WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITIES (True Crime) (33 page)

As order started to return to Phnom Penh, the Vietnamese formed a new government known as the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), led by a young prime minister by the name of Hun Sen. Despite the inborn fear of Vietnamese domination, many defectors of the Khmer Rouge helped to form the core of the new government.

Relieved that the harsh rule of the despotic Khmer Rouge was over, hundreds of thousands of Cambodian families started the long march home in the hope of finding some of their relatives. In most cases, however, they returned to find that nothing was left of their former lives – no homes, no possessions and, most tragically, no family. In reality, the Khmer Rouge came close to their dream of eradicating all memories of the old Cambodia. The country had literally been turned upside down by the Khmer Rouge years, and the new government had the daunting task of trying to not only heal the mental and physical wounds, but also rebuild the country economically.

NO CHANCE FOR WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL

Owing to the fact that neither Pol Pot nor any of his followers were ever held accountable for the atrocities committed during his years in power, the weight of their crimes fell on the last of the Khmer Rouge leaders, General Ta Mok. Although Hun Sen permitted many of the high-ranking Khmer Rouge officials to return to Cambodian society without any form of recrimination, he decided that Ta Mok, nicknamed ‘The Butcher’, was to be the scapegoat. He was arrested on 6 March, 1999, in an effort to make him pay for the sins of the Marxist excesses. Ta Mok was regarded by many people as the most brutal of all the Khmer Rouge leaders, and he was known to have played a key role in a series of massacres and purges. He was the leader of the forces that destroyed the former royal capital of Oudong in 1974, killing many officials and government soldiers and forcing thousands of citizens to leave their homes.

Ta Mok died on 21 July, 2006, thereby evading any form of trial. His death left a Khmer Rouge prison boss, Kaing Khek Iev, more commonly known as Duch, as the organization’s only surviving member in prison. Pol Pot died in April 1998 from an apparent heart condition, while in his hiding place in the jungles of northern Cambodia. Although there was much relief at his death, many felt that this relief was tainted with frustration that the mastermind of the killing fields died before he could be brought before a tribunal. Like Adolf Hitler before him, Pol Pot did not survive to take the brunt of his actions, and consequently he was unable to bring anyone else down with him. Many Cambodians feel deprived that one of the most sordid episodes in their lives will never be truly revealed, as the deaths of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge have taken the secrets with them.

Atrocities In East Timor

1975–89

East Timor is in Southeast Asia, just north-west of Australia in the Lesser Sundra Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. It is comprised of half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco and the Oecussi-Ambeno region on the north-west side of the island of Timor. It is a small country of just 14,609 sq km (5,376 sq miles) and is located approximately 640 km (400 miles) north- west of Darwin, Australia.

East Timor’s struggle for independence has been long, hard and traumatic, with the small nation suffering some of the worst atrocities of modern times. They eventually achieved their independence on 20 May, 2002, but it is estimated that as many as 100,000 Timorese died as a result of Indonesia’s 25-year occupation, which ended in 1999. A further 300,000 people were forced into West Timor as refugees, and the majority of the country’s infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water supply, schools and the country’s national grid, were all destroyed. It wasn’t until the Australian-led peacekeeping troops of the International Force for East Timor took the matter into their hands, that the period of violence and terror was brought to an end.

LIFE UNDER THE MILITIA

For over 24 years the people of East Timor suffered at the hands of the Indonesian militia, through torture, starvation and arbitrary executions and massacres. It is impossible to know exactly how many civilians have been killed since the invasion by the Indonesian army and militia in 1975. This is mainly due to the fact that the Indonesian President Suharto banned journalists and human-rights activitists from entering the area from 1975 to 1989. Five Australian journalists who did manage to get through the blockades were killed by the army in Balibo. The information that has been gathered about the atrocities comes mainly from just a handful of journalists, activists and aid workers who actually made it into East Timor and out again in the past 25 years.

The Indonesian militia were formed in the 1970s, before the invasion of East Timor, and appeared to be funded mainly by the Indonesian military. One of the most brutal groups of militia is known as the Mahidi, who are known to have employed underhand tactics of intimidation and fear, which included abduction, torture, rape and murder.

The main objectives of the militia was to extract information about the location and planned strategies of the resistance movement in East Timor. They used whatever perverse method they thought would be most effective to achieve their goals. Photographic evidence has been released of militia hanging up the Timorese by chains, shoving steel poles down their throats, forcing them to eat dirt, applying electric shocks to their genitalia and finally burying their bodies in unmarked graves. Other favoured methods of torture by the militia were the pulling out of finger and toenails, crushing people’s fingers under the legs of chairs, ducking them under water, or partially suffocating them by placing bags over their heads. Known resistance leaders were forcibly beaten about the head, many being left with severe brain damage.

