From k_westmoreland@library.croydon.gov.uk Wed Sep 15 22:13:18 1999 Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 11:34:58 +0100 From: Public E-Mail To: east-timor@igc.org Subject: FW: Send the Ghurkas [sic] From: "Vidoni, Robert [279-4304]" To: "'Westmoreland, Kenneth'" Subject: FW: Send the Ghurkas Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 12:20:34 -0700 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Dear Ken, We have people from our company who were working on Timor. Just got an e-mail this morning from our team leader. I will forward it to you. He is writing from Kupang. Take care, Bob V. > ---------- > From: klohn@kupang.wasantara.net.id > Sent: September 14, 1999 03:37 > To: Vidoni, Robert [279-4304] > Subject: Send the Ghurkas > > Hi Bob, > > Well, we have arrived at our new house at Lasiana after getting away from > the troops who are killing everyone and burning everything and we are > unpacking, > hanging, and placing, etcetera. What a lot of junk one collects over the > years; > unbelievable! I have not been out since Friday as armed militia are still > on the prowl in Kupang. I understand they badly beat-up an expatriate and > dented his car right in front of the main police HQ (near toko Hero). It > is difficult for us westerners as we are being hunted because they do not > want any witnesses. They are rounding up the ethnic Timorese women in > broad daylight and raping and killing them. Young men are shot on sight. > The streets are full of bodies, many without their head and in many places > there are big fires burning. The situation in the concentration camps > where they have all the deportees is terrible. No food and little > water--only those with money which is hardly anyone can get the bare > necessities to stay alive. Obviously they want to kill everyone. In one > camp they have about 100,000 people near Noelbaki where you and I > constructed the Oesao D2 Irrigation Project. At night the troops go into > the camps and rape the women systematically and shoot a number of people. > I do not understand why the UN has to do so much talking. Every hour that > goes by more people are raped and killed. The Indonesians are a very > uncivilized and horribly savage people. My new driver said they are now > herding them onto ships and taking them far out to sea where they are > forced to jump overboard and they perish by drowning. This way there are > no mass graves that afterwards the UN people or whomever from western > countries can use as evidence of the atrocities here. > > The Australians are ready to go in although the Indonesian government is > not too keen on them leading the "peace keeping force"; they prefer "Asian > faces" or some sort of rubbish like that because "the Asians can > understand the situation better than western people" which is what some > minister in Jakarta said; maybe some Ghurka regiment or two should > be dispatched; Asian faces, hats and knives and all. Jakarta's arrogance > is barely tolerable as is their bare-faced lying; but then again, what is > new.....? You know how the Indonesians are--they can only lie. I wonder > what > happened to the information gatherers of the US, UK and Australia. They > must > have known something was going to be very much wrong...but diplomacy and > interests of big business is more important than the lives of a few > thousand peasants. > > It is difficult to get through to any web server as the influx of hand > held > phone carrying East Timorese now in Kupang plus the increase in normal > phone traffic overloads the system very badly. With my hand phones I have > difficulty logging into the Jakarta server, so better keep using > kupang.wasantara.net.id. > > Well, that is it for now. > > Take care. > > Robert > >