Asia-Pacific Network: 3 October 1999
MEDIA: THE HIGH PRICE FOR MEDIA IN EAST TIMOR
Journalists bearing witness in the tragedy of East Timor have paid a high price. The two latest killings of reporters, a Dutch newspaper journalist and an Indonesian television investigator, have shocked the world.
By DAVID ROBIE in Suva
EVER SINCE Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and the world stood by silently, journalists have paid a high price for reporting the truth.
On 16 October 1975, at the border town of Balibo, five Australian-based journalists were tortured and executed in cold blood by Indonesian forces which were secretly raiding East Timor.
They were Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Malcolm Rennie, Brian Peters and Gary Cunningham. One was aged just 19.
Greg Shackleton's last report to the world before they were murdered serves as a chilling reminder of the atrocities in East Timor.
On 8 December 1975, a day after the full invasion, Australian freelance journalist Roger East was executed by Indonesian soldiers in the capital of Dili.
He was ordered at gunpoint to stand at the end of Dili's wharf where many East Timorese were murdered.
The soldiers wanted to shoot him in the back. He refused and faced his murderers, challenging them for their crimes as he died.
The six murders have been a stain on Indonesia's relations with Australia and although two inquiries have been carried out, they have been unsatisfactory.
In November 1991, a New Zealand/Malaysian student from Sydney, Kamal Bamadhaj, who was a translator assisting journalists, was murdered in the Dili Massacre.
The Staff Association of the University of New South Wales just two weeks ago endorsed a proposal to establish a scholarship in his memory.
Over the years, many journalists have entered East Timor posing as tourists at great risk to expose the truth.
Among them have been investigative television journalist John Pilger whose film The Death of a Nation has played an important role in raising international awareness.
In the post-referendum scorched earth devastation unleashed by the militia and Indonesian forces in September, journalists have been beaten, hounded and shot.
Some independent Indonesian journalists who have activist links or are perceived to be sympathetic to East Timor independence have disappeared.
On September 8, a television crew of Surva Citra Televesi (STV), an Indonesian private station, were threatened by an intelligence agent with a dagger.
The agent was believed to have been a "journalist" for ANTARA, Indonesia's official news agency.
The cameraman and director for the team were forced to hand over TV footage they had just shot of the razing of Bank BNI and other buildings in Dili. The video tape was destroyed.
Indonesian police and military intelligence agents are said to frequently work with press cards issued by ANTARA.
The graphic footage of BBC reporter Jonathan Head being beaten outside the United Nations compound at the time of the vote is a disturbing reminder of the risk for journalists who have been the target of the militia.
Finally, the murders of a Dutch journalist, Sander Thoenes, on September 21, just hours after he arrived in Dili following the deployment of the international peacekeeping force (INTERFET), and an Indonesian journalist, Agus Mulyawan, four days later in a massacre of nine religious people, have shocked the world.
Thoenes worked for the London Financial Times and Vrij Nederland while Muliawan worked with the Tokyo-based news organisation Asia Press International.
According to a Pacific Media Watch report: "The violent death of a correspondent is the worst thing that can happen in the life of a newspaper. In a business that depends to a great extent for its success on teamwork and mutual support, such a tragedy represents a very personal loss for everyone involved in the organisation.
"And editors are forced to confront their own responsibility in placing a member of their staff at risk in this way."
The Financial Times said:
"The death of Sander Thoenes, the Financial Times Jakarta correspondent, has been confirmed after he went missing while reporting on the deployment of the international peacekeeping force in East Timor.
"Mr Thoenes, 30, was shot by gunmen while riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi in the suburb of Becora on the outskirts of Dili, the East Timor capital, on Tuesday evening. His body was recovered by Australian troops.
"Richard Lambert, editor of the Financial Times, said: 'Mr Thoenes, a Dutch citizen, was one of the newspaper's finest foreign correspondents.
"'He was full of enthusiasm and showed great initiative and flair in everything he did. He was devoted to getting the truth. We are all devastated by this tragedy and extend our deepest sympathies to his partner and family.'
"In New York, Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-general described him as 'an oustanding young journalist'. He was deeply shocked to learn of his death."
Agus Mulyawan, 26, worked with the Tokyo-based news organisation Asia Press International. He was reported by wire services to be working on a television documentary about the major pro-independence guerrilla group Falintil.
According to a New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists report, Muliawan was travelling with a group that included the head of the Caritas Roman Catholic aid agency, two students at the local seminary, two nuns, two assistants to the nuns, and a driver.
The group apparently died in an ambush by Indonesian troops in the town of Com, as they drove from Lospalos to Baucau to assess humanitarian needs there. Seven bodies were found floating in the Raomoko River, about 50km from Baucau. Two bodies were found in the van, which had been pushed into the river.
Multinational peacekeeping troops flew by helicopter to Com and arrested 15 people suspected in connection with the killings, CPJ reports.
The International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest organisation of journalists, has called for greater United Nations protection for journalists trying to report from East Timor. It also wants the soldiers responsible for the killing of Thoenes to be arrested and put on trial.
The IFJ established an East Timor Safety Office for journalists with its Australian and Indonesian affiliate organisations, but the office was ransacked by militia and closed.
Talking about the death of Thoenes, IFJ general secretary Aidan White said: "This was a brutal and horrifying murder accompanied by gruesome mutilation. The Indonesian Government must act immediately to bring those that have been identified as responsible to trial."
Two Dutch investigating journalists, Kees Schaepman and Arnold Karskens, visited East Timor with the support of the IFJ. They returned with compelling evidence of Indonesian army involvement in the killing of Thoenes.
"We congratulate them and the Dutch Association of Journalists for their efforts," says White. "This makes the case against the Indonesian army unanswerable."
Reports that Sander Thoenes had been the victim of an attack by uniformed men has been confirmed by various eyewitnesses, including his motorcycle driver.
The IFJ is writing to President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie to demand immediate police action. The IFJ is also pressing for action to identify the killers of Agus Maulyawan.
"There must be no killing of journalists with impunity," says White. "These men were killed by ruthless and undemocratic forces who must be brought to justice."
Video footage of BBC reporter Jonathan Head being attacked
by militiamen in Dili, East Timor.
Source: CNN/BBC