Readers are warned that the following photos are explicit and often of a disturbing nature. However, readers are encouraged to view the photos as they provide the most telling type of information about the violence to which East Timorese people are subjected.

A note from the editors of American Politics Journal

While we were researching material concerning human rights abuses in East Timor, we came across material from the East Timor Human Rights Center.

Jeff Koopersmith: "I was personally horrified by what I found, and felt American Politics Journal should share this documented photographic evidence of the Indonesian government's torture, murder and repression."

David J. Gonzo: "This is a serious problem -- one that should be immediately addressed by our government. We should withdraw our support for IMF contributions to Indonesia -- for starters."

From the East Timor Human Rights Centre

The photographs show East Timorese youths being tortured and killed by members of the Indonesian military, and were released by Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta recently in Geneva. Mr Ramos-Horta, joint winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, presented a video of the photographs to United Nations experts including the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye.

The graphic photographs show young East Timorese men being subjected to brutal torture including electric shock, cigarette burns, strangling with metal chains and beatings with poles and chairs. Some of the victims appear to have died as a result of the torture and are shown being buried in mass graves.

Mr. Ramos-Horta said he believed the pictures were authentic while Indonesia dismissed them as a "lot of nonsense" and said they were false. Mr. Ghaffer Fadyl, a representative of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, said "we doubt their authenticity." He also said, "this is conformity with Horta's propaganda -- using lies and distortion to discredit Indonesia" (Reuters, 7 April 1997).

The video and photographs, which were recently smuggled out of East Timor, were also sent to the East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC), which is undertaking an investigation. The ETHRC believes the photographs are authentic, however, arrangements are being made for experts to view them. All findings of the ETHRC investigation will be reported to the United Nations, in particular the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

According to the video, the tortures took place in Baucau, East Timor, in October 1995 and in December 1996. The video alleges that some of the victims were arrested between 10 and 12 October, 1995, and taken to "Rumah Merah" (the red house), the headquarters of Kopassus (Special Forces Command). They were allegedly interrogated, tortured and killed by the "Team Sera", a unit of Kopassus and later taken to Manatuto where they were buried in mass graves. The video also alleges that the other victims were arrested December 1996 in Viqueque and taken to Baucau where they were tortured and killed, also at the "Rumah Merah".

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VICTIMS 1, 2 and 3: Six photos of victim 1, wearing a black t-shirt and trousers, who appears to have died from torture. One photo in the series shows victim 1 and two other victims (all presumably dead) covered in blood-stained pro-independence banners. Another photo shows victim 1 in the bottom of a grave.

VICTIM 4: Three photos of victim 4, wearing red shorts and blindfold, being tortured by a member of the Indonesian army. The victim is being subjected to electric shock and being beaten with a chair and a bamboo pole.

VICTIM 5: Four photos of victim 5, wearing brown shorts and blindfold, being tortured by a member of the Indonesian army. The victim is being strangled with a chain and his face is being trodden on by a soldier. One photo shows the victim's covered body on the floor (presumably dead) while another shows the body at the grave site.

VICTIM 6: Four photos of victim 6, wearing white underpants and blindfold, being interrogated and tortured by a member of the Indonesian army. The photos show the victim being strangled with a chain while standing and also while kneeling on the floor with the soldier's foot on his back. One photo shows the victim being put into a shallow grave.

VICTIM 7: Two photos of victim 7, wearing blue jeans, no shirt and blindfold, tied to an iron bed frame by the neck and wrists. The victim is having a thick bamboo pole inserted into his mouth, presumably causing strangulation.

VICTIM 9: Three photos of victim 9, wearing blue/green shorts and blindfold, being tortured by a member of the Indonesian army. The victim's wrists and neck are tied together with a chain and while a soldier drives a large bamboo pole into his stomach and throat. The victim is also shown having his foot squashed with the leg of a chair with electric cables are attached to his genitals at the same time.

VICTIM 10: Four photos of victim 10, wearing long white shorts and blindfold, being tortured by members of the Indonesian army. The victim's wrists and neck are tied together with a chain which hangs from the wall while he is being subjected to electric shock. The victim is also shown having an iron pole forced down his throat by a soldier. Two of the photos show the victim outdoors, (presumably at the grave site), being hung from a tree while being strangled with a chain, then tied to the tree and apparently having dirt shoveled into his mouth. It appears that victim 9 is also tied to the tree.

VICTIM 11, 12 and 13: These three victims, covered in mud, are shown being dumped into a shallow grave by members of the Indonesian army. One wears blue jeans, one wears underpants and one is naked.

You can write to the Secretary of State and call upon our government to stop coddling the Indonesian government at:

Secretary of State
United States Department of State
2301 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520