Militia groups terrorize Christians in East Timor
The Layman Online, September 16, 1999
There is no safe haven on the island of East Timor, especially for Christians, according to reports by news organizations and denominational groups. Militia groups that are opposed to independence from Indonesia are terrorizing the population, which voted last week to split from the Asian nation.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has posted a number of articles about the crisis on its web site, as well as a fact sheet about East Timor. The crisis was anticipated by the 1999 General Assembly, which adopted an overture urging the United States government and the United Nations to make peace in East Timor a priority and to encourage the Indonesian government to grant independence to East Timor.
Letter to president
Since then, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick said in a letter to President Clinton that “it is up to the United States and the international community to exert the utmost pressure on Indonesia to fulfill its responsibility under the UN agreement. We appeal to you to make a clear statement to the Indonesian government that the violence must stop and that there will be material consequences if it does not fulfill its responsibility.”
Meanwhile, armed groups have attacked churches, monasteries, and church-run schools and hospitals to drive out refugees sheltered there, news reports say.
“Usually churches are safe, but not now,” John McCoy of World Vision told Religion Today. “There is no sanctuary. There are no safe places.” The relief-and-development ministry evacuated most of its personnel after militia burned its office in Ailieu, and some local workers have gone into hiding.
The militia are targeting Catholic priests, nuns, and at least three priests have been killed, MISNA, the Roman Catholic News Agency, said.
Deaths are ‘systematic, deliberate’
Reports say six nuns and a Jesuit priest were killed in the town of Baucau, Caritas. Bishop Basilio do Nascimento suffered minor wounds when militia attacked his home. “I think what you are seeing is not random, it’s more systematic and deliberate,” Caritas spokesman Tony Story told Reuters.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is related to the Christian community in East Timor through the Gereja Kristen di Timor (Christian Church in East Timor), a fellow member of the World Council of Churches. Rev. Francisco de Vasconcelos, the general secretary and acting moderator, was shot and killed by militiamen on Sept. 10 while he was in the company of Indonesian police.
The World Council of Churches issued a statement about Vasconcelos’ death. Dwain Epps of WCC International Relations, said that “de Vasconcelos was a courageous church leader who chose to stay with the members of his church.”
United Nations officials are investigating reports that about 100 people were killed at a church in Suai. Refugees in West Timor said militia groups attacked the church and began killing people, Reuters said.
Militia burned down the home of Bishop Carlos Belo, attacking his compound with guns and machetes and forcing 4,000 refugees off the property, news reports said. Belo has fled to nearby Australia. “He is a tough man, but he has been devastated by this,” Thomas Quigley of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops told Religion Today. Quigley said he stayed with Belo at his home last week, leaving just hours before the attack began.
Seventy children were killed at a Catholic school, a nun said. She left the school to escort a group of people to a United Nations compound and returned to find all the students dead, one of her relatives in the United States told Religion Today. She called her family last week from a convent where she is hiding with 300 other people. “She called first to basically say good-bye, but she has contacted us since to tell us she is still there,” the family member said.
Relief efforts on hold
On its web site, PCUSA relief leaders said, “The current security situation in East Timor does not permit work by international relief agencies in East Timor. Church World Service representatives are in Indonesia now working alongside the Australian Council of Churches to assess the situation and develop a plan for coordinated church response. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance stands ready to immediately provide support to appeal when it is formulated.”
In preparation for providing assistance, donations are being accepted by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Catholic Relief Services is helping refugees. World Vision is prepared to move back in with assistance and World Relief said it is looking for ways to work with local churches when the situation is under control.