Flowers
in the Wall
Global Indigenous Issues Series
Series Editor : Roberta Rice, Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary
ISSN 2561-3057 (Print) ISSN 2561-3065 (Online)
The Global Indigenous Issues series explores Indigenous peoples cultural, political, social, economic and environmental struggles in para-colonial and post-colonial societies. The series includes original research on local, regional, national, and transnational experiences.
No. 1 Flowers in the Wall: Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Melanesia
edited by David Webster
2017 David Webster
University of Calgary Press
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2N 1N4
press.ucalgary.ca
This book is available as an ebook which is licensed under a Creative Commons license. The publisher should be contacted for any commercial use which falls outside the terms of that license.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Flowers in the wall : Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste,
Indonesia, and Melanesia / edited by David Webster.
(Global indigenous issues series ; 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-55238-954-6 (softcover).ISBN 978-1-55238-955-3 (open access PDF).
ISBN 978-1-55238-956-0 (PDF).ISBN 978-1-55238-957-7 (EPUB).
ISBN 978-1-55238-958-4 (Kindle)
1. Truth commissionsTimor-Leste. 2. Truth commissionsIndonesia.
3. Truth commissionsSolomon Islands. 4. Human rights. 5. Collective memory.
6. Reconciliation. I. Webster, David, 1966-, editor
JC580.F56 2017 323.4'9 C2017-906773-7
C2017-906774-5
The University of Calgary Press acknowledges the support of the Government of Alberta through
the Alberta Media Fund for our publications. We acknowledge the financial support of the
Government of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the
Arts for our publishing program.
This book has been published with the support of Bishops University Senate Research Committee.
Cover image: Colourbox #3052510
Copyediting by Ryan Perks
Cover design, page design, and typesetting by Melina Cusano
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Memory, Truth, and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Melanesia
David Webster
2 Incomplete Truth, Incomplete Reconciliation: Towards a Scholarly Verdict on Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Sarah Zwierzchowski
SECTION I
Memory, Truth, and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste
3 East Timor: Legacies of Violence
Geoffrey Robinson
4 Shining Chega! s Light into the Cracks
Pat Walsh
5 Politika Taka Malu , Censorship, and Silencing: Virtuosos of Clandestinity and Ones Relationship to Truth and Memory
Jacqueline Aquino Siapno
6 Development and Foreign Aid in Timor-Leste after Independence
Laurentina mica Barreto Soares
7 Reconciliation, Church, and Peacebuilding
Jess Agustin
8 Human Rights and Truth
Fernanda Borges
9 Chega! for Us: Socializing a Living Document
Maria Manuela Leong Pereira
SECTION II
Memory, Truth-seeking, and the 1965 Mass Killings in Indonesia
10 Cracks in the Wall: Indonesia and Narratives of the 1965 Mass Violence
Baskara T. Wardaya
11 The Touchy Historiography of Indonesias 1965 Mass Killings: Intractable Blockades?
Bernd Schaefer
12 Writings of an Indonesian Political Prisoner
Gatot Lestario
SECTION III
Local Truth and Reconciliation in Indonesia
13 Gambling with Truth: Hopes and Challenges for Acehs Commission for Truth and Reconciliation
Lia Kent and Rizki Affiat
14 All about the Poor: An Alternative Explanation of the Violence in Poso
Arianto Sangadji
SECTION IV
Where Indonesia meets Melanesia: Memory, Truth, and Reconciliation in Tanah Papua
15 Facts, Feasts, and Forests: Considering Approaches to Truth and Reconciliation in Tanah Papua
Todd Biderman and Jenny Munro
16 The Living Symbol of Song in West Papua: A Soul Force to be Reckoned With
Julian Smythe
17 Time for a New US Approach toward Indonesia and West Papua
Edmund McWilliams
SECTION V
Memory, Truth, and Reconciliation in Solomon Islands
18 The Solomon Islands Ethnic Tension Conflict and the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Terry M. Brown
19 Women and Reconciliation in Solomon Islands
Betty Lina Gigisi
SECTION VI
Bringing it Home
20 Reflecting on Reconciliation
Maggie Helwig
21 Conclusion: Seeking Truth about Truth-seeking
David Webster
Bibliography
Index
Contributors
Illustrations
Popular monument to victims of mass killings outside the local Catholic church, Liquia, Timor-Leste. Photo: David Webster.
Sign welcoming visitors to the Chega! exhibit
at the former Comarca prison facility, Balide, Dili, Timor-Leste. Photo: David Webster.
Burned-out building, Dili, Timor-Leste, 1999. Photo: Jess Agustin.
Entry to Chega! exhibit, Dili, Timor-Leste. Photo: David Webster.
Centro Nacional Chega! is born.
Display from Archives and Museum of the Timorese Resistance, Dili, Timor-Leste. Photo: David Webster.
Jess Agustin (right) with Bishop Carlos Belo, Dili, Timor-Leste. Photo courtesy of Jess Agustin.
Abbreviations
ACbit Asosiasaun Chega! Ba Ita (Tetun); Chega! for Us Association
AJAR Asia Justice and Rights
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
BRA Badan Reintegrasi Damai Aceh (Indonesian); Aceh Peace Reintegration Agency
BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa
Brimob Brigade Mobil (Indonesian); Mobile Brigade (of the National Police)
CAVR Comisso de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliao (Port.); Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (Timor-Leste)
CCSEAS Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies
CNRT Congresso Nacional de Reconstruo de Timor (Port.); National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction
CONEFO Conference of the New Emerging Forces
CSIS Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia)
CTF Commission for Truth and Friendship (Indonesia and Timor-Leste)
DAC Development Assistance Committee (of the OECD)
Densus 88 Detasemen Khusus 88 (Indonesian); Special Detachment 88 (of the Indonesian police)
DOM daerah operasi militer (Indonesian); military operations zone
ETAN/Canada East Timor Alert Network (Canada)