Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists has issued an "urgent action" statement listing several Indonesian journalists missing in East Timor, as concerns grow about the difficulty of finding out what is happening in the territory.
Peter Rohe, a journalist with the Jakarta-based Suara Bangsa daily, last made contact with his editor on Tuesday morning. Two freelance reporters are also missing in the territory: Joaquim Rohi and Mindho Rajagoekgoek, who reports for Radio Netherlands.
Tri Agus Siswowohardjo, a journalist, former political prisoner and member of the local ballot monitoring group, Kiper, is in hiding somewhere in East Timor.
Reports filtering through from the handful of foreign journalists left in the besieged United Nations compound in Dili, and statements from church groups, refugees and independence activists, suggest a devastating pattern of atrocities committed across the territory.
East Timorese who have escaped speak of scores of people being rounded up, the men separated and presumed killed. No independent witnesses are available.
Experienced journalists in Jakarta are reminded of the time lag and the stages of disbelief suffered when they tried to report on the early stages of Cambodia's tragedy from 1975 to 1979, during which time the Khmer Rouge instituted their "Ground Zero" policy of mass extermination.
"In our case, it was the volume of evidence from refugees," said John MacBeth, now bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review in Indonesia. "We were not surprised when the killing fields were later discovered.
"Lots of the people coming out had never actually witnessed the killing, they spoke of people who had disappeared, or the sight of Khmer Rouge returning with blood on their shoes after taking people away.
"But the most credible reports were from those who were only hours out. Once people get into refugee camps, the danger is they're repeating stories from other refugees."
Indonesian military and militias active in West Timor are severely restricting the ability of journalists to obtain those first-hand reports.
Journalists remaining in Dili are subject to the pressures of the lengthy and frightening siege of the UN compound and a growing anger at the Indonesian military's behaviour
"It now appears that the forced removal of the press corps from East Timor is part of a deliberate strategy by the pro-Jakarta militias, and perhaps their allies in the Indonesian military itself, to deny the world access to the story of East Timor," said the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
Four Indonesian activists are also missing, said Ging Ginanjar, head of advocacy for the Alliance of Independent Journalists. His statement named Yeni Rosa Damayanti, Adi Pratomo, Anthony Listianto and Yakob Rumbiak, all of whom worked for Kiper and have student activist or political prisoner backgrounds.
Australia's state-run broadcaster has extended its "Radio Australia" service to East Timor, and plans to reach parts of central and western Indonesia from today, an official said.but simply a chaos produced by the actions of the militias and the plots of some officers, compounded by the cowardice of decision makers, military and civilian. The Indonesian establishment has to grasp that its foolishness is profoundly damaging to Indonesia as well as East Timor. It is time to live up to the responsibilities that the word "Merdeka" implies.