Four thousand students occupied the parliament building and grounds in the East Timorese capital of Dili yesterday, protesting at the reported killing of up to 60 people by Indonesian troops. The killings are said to have taken place in remote villages in the southern part of East Timor.
Many students remained in the small three-storey building overnight. They threatened less peaceful tactics today if East Timor's Governor Abilio refuses to appear by 3.30 p.m. to listen to their demands for a withdrawal of the army from the villages.
The killings are said to have begun in the town of Alas after guerrillas fighting for the liberation of East Timor shot dead three soldiers of the Alas Military Sector Command on November 9th.
A few days earlier, local people had seized 36 weapons, including M16s, from a military post in disturbances which followed the discovery of three government spies at a religious festival.
The undercover agents escaped and villagers armed themselves, fearing military retaliation.
At 6 p.m on November 9th the army moved into Alas and shot at people trying to flee, according to Catholic Church sources in Dili. They said one middle-aged civil servant was shot dead as he tried to gain the sanctuary of the local church. Soldiers took nine men and two women from the church but 36 women with their children are still sheltering in the building as their homes have been burned by the military, the sources said. Last night, an East Timor human rights activist who had just returned to Dili from Alas said many young people had been shot by the soldiers in separate incidents. Local people estimated the number of dead at 60. Many people who are missing may be hiding in the dense tropical forest. Some of the deaths occurred when troops burned down 26 houses in Alas, which has a population of 8,000, the human rights activist said.
Timorese town remains under state of military siege: page 11