With Australian about to go into action again in Iraq , it is timely to reflect on the fact that for close on a quarter of a century Australia, America , the West generally, turned a blind eye on the slaughter that went on in East Timor , a nextdoor neighbour . That bloodbath claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, including the murder of the Australian news team known as the Balibo 5 and journalist Roger East, who had worked with the Darwin Reconstruction Commission.
Some key figures or their family representatives in the long struggle for freedom from Indonesia are in this group recently honoured in the Presidential Palace , Dili . Included are two Indonesians who sided with the Timorese. Details of the involvement of the three Wesley-Smith brothers were covered in an earlier post.
They are , with very brief details of involvement , from the left: Peter Wesley-Smith ; Andy Alcock , Adelaide activist ; Muchtar Pakpahan, Indonesian, imprisoned with Xanana Gusmao ; Sister Susan of Mary McKillop ; Luisa Manning and Brian Manning Jnr, representing their late father, Brian Manning, of Darwin ; Aboepriyadi Santosa, Indonesian, Radio Nederlands reporter ; Shirley Shackleton, widow of Greg Shackleton, one of the Balibo 5 ; Gil
Scrine, Australian, produced film Buried Alive : The Story of East Timor ; Sister Josephine, Mary McKillop order ; Martin Wesley-Smith ; President Taur Matan Ruak ; Nigel Stuart. cousin of late Dr Andrew McNaughton, human rights activist and Convenor of Australia-East Timor Association ; Robert Domm , Kiwi , co-authored with Mark Aarons East Timor : A Western Tragedy ; Audrey Fry , widow of late Ken Fry, ALP politician who strenuously spoke at international fora such as the UN and Lisbon to keep the world aware of the struggle ; Margaret Millar , sister of late Denis Freney , prominent member of the Australian Communist Party ; Rob Wesley-Smith ; First Lady Isabel ; a nephew of journalist Roger East ; Dr Helen Hill , wrote Timor Story .
