19 April 1999: Report on East Timor events from Canadian embassy Jakarta

Canadian officials based at the embassy in Jakarta reported rising militia violence and “kill lists” of independence supporters, including violence at the home of Manuel Carrascalão, a prominent CNT leader. Events “demonstrate quite clearly that the Indonesian authorities in East Timor are at the very least complicit in the efforts of the pro-integration forces to destabilize the situation,” the embassy reported. It was clear that “the local military forces were willing to allow the attacks to take place and that their commanders in East Timor are willfully attempting to mislead the press and international community of this fact.” Officials were now ready for a policy shift: “Although we have always attempted to remain as even-banded as possible with respect to events and groups in East Timor, one side of this dispute must bear responsibility for the incidents this past weekend in Dili: the pro-integration militia.” Canadian NGO pressure was another reason to speak out, the report concluded.