By Brian Kelly
DARWIN — On June 27, about 15 activists held a vocal demonstration for several hours outside the Indonesian consulate. The protest culminated in an "invasion" of the consulate by four demonstrators after security personnel refused to return banners which had been confiscated.
Security staff threatened to call the police, and the consulate photographer took countless photos of the demonstrators before the banners were eventually returned to the protesters, who then left peacefully.
AFFET (Australians For a Free East Timor) has stepped up activities protesting against Indonesia's continuing assault on the people of East Timor. The June 27 protest coincided with the arrival of hundreds of visitors and delegates to attend Expo '96, including a huge delegation from Indonesia and a large delegation of hand-picked East Timorese. It was held to publicise the recent crackdown in Baucau, East Timor, following a week of violent confrontations and, according to sources in East Timor, three deaths.
Diario de Noticias in Lisbon reported on June 26: "A Timorese source speaking from Dili affirmed that 'the atmosphere in Baucau is still extremely tense, and it is as if the city were in a state of siege. There is a considerable military presence on the streets, including plain clothes personnel. The young people are afraid to go out because people are being arrested indiscriminately.'"
The report says that the young people are being brutally beaten in detention and that there is talk of "rivers of blood because the young people are arrested and then tortured even before being accused of anything".
It continues: "Another Baucau resident ... said that the clashes had led to the death of three people: two soldiers and a civilian ... More than 100 young people have been detained, and many have fled into the bush."
Diario de Noticias reports that Bishop Ximenes Belo of Dili has denounced the arrest of more than 100 young people, while Indonesian military authorities put the figure at 50. The International Committee of the Red Cross delegate in Jakarta, Henri Fournier, says the ICRC visited 78 detainees in Baucau. The head of the ICRC's Asia Section, Joerg Stoecklin, expressed the organisation's "concern" about the conditions in which the detainees were being held."
[Brian Kelly is a member of AFFET who recently returned from a visit to East Timor.]