The militia seemed to take pride in their torture tactics, and it is through their own photographic records that the atrocities eventually came to light. Their killing methods were also extreme to the point of perversion. Not only did they kill with bullets, they dropped people from helicopters into the sea with rocks tied round their bodies to ensure they sank. There is also evidence of them running people over with bulldozers and swinging babies around by their feet and slamming their heads into rocks. Many of their victims were disembowelled with body parts left as grim reminders to warn others of a similar fate.

TORTURE
 
OF
 
WOMEN
 
AND
 
CHILDREN

The atrocities committed by the Indonesia militia were not just confined to the men of East Timor. The women and children also felt the brunt of their aggression and human-rights violations. They were constantly raped in front of other family members, forced to marry Indonesia soldiers, subjected to torture by electric shocks, sexually abused and, in some cases, forcibly sterilized in an effort to reduce the East Timor population.

The militia used rape and sexual assault as a tool of war, in an effort to extract information from the women as to the whereabouts of members of the resistance. In addition to this, the militia forced women to serve as their sex slaves, often making them pregnant in an effort to, as they describe it, ‘depurify’ the Timorese population.

‘
FENCE
 
OF
 
LEGS
’

One of the most harrowing abominations of the Indonesian occupation was their ‘Fence of Legs’ campaign, which was carried out in 1981. The militia rounded up a large number of civilians, regardless of their age and state of health, and made them march across the island. They made them march in lines with the intention of flushing out resistance fighters and, most importantly, Xanana Gusmao, who was the nation’s most recent leader.

One section of the human fence began walking westwards from Tutuala in the far east of East Timor, while another marched along the Viqueque corridor. The two fences met at Mount Matebian and then spread out to Lacluta. However, the militia’s plan went terribly wrong as one after another of the Timorese dropped either from sickness or starvation. Those that didn’t die were tied up and stabbed to death, ending the march with the most horrendous massacre. Although there are no figures as to how many actually died during those marches, it is thought that as many as 60,000 civilians were forced to take part.

Rather than uncovering guerilla fighters, the operation merely found villagers cowering in the bush. The marches took place during the main planting season, which meant that most of the subsistence farmers who were forced to take part were unable to plant their crops, which led to a major famine. This, on top of an already weakened population, led to further hardships for the long-suffering Timorese.

Unfortunately, the ‘Fence of Legs’ was not an isolated case, and the militia routinely used civilians in their campaigns. They were known to recruit children as young as ten, who were savagely punished if they failed in their duties.

SANTA CRUZ MASSACRE

On 12 November, 1991, Indonesian troops fired on an innocent group of people taking part in a peaceful memorial procession to the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. More than 271 Timorese were killed, 278 were wounded, 103 were hospitalized and 270 people simply ‘disappeared’.

This massacre, unlike many others that had taken place during Indonesia’s occupation, was filmed and photographed by international journalists Amy Goodman and Allan Nairn, both of whom were badly hurt. Allan Nairn was beaten with the butts of rifles, which fractured his skull.

Just prior to the massacre, the Indonesian army were sweeping through villages and towns in East Timor, rounding up anyone who they believed might be planning to talk to a UN-sponsored delegation that was due to arrive from Portugal. The Indonesians threatened people throughout the country, warning them that if they talked to the delegation they would be killed. Ironically, the delegation never actually arrived in East Timor, but the Indonesians decided to carry out a massacre anyway. Just after the announcement that the delegation was to arrive, the Indonesians stormed the San Antonio de Motael church and seized a young man by the name of Sebastiao Gomes. He was shot at point-blank range, and it was his funeral at Dili on 12 November that attracted such a large crowd of mourners.

As the funeral procession wound its way through the streets of Dili, many other people joined in. Some went to stand beside the newly dug grave, while others waited outside, hemmed in by the walls of the cemetery. They stood around talking excitedly and nervously, but one of the crowd noticed that the exit had been blocked by an Indonesian army truck. As they turned to look down the road, the crowd noticed a long, slowly-marching column of uniformed soldiers. The crowd grew nervous, as the seemingly endless line of soldiers advanced closer and closer. They were right to be nervous, and it wasn’t long before the inconceivable happened. The soldiers broke ranks, raised their rifles and fired in unison into the crowd of people standing in the cemetery. People fell where they stood, too stunned to move; others tried to flee, gasping in horror, only to be gunned down. The street was soon awash with blood, with the bodies of schoolgirls, young men and older Timorese lying to left and right. It was a deliberate mass murder of unarmed, defenceless people with no provocation whatsoever.

A
 SLOW RECOVERY

The Santa Cruz massacre was actually the turning point for the people of East Timor, as it set in motion a chain of events that led to the country becoming independent. Even though the people of East Timor now have their freedom and independence, it will probably be many more years before they see justice for the decades of abuse inflicted on them by the Indonesian military.

