Seven young East Timorese entered the Swedish and Finnish embassies in Jakarta on June 23 to ask for political asylum. After being told that the Finish embassy would not help, the four Timorese in that embassy left after receiving "guarantees" of safety from the Indonesian military.
All seven have had terrifying experiences at the hands of the army of occupation, especially since the Santa Cruz massacre on November 12, 1991, when Indonesian troops shot dead more than 200 peaceful demonstrators. All seven went into hiding after the massacre and eventually left East Timor last year, since when they have been on the run in Jakarta.
In recent months, army intelligence has stepped up its pursuit of East Timorese students studying in universities throughout Java. Armed platoons have surrounded student residences in Jakarta at night.
According to the Indonesian activist coalition Forum for International Solidarity in Indonesia (FISI), the three men in the Swedish embassy are: Florencio Anunciacao Fernandes, 22, who participated in the November 12, 1991, demonstration and was forced to abandon his studies after being constantly pursued by the army; Porfirio da Costa Oliveira, 23, who was badly wounded during the massacre; and Jose Manuel de Oliveira Sousa, 24, also a demonstrator in November 1991, who escaped arrest four days later.
The four in the Finnish embassy were: Mateus Brito Ximenes, 23, who fled the army although severely wounded on November 12 and reached Jakarta last July; Clementino Faria, 27, who was hounded by the army after taking part in a demonstration in January 1990 when the UN ambassador visited Dili; Oscar Goncalves da Silva, 20, who escaped arrest after the 1991 demonstration; and Ventura Valentino de Conceicao, 23, who was detained and tortured after demonstrating during the pope's visit to Dili in October 1989 and later took part in a pro-independence rally at his school in
September 1990.
In a statement circulated internationally by TAPOL (British Campaign for Human Rights in Indonesia), the East Timorese presented documents to the Swedish and Finnish ambassadors which said: "We come to you as witnesses to the Indonesian military brutality which, since December 7, 1975, has become a fact of everyday life in East Timor, a military brutality which has consisted of torture, rape, intimidation, terror and slaughter of the kind the world witnessed on 12 November 1991 in Dili, a military brutality which has robbed us of the right to an education, has made us foreigners in our own country, and has now forced us to leave our beloved homeland and our families and friends ..."
Meanwhile, FISI issued a statement calling for the East Timorese to be allowed to Swedish Embassy leave the country safely. "These East Timorese, like thousands of them who are fighting for the national liberation of East Timor against the intervention and occupation of the Indonesian military regime, have been persecuted for their activities and fear for their lives."