Significant Landmarks in the Struggle for Independence
In the lead up to Restoration of Independence Day on 20 May 2016, FM will present a number of short profiles on places of significance in the struggle for Independence in Timor-Leste.
Mount Matebian
Mount Matebian in the district of Bacau is listed as Timor’s third highest peak at 2316 metres, but also encompasses one of the largest and most rugged and mountain ranges in whole country. The mountain is sacred through its association with All Souls Day celebrated on 2 November, but also as the final resting place of many victims of the brutal attacks by the Indonesians in the late 1970s.
Whereas Indonesian forces had been approximately evenly dispersed in the early part of the conflict, by mid 1978 the Indonesians shifted the focus of their forces eastward. The Indonesian Army’s “Operation Skylight”, aimed to force the surrender of key FRETILIN leaders as well as the civilian population living in the few remaining FRETILIN administered zona libertadas. In a coordinated attack, the Indonesian forces encircled Matebian from all sides, gradually forcing the FRETILIN community into a small but heavily defended base on the mountain. Soon the coordinated material superiority of the Indonesian forces began to show, and in particular the use of airstrikes devastated the resistance and civilians in their hideouts. For around two months the Indonesians bombed the mountain using attack aircraft they had purchased from the United States, indiscriminately killing both FALINTIL troops and civilians, often burying them in the caves where they were hiding. Eye witnesses reported that the Indonesians sometimes used a type of bomb similar to napalm, that sticks to human skin and caused intolerable pain when it kills and maims victims. Even today the many craters from the bombardment are visible on the hillside. In the face of the bombardment FRETILIN had no choice but to surrender the base and the tens of thousands of civilians it was sheltering on 22 November 1978.
The defeat at Matebian was a crippling blow to FRETILIN/FALINTIL and the organised resistance that was soon compounded by the death of FRETILIN President Nicolau Lobato on 31 December 1978. Worse was the treatment of many of the people who surrendered from Matebian to the Indonesians. Although some people were soon released after their capture, others were held in detention and tortured. Many others who were suspected of being members of FRETILIN or FALINTIL, sometimes based purely on the length of their hair or their physical strength, were summarily executed. A notorious murder site was located in Quelicai, Baucau, where at least 59 and up to 300 people were executed.
Despite the horrors of Matebian, some tiny hope emerged from the fact that Xanana Gusmão was able to escape the encirclement and eventually piece together and lead the remnants of the resistance as a gorilla force. The Battle of Matebian therefore represented a strategic turning point in the conflict, where upon the bloody defeat also emerged the path to victory.
Based on the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste’s (CAVR) Chega! Report (2005), for more on Matebian refer to Chapters 3 and 7.2 of the Report available here: http://www.cavr-timorleste.org/en/chegaReport.htm