The rebuilding of East Timor has been one of the United Nation’s biggest success stories, but the continuing state of poverty and unemployment means that the country will need to rely on outside assistance for many years to come.

War Crimes In Sri Lanka

1980s–2006

Sri Lanka (meaning ‘resplendent island’) is a lush, beautiful place that is located just off the south-eastern coast of India. However, its white beaches and beautifully scented flowers are just a backdrop to an island that has been the scene of one of the world’s most violent and merciless conflicts.

The island of Ceylon (as it was once known), which is located off the coast of India, is the home to two major ethnic groups – the Sinhala and the Tamils. The Sinhala call their country Sri Lanka, while the Tamils call theirs Tamil Eelam. In the early 1800s, the British took control of Ceylon and installed a form of government which, in theory, gave the Sinhala control of the whole island. The Tamils, who were not pleased by the situation, to say the least, claimed that the Sinhalese subjected them to constant harassment, persecution and even torture. The Tamils formed a group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and started a civil war against the Sinhalese in 1983. The war has swung to the advantage of both sides over the years, and it is estimated that as many as 60,000 people have been killed and more than one-and-a-half million more displaced.

With a population of approximately 18 million, the losses that Sri Lanka has experienced can be compared to those suffered by France and the UK in both World War I and World War II. The war is between the Sri Lankan forces, who represent the Sinhalese Buddhist majority, and the LTTE, who want a separate state in the north and east of the island for the predominantly Hindu Tamil minority.

Both sides have committed serious war crimes and over the years, despite numerous assurances, they have continued to eliminate defenceless soldiers and committed atrocities against innocent civilians time and time again. For example, in 1993 alone, at least 200 Tamil civilizians were killed when the Sri Lankan army bombed villages, destroying churches, hospitals, schools, houses and factories – none of which were legitimate targets of war. Almost one-quarter of Sri Lanka’s Tamil population have fled the country during the years of active warfare, which has created a dispersion of around 600,000 and 800,000 worldwide.

THE TAMIL TIGERS

From the start of the 1970s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) developed into a formidable and frightening fighting force. They are said to be about 10,000-strong and their soldiers consist of men, women and children. By either abducting or using threatening tactics on their parents, the Tigers have managed to recruit thousands of underage child soldiers, some as young as eight years old. Tamil families in the north and east of Sri Lanka have literally been press-ganged into letting their sons and daughters leave home for military service. When the families refused, the Tamils simply abducted the children from their homes at night or waited until they came out of school. Even since the ceasefire began in 2002, the Tamil Tigers have still continued to recruit children, taking advantage of the refugees who were found homeless after the catastrophic tsunami in 2004. Since the start of February 2002, the Tamil Tigers have recruited over 3,516 children, but the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), states that this probably only represents a small proportion of the total number.

Apart from fighting the conventional war, the Tamil Tigers have also targeted civilians and deliberately attacked villagers. In one early morning attack in 1999, the Tigers were accused of literally hacking to death women and children in a majority Sinhala village. The Tigers have been accused of trying to ethnically cleanse Jaffna, when they asked all the non-Tamils to leave in 1990.

The Tamils are also notorious for their suicide attacks, which are conducted by highly motivated men and women. These people literally turn themselves into human bombs.

1983 GENOCIDE

The anti-Tamil riots that took place in July 1983 in Sri Lanka changed the course of the nation’s history. The riots, which were vicious and bloody, lasted for several days and left over 3,000 Tamils dead and a considerable amount of property destroyed. Instead of trying to stop the genocide, Sri Lankan politicians, police and armed forces, as well as several members of the Buddhist clergy, actually took an active part in many of the murders and rapes. The Tamils were targeted by the Sinhalese, who subjected them to untold misery. They were beaten or hacked to death in a frenzy of racial hatred, and their homes and businesses were razed to the ground. The riots caused fear in the Tamil society, and created a movement of refugees within the island. Thousands of Tamils fled to Tamil Nadu, Europe and North America. Even the Sri Lankan President, Jayawardene, refused to condemn the riots and refrained from issuing any form of statement until a few days after the riots were over.

Perhaps one of the most brutal and obviously well organized part of the riots, took place within the confines of a prison in the city of Colombo. Although it was supposed to be a place of maximum security, not just one, but two massacres took place there in the space of just one week.

In the first incident 35 inmates were killed in the Welikada gaol on 25 July, and just two days later a further 17 were killed. The attack is thought to have taken place because two supposed guerilla leaders, Sellarasa Yogachandiran, leader of the LTTE, and Ganeshanathan Jeganathan were being held under the death sentence for the murder of a policeman. When the assailants came across the two men, it is reported that they were forced to kneel while they had their eyes gouged out with iron bars. Then they were stabbed to death and their testicles were wrenched from their bodies.

