Subject: 'austraLasia' #246
LOS PALOS AS IT IS AT PRESENT
NOTE: this is a transcript from a radio bulletin and misses the occasional
word, but it's the first eyewitness account we have of how things are around
Los Palos which is a Salesian stronghold amongst other things. We have been
led to believe that things were quieter in the east - if you can believe an
Australian :-) maybe that's not quite so! (Julian)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
PM News
Thursday, September 30, 1999 6:10
Convoy arrives in Los Palos
COMPERE: But first the international force is spreading its control
gradually across East Timor, but its grip remains frail. As we shall hear
shortly, the US is pushing hard for Indonesian reform and a guarantee that
there will be no more support for the militias, and Australia wants a
transition sooner rather than later to a so called "blue helmet" UN peace
keeping force.
In the meantime there's the slow and painstaking work on the ground. The
multi-national force in East Timor and Aid Agencies have made their most
remote food drop yet. A 20 truck convoy has arrived in the town of Los Palos
in the East of the territory.
Our correspondent, Geoff Thompson, was on board.
GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, Mark, it was complete devastation between Baukau and
Los Palos. It was just burnt house after burnt house. We stopped at a few
places on the way and the locals were just overwhelmingly happy to see the
UN return to this part of East Timor. One young girl told me that times were
so
good when the UN were here but then they left and she cried and said I'm
just so happy that they're back.
But, of course, this trip was just really to fly the flag in Los Palos. As
you said, it's the furthest a convoy has ventured now outside of the capital
Dili by land, and the people here were very glad to see an international
presence return to the town
COMPERE: But it's fair to say that everywhere you go you see exactly the
same pattern of razed houses and destruction?
GEOFF THOMPSON: Absolutely. And in some towns, damage worse than others.
There was a ... the UN said a few days ago when it flew over Los Palos that
it was 75 per cent destroyed. On the ground it seems it's not quite as bad
as some other places, but that doesn't mean much in East Timor at the
moment.
The local priest estimates that 50 per cent of houses have been burnt down
in
Los Palos and, you know, as you say, anywhere you travel in East Timor there
is a trail of destruction. In some areas it's slightly less than others.
COMPERE: And what kind of evidence is there in Los Palos, I know you've only
just got there, but in terms of what has been happening there in the last
couple of weeks?
GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, to a person when he talks to locals they say all the
destruction has been done by the militia working in a joint operation with
the Indonesian military, and the priest estimates that hundreds of people
have died in Los Palos, but no-one can say for sure.
We were taken around the town. We were taken to a military command where
there's a prison cell there where the walls are literally splattered with
blood.
One young man told us that his friend had been taken there and shot. They
were then ... I think he was finished off with a knife and their bodies were
then taken to a well, which we were also escorted to, and dumped there. It
was impossible to see in that well, it was just too dark, but there were
plenty of flies and the smell was certainly unpleasant.
COMPERE: This is remarkable, isn't it, in that before the election all the
militia activity seemed to be concentrated in the Western districts of the
country and yet there you are, nearly as far East as you can go in East
Timor, and it seems to be just as bad. It seems as if the destruction was
evenly spread right across the whole territory.
GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, that's right. In fact, Los Palos was being held up by
the UN as an example of how well things are working in their mission. It was
offered up to journalists - I almost went on it myself - as a trip to
showcase how well they were doing without militia trouble, etcetera.
But we've always know that the Team Alpha militia was based here. It was
under direct control of the Party, the Administrator in Los Palos, Edmundo
Arvi Consulsow (phonetic) and they were also one of those militias which
were changed into the civilian security force called Atami Su Akarta
(phonetic).
When we asked the Party about them they said they don't exist anymore.
They're now [inaudible], a civilian security force. But the trouble in the
East was that it was certainly present, but far less than in the West. That
after these recent weeks, there was a systematic campaign of destruction
spread through the whole territory.
COMPERE: Geoff Thompson on the satellite phone from Los Palos in the East of
East Timor.
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