13 July 2012

Digging for victims of 12 November 1991 Massacre ongoing

East Timor Legal News Source: The Dili Weekly 02 July 2012 17:23 Written by Ezequiel Freitas - The process of finding the sites where Indonesian soldiers buried the victims of the 12 November 1991 Massacre at the Santa Cruz Cemetery, Dili, is still ongoing.

“The process is ongoing. We identified several sites and we have already submitted a budget to the government to dig at the site,” said the Deputy Coordinator of the 12 November Committee, Rogerio da Costa da Cruz (11/06) in Balide, Dili.

As per the exact location of the burial site, Deputy da Cruz said he cannot release that information to the public prior to the site being dug for remains.
“This is confidential information about the work of the committee. Our staff continue to look for information on other sites where there still may be more remains,” said the Deputy.

Meanwhile Member of Parliament (MP) Mateus de Jesus said the remains of the victims already found, need to be stored so they can take their resting place at the Heroes Cemetery in Metinaro.

The victims were killed during the war to liberate the nation. Their remains will not be left all over the place, but they all will be placed in a special site the government has already prepared for them,” said MP de Jesus.

Meanwhile MP Domingos da Costa highlighted that many more victim’s remains have not been found until now.
“I heard the government already prepared a site to store the remains,” said MP da Costa.
He added, knowing MP Cornelio Gama (L-7) has already gathered the remains of other victims in Lospalos and placed them inside a coffin, but these have not yet been sorted.

“L-7 has contacted the government to take the remains to Metinaro, because these people were murdered for defending their nation and for wanting independence,” said MP da Costa.

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