After these killings, nine prisoners were moved to a padlocked hall, upstairs in the same block. Among these men were Dr Rajasunderam, Sir Lanka’s Gandhian leader, two Catholic priests and a Methodist minister. The nine men were convinced that there would be a further attack, and they were given assurances that they would be protected, but no further measures were taken.

It was about 2.30 p.m. on 27 July, when the nine men heard whistling and jeering coming from outside. One of the priests looked out of the high window and saw prisoners breaking in from a nearby compound. They were wielding axes, iron bars, pieces of firewood and sticks, and there was not one prison guard in sight. The mob had already killed 16 people in the cells on the floor below and they ran up the stairs and started to try and break open the padlocked door. Dr Rajasunderam cried out to the men, ‘Why are you trying to kills us, what have we done to you?’ At that moment the door burst open and he was hit on the side of the neck with an iron bar and blood literally spurted several feet. The remaining eight men decided that they had better defend themselves and started to break up the tables and chairs and, using the legs, they managed to defend themselves. The mob threw bricks and the eight men retaliated by throwing them back. Pieces of firewood and an iron bar were thrown as weapons and this continued for about half an hour. The mob shouted, ‘You are priests, we have to kill you!’ Eventually the violence was ended when the army intervened using tear gas.

Although the official report says that the killings at Welikade gaol were the result of a prison riot, the story does not really ring true. If this were the case, then how did the prisoners get out of their cells without the aid of the guards, and where did they get their weapons? According to sworn statements, the assailants claimed that they were given the instructions by the prison authorites, who ordered them to kill all those prisoners being held at the young offenders ward, which is where the Tamil prisoners were kept.

The families of those murdered on those two days only learned about their death via a news broadcast on the radio. What is worse, they were not even given the chance to say a final goodbye as the men were buried before their families got to see the bodies.

TIMELINE OF CONFLICT

Since the beginning of the conflict, the blood of innocent civilians has stained the hands of the Sri Lankan forces. In many cases, the attacks have been the result of the forces suffering some form of setback in their fight for power. Below is a list of just some of the atrocities that have been carried out between the years 1986 and 1997.

1986

30 November: In attacks on villages in the north-east border, 127 people, mostly Sinhalese, are killed.

1987

21 April: LTTE detonate a car bomb at Colombo bus station, killing 113 people.

7 May: A bomb destroys central telegraph office, killing 14 people.

14 May: 150 killed when the LTTE attack the city of Anuradhapura.

2 June: LTTE stop bus and shoot 33 people, including 29 Buddhist monks.

1988

11 February: Shootings at Duluwewa result in the killing of 34 Sinhalese.

28 February: Further 37 Sinhalese killed at Borawewa.

1 May: Bus is blown up by a landmine in Trincomalee, killing 22 passengers.

14 November: Bus attacked in Trincomalee, killing 

27 Sinhalese.

1989

13 April: Car bomb explodes in Trincomalee, killing 

51 shoppers.

1990

3 August: When praying at a mosque in Kattankudy, 140 Muslims were killed in machete, gun and hand grenade attack.

12 August: Another 120 Muslims killed at Eravur.

1991

2 March: Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne is killed in a car bomb explosion in Colombo.

21 April: In south-east Moneragala, 21 villagers are killed.

8 July: 27 civilians killed in Batticaloa.

1992

1 September: In Batticaloa 22 Muslims are killed by a bicycle bomb.

15 October: In Palliyagodella 166 Muslims are killed.

1993

23 April: Former Security Minister, Lalith Athulathmudali is killed at a rally in Colombo by LTTE terrorists.

1994

19 January: At Anuradhapura, 15 bus passengers are killed in a bomb blast.

21 March: 22 fishermen killed in Puttalam.

24 November: Opposition leader, Gamini Dissanayake, and 51 others killed by a suicide bomber.

1995

26 May: at Kallarawa, 42 villagers are killed.

7 August: Suicide bomber explodes bomb hidden in coconut cart in Colombo, killing 24 and wounding 40.

20 October: Terrorists blow up two oil depots in Colombo, killing 20 security personnel.

1996

31 January: A truck packed with explosives rams into the Central Bank building, killing 100 and injuring 1,400 people.

4 July: Woman suicide bomber kills 21 civilians and soldiers and wounds 50, including a cabinet minister.

24 July: LTTE explode two bombs on a commuter train, killing 57 people and injuring at least 257.

1997

9 September: Civilian ship attacked in the port of Trincomalee; 32 people killed in a gun battle between terrorists and Sri Lankan navy.

15 October: In Colombo, 11 people killed in terrorist bomb blast and ensuing gun battle.