Suai Church massacre
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| Suai Church massacre | |
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 Memorial in Suai dedicated to the victims of the massacre. | |
| Location | Suai, Cova Lima District, East Timor |
| Coordinates | 9°18′45″S 125°15′20″E / 9.3125°S 125.2556°ECoordinates: 9°18′45″S 125°15′20″E / 9.3125°S 125.2556°E |
| Date | 6 September 1999 (UTC+9) |
| Target | East Timorese Catholics |
Attack type | Massacre |
| Deaths | ~200 |
| Perpetrators | Indonesian civil and military officials |
The Suai Church massacre occurred on 6 September 1999, in Suai, Cova Lima District in southwestern East Timor, two days after the results of the independence referendum were announced.
Massacre[]
According to the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor's report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, several hundred persons had sought refuge in the Ave Maria church from attacks of the pro-Indonesia Laksaur militia in the city. Then the militia, with the support of the military of Indonesia, killed up to 200 people. Twenty-six bodies were identified that had been buried across the border in West Timor, but eyewitnesses claim many more were killed.
Five Indonesian officials—Lieutenant Colonel , Captain , Lieutenant Sugito, police Colonel , and District Head —were tried in Indonesia for these crimes but were acquitted. The UN named them and eleven other men in an indictment filed by the UN Serious Crimes Unit in Dili, accusing them of 27 counts of crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, enforced disappearance, torture, and deportation.
See also[]
External links[]
- ETAN (East Timor and Indonesia Action Network) page, including excerpts from the UN report and eyewitness accounts
- Human Rights Watch page discussing acquittal of the five implicated Indonesian officials
- Suai Church Massacre drawing by Suai youth & Photograph of Church
- Drawings of Massacre by Suai Youth 2000
- Short Documentary about Suai Church Massacre
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- 1999 in East Timor
- Indonesian occupation of East Timor
- Massacres in 1999
- Massacres in Indonesia
- Massacres in religious buildings and structures
- September 1999 events in Asia
- Massacres in East Timor
- East Timor stubs
- Southeast Asian history stubs
- Massacre stubs