETIL activists. The establishment of OJETIL was also Xanana Gusmao's idea.
Each youth group had different assignments. Our group's job was to provide the comrades in the mountains with supplies. In the mountains they needed shoes, hats, clothing and often, medicines. And in carrying out this task, we were helped greatly by the East Timorese people. We collected clothing from families and ordinary people often gave donations.
Sometimes, in an unconscious way, the Indonesian government also helped. When general elections were held for example, the Indonesian government parties would give out shirts and berets to young people. Perhaps they thought that so many young people came asking for shirts because of their political support. But in fact in the weeks which followed, the hats and shirts were channeled into the mountains. In all of this, we had to be extremely careful. We could not, for example, purchase large amounts of medicines directly from the chemist. We had to find different ways which would not attract attention. Over time nearly all East Timorese youth became a part of the struggle. The words of struggle, such as Xanana Gusmao's, Konis Santana, as well as leaders outside the country like Ramos Horta, Mari Alkatiri and others, were awaited by all. All of society became full of concern for the development of the struggle. News and messages from ESTAFETA were quickly disseminated everywhere.
And for many people, this incident was considered as too much. I should note here, that for the older generation in particular, this was considered as going much too far. For them, a murder inside a church was an affront to their religion. What is more, there were fifty catholics which were not from East Timor but from the Atambua region who also joined in the demonstration because they felt their religion had been defiled by the killing in the church.
There was a great deal of anger among the older generation. They wanted an immediate action. But the younger generation had already learnt to work according to a plan. Four years of clandestine work, and following the messages from ESTAFETA had taught us to work with a strategy, a plan.
And 14 days after the death of Sebastiao the youth of Dili and a section of veterans from 1979 began to work together. And on November 11 there was an announcement that all youth must go to the Motaiel church to hold a special mass in commemoration of 14 days since the death of our comrade who was murdered by Indonesian soldiers. And from there, all of the youth carried flowers to the Santa Cruz cemetery wearing OJETIL T-shirts. And the demonstration grew, until it reached the Santa Cruz cemetery.
Reports of the massacre quickly spread throughout Dili, throughout East Timor. Many were also arrested on that day. Dili became deserted. For many days people did not dare leave their homes. Many young people were forced to hide to avoid being arrested and killed. And the Indonesian soldiers became more active. The surveillance became more intensive.
Dili is divided in a number of villages. These villages are quite small and in each one, the military establish at least two security posts. The military are everywhere. If young people are found in groups of two or more, they are often harassed. If you are already known or suspected of having attended the November 12 demonstration, the military follow you everywhere. Sometimes even social gatherings are full of Intel (Indonesian Intelligence). There are 12 military battalions in East Timor. The Indonesian government likes to claim that two of the battalions have been withdrawn, but in reality these two battalions have only been moved to a different province. The military are everywhere.
The political space for young people, even more so those who have already been marked as participants in the November 12 demonstration, is becoming increasingly tight and difficult. Our own country has become like a prison. We live as if we were in gaol. And it is because of this that many of our generation have been forced to leave Timor, our country. Many have also been forced to leave East Timor for Australia.
The struggle by the East Timorese youth has not ended. When I was in Dili last December and January, there was another demonstration against the occupation by Indonesia. I witnessed this, and I also saw that those who joined the demonstration were even younger than me. There is a new generation with political space which are now coming forward. As well as these young people, students on the University of East Timor campus have also increased their activity. They have already demonstrated in protest against obscene acts against East Timorese catholic nuns by Indonesian soldiers. It is clear that OJETIL and the East Timorese youth will not give up.
As well as helping to prevent people who protested from being killed, foreign protests also gave us determination. News from outside as well. Before I left East Timor, I heard a cassette from Jose Ramos Horta about the East Timor conference which was held in Manila, the Philippines. News of this kind of solidarity always increased our determination inside our country.
Now I am in Australia but there are still young people which cannot come here, because, for example, there is no money. And there is a new generation who have also become active. What should I do here in Australia? I must do something, like those who are still inside. I think all East Timorese youth who are in Australia must do something, and help protest. We must always be ready to go to every action, every event which supports our struggle.
So for us who are now in Australia, I think that we, East Timorese youth cannot remain silent. And we also hope that the older generation who have already been in Australia for some time will push, help and give strength to young people to do something.
I state our solidarity, the youth of East Timor, with the solidarity movement in the Philippines and with young people struggling within Indonesia itself. I express gratitude to all people and groups which provide solidarity with the East Timor struggle.
I express thanks to Resistance in inviting me to speak at this conference. And I wish to quote a part of a letter which Xanana sent to Resistance from gaol in Cipinang, Jakarta:
MY HONORED COMRADES IN RESISTANCE, THE MAUBERE YOUTH WILL ALWAYS BE IN SOLIDARITY WITH YOU. IT IS THE MAUBERE YOUTH WHO ARE THE FREQUENT TARGETS OF ASSASSINATION BY THE INDONESIAN MILITARY. THE MASSACRES AT SANTA CRUZ AND AT LIQUICA ARE EVIDENCE OF THIS. THE MAUBERE YOUTH ARE THE FUTURE OF A FREE TIMOR AND FOR THAT FUTURE THEY HAVE LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES AND THEY ARE STILL PREPARED TO LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR THE LIBERATION OF FREE TIMOR. WHILE THE INDONESIAN MILITARY REMAIN IN TIMOR, THE MAUBERE PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO DIE AND BE MASSACRED BUT THEY KNOW THAT THEIR HOMELAND DEMANDS THIS OF THEM.In accordance with the spirit of Xanana's letter to Resistance, I am certain that the young people who are newly arriving in Australia will not be silent. We will join the struggle here too.BEFORE ENDING OUR DISCUSSION HERE ON BEHALF OF MYSELF AND IN THE NAME OF THE MAUBERE PEOPLE I PASS ON MY SOLIDARITY AND MY WARM GREETINGS TO YOU AND ALL THOSE IN RESISTANCE.
Viva Timor Leste!
Viva Xanana Gusmao!
Viva solidaritas
Australia - East Timor!