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Juliana was one of several hundred people sheltering in
the grounds of Ave Maria Roman Catholic church in Suai when it was attacked
by Indonesian security forces and their Laksaur militia proxies in an unprovoked
assault on Sept. 6, 1999, that left as many as 200 people dead, including
three priests. ... The Indonesian government's human rights watchdog, Komnas
HAM ... described what happened at the Suai church as indiscriminate killing,
with the victims including men, women and children, aged between 5 and
40. In the chaos that followed the worst recorded atrocity after the UN-organized
self-determination plebiscite in East Timor, Juliana was separated from
her mother and taken to the district military headquarters. It was there
that the Laksaur militia deputy leader, Igidio Mnanek, seized the young
girl and proclaimed her as his "war prize." " Mark Dodd
International Herald Tribune
Friday, December 22, 2000
Opinion & Editorial: Mark Dodd
A Family in East Timor Grieves for a Daughter
DILI, East Timor Somewhere in Indonesian West Timor, in a camp controlled
by some of the most notorious militia thugs who fled from East Timor after
its people voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in August
1999, there is a 16-year-old girl called Juliana dos Santos. She has just
delivered a baby and may be pregnant again. United Nations human rights
officials desperately want to hear from her. So do her frantic East Timorese
parents.
.
These are the facts in one of the most horrifying accounts to emerge
from the mayhem that followed East Timor's vote for independence last year:
Juliana dos Santos was kidnapped as a "war prize" by Igidio Mnanek, the
deputy leader of the notorious Laksaur militia.
.
Juliana was one of several hundred people sheltering in the grounds
of Ave Maria Roman Catholic church in Suai when it was attacked by Indonesian
security forces and their Laksaur militia proxies in an unprovoked assault
on Sept. 6, 1999, that left as many as 200 people dead, including three
priests. Juliana's younger brother Carlos was among those killed. There
are unconfirmed reports that she may have witnessed his murder.
.
The Indonesian government's human rights watchdog, Komnas HAM, in a
report published Jan. 31, described what happened at the Suai church as
indiscriminate killing, with the victims including men, women and children,
aged between 5 and 40. In the chaos that followed the worst recorded atrocity
after the UN-organized self-determination plebiscite in East Timor, Juliana
was separated from her mother and taken to the district military headquarters.
.
It was there that the Laksaur militia deputy leader, Igidio Mnanek,
seized the young girl and proclaimed her as his "war prize." He had achieved
earlier notoriety by stamping on the body of one of the priests murdered
in the Suai church. Within days, Juliana was taken across the border, along
with tens of thousands of other East Timorese, many of them against their
will. She was next heard of at Raihanek refugee camp in Betun, West Timor.
.
Juliana's mother and her aunt were among the East Timorese herded like
cattle across the border in September 1999. Learning of her daughter's
whereabouts, the distraught mother tried to arrange a meeting. But Mr.
Mnanek insisted on being present. "Igidio Mnanek was there with four of
his goons. Juliana didn't say anything but was in tears," said Galuh Wandita,
a senior UN human rights official closely involved with the case.
.
By April, Mrs. dos Santos had returned to East Timor. She tried again
for a meeting with Juliana at the Motaain border checkpoint during a series
of UN-sponsored family reunions. Letters were exchanged but despite a promised
meeting Mrs. dos Santos failed to see her daughter. In June events took
an ominous turn. In a letter received by the family, Juliana referred to
Mr. Mnanek as "her husband" despite his acquisition of at least "three
wives."
.
"Obviously this is traumatic for her," Ms. Wandita said. "She has borne
him one child and may even be pregnant again. Perhaps she has forged a
psychological dependency on Mnanek. She could also have written the letter
under duress - we just don't know."
.
Fate has not been kind to the dos Santos family. They have now lost
all three children. The first son died from illness at a young age, the
second was brutally murdered in the Suai church massacre - and now their
only daughter has been kidnapped, raped and is living as a wife of one
of the leaders of a militia gang responsible for the killing of her brother.
.
The most recent news is that Mr. Mnanek has disappeared. He was last
seen more than a month ago boarding a plane in Kupang, West Timor, bound
for Jakarta. He had been summoned for questioning by Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman in relation to war crimes committed in East Timor - a move strongly
opposed by the Indonesian military. Grave fears are now held for Juliana's
safety, because she knows so much.
.
The writer, a journalist based in East Timor, contributed this comment
to the International Herald Tribune.
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Website: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood
Email: wildwood@pcug.org.au