While people all over the world were mourning the victims of the 12 November 1991 Dili massacre*, the Indonesian occupation forces were again gunning down East Timorese people.
Three young East Timorese women were killed and three others injured last month when Indonesian soldiers and police opened fire on a group of East Timorese who were laying wreaths and lighting candles in commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the Dili massacre.
The incident happened on the morning of Wednesday 12 November in front of the house of Armindo Mariano, the chairman of the legislative assembly of East Timor, close to the cathedral in Dili.
The soldiers and police arrived at the scene and without giving any warning whatsoever started shooting into the crowd with live ammunition. The three injured people managed to escape and are presently in hiding.
This atrocious act is yet another example of the barbarity of the Indonesian armed forces, who kill without compunction and shoot innocent civilians without warning. Human rights organisations have reported a marked deterioration in the human rights situation since Bishop Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta won the Nobel Peace Prize in November last year. The East Timor International Support centre considers that 'The latest shootings are a painful reminder that the Indonesian troops and government remain intransigent and have yet to repent' and ask 'How many more lives will it take before the international community applies enugh pressure on the Indonesian regime to stop the killings and withdraw from East Timor?'
The Centre has also called for an investigation to begin immediately into the shootings.
* Two hundred and seventy one people were confirmed killed
and 250 people others are still missing after the 1991 massacre,
when Indonesian troops opened fire on unarmed men, women and children
at Santa Cruz cemetery.
(Based on a media release by the East Timor International
Support Centre in the US.)