The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in East Timor (numbers may be approximate):
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ration Truck massacre | 20 February 1942 | Dili | 16 | 16 Australian soldiers who were driving a ration truck to Dili were captured by Japanese soldiers. The Japanese forced four of the soldiers to follow the truck on foot and were shot and bayoneted near the Comoro River. 11 of the 12 remaining men were executed when they entered Dili. Another soldier on a motorcycle was also captured and executed in Dili a little while later.[1] | |
| Berloi-Fatisi River killings | 20 August 1975 | Fatisi | 8 | Eight men detained by Fretilin on suspicions of being spies for the UDT. Five of them were taken to the Berloi River and executed while the other three were executed near Fatisi. | |
| Paramin massacre | 22 August 1975 | Paramin | 11 | 11 civilians who were falsely accused of being UDT supporters were gunned down by members of Fretilin. | |
| Meti Oan killings | 27 August 1975 | Wedauberek, Alas Administrative Post, Manufahi Municipality | 11 | 11 members of Fretilin were executed by members of the UDT at the Meti Oan beach in Wedauberek.[2] [3] | |
| Klaek Reman and Aifu massacres | 1 September 1975 | Klaek Reman and Aifu | 30 | UDT members brought four detained Fretilin members to Klaek Reman, and picked up another detainee along the way and stabbed them all with spears, killing four of them. Later that day in Aifu they killed 26 detainees.[4] [5] | |
| Balibo massacre | 16 October 1975 | Balibo | 5 | A few months before the invasion of East Timor five journalist, reporter Greg Shackleton and sound recordist Tony Stewart who were both Australian, a New Zealander cameraman Gary Cunningham and two Brits cameraman Brian Peters and reporter Malcolm Rennie were summarily executed by the Indonesian Army. | |
| Matadouro massacre | 7 December 1975 | Matadouro, Dili | 31-78+ | The Indonesian Army rounded up over 80 men outside the Assistência building in Matadouro, they opened fire on the group, killing 23 to 70. At least eight people were executed outside the Matadouro Slaughterhouse. | |
| Colmera massacre | 7–8 December 1975 | Colmera, Dili | 27 | The Indonesian Army shot dead 14 Chinese residents in Colmera, after an Indonesian paratrooper accidentally hung himself when his parachute got stuck on Toko Lay. The next day the soldiers executed 13 Chinese workers on the beach. | |
| Ailok Laran massacre | 8 December 1975 | Ailok Laran, Bairro Pite, Dili | 17-18 | The Indonesian Army detained a group of civilians and split them up into men, women and children. They led the group to the Maloa River in the suburb of Ailok Laran. The soldiers pulled a young man from the group and questioned him, shortly after they shot him dead and opened fire on the rest, killing either 17 or 18, with only one of them surviving. | |
| Massacre at the Dili Wharf | 8 December 1975 | Dili | 7 | Six members of Fretilin, Isabel Lobato, Rosa Bonaparte, Bernardino Soares and Francisco Borja da Costa, Bimba da Silva and Silvinia da Silva, along with Australian journalist Roger East were executed by the Indonesian Army by a firing squad. The bodies of Bimba da Silva and Silvinia da Silvia were never recovered. | |
| Hat Nipah and Same massacres | 27–29 January 1976 | Hat Nipah and Same | 48 | Members of Fretilin took eight UDT prisoners to Hat Nipah and gunned them down, leaving only two survivors, one of which was stabbed with a spear and shot dead the next day in Holarua. Later that morning 11 detainees who were being driven away from the elementary school in Same, to somewhere else to be executed, but they all jumped out of the truck, nine of which were able to escape while the other two were shot dead. In retaliation for the escape attempt they entered the elementary school and gunned down around 30 detainees, leaving only three survivors. | |
| Assalaino and Sepelata killings | 14 May 1978 | Assalaino and Sepelata, Lautém Municipality | 7 | Eight Hansip officers who were suspected of being in contact with Falintil, were taken to the Indonesian bases in Assalaino and Sepelata and executed seven of them, releasing the last officer. Two of them men's bodies were found in Assalaino and one was found in Sepelata, while the other four bodies remain missing. | |
| Garaulu and Afaloicai massacres | November–December 1978 | Garaulu and Afaloicai, Baucau Municipality | 24 | 13 men were taken from Afaloicai, and were interogatted and tortured for two days. The men were then taken to Garaulu and shot dead, a week later two more men were also taken to Garaulu and executed. The next month seven men were executed in Afaloicai. | |
| Laleia massacre | February 1979 | Laleia | 16 | 14 Hansip officers who were working as informants for Falintil and two civilians were summarily executed by the Indonesian Army. | |
| Sabailolo Gorge massacre | 22–23 February 1979 | Turiscai, Foholau, Manufahi | 13 | Members of the Indonesian Army rounded up around 30 civilians in Turiscai, they separated the men from the group and took 12 of them to the edge of the Sabailolo gorge, and opened fire on them, all but one of them died. The next day they executed the last two who were brothers.[6] | |
| Matebian massacre | December 1979 | Matebian | 48 | 48 men who were falsely accused of being members of Fretilin, disappeared after having been detained at Matebian. | |
| Manatuto Hotel disappearances | September 1980 | Manatuto | 17 | 17 people including two members of Fretilin disappeared from the Manatuto Hotel after having been detained by the Indonesian Army. | |
| Kraras massacre | August–October 1983 | 287 | Series of mass killings across the Viqueque Municipality committed by the Indonesian Army. | ||
| 8 December 1983 | Muapitine, Lospalos, Lautém | 5 | Members of the Indonesian army forced the villagers themselves to publicly execute five resistance men in Muapitine.[7] | ||
| Santa Cruz massacre | 12 November 1991 | Dili | 250+ | Indonesian soldiers fatally shot and bayoneted at least 250 pro-indepedence supporters during the funeral of 18-year-old activist, Sebastião Rangel Gomes. | |
| Galitas massacre | 25 January 1999 | Galitas, Zumalai, Cova Lima | 4[8] | Members of the Mahidi murdered four pro-independence activists in Galitas.[9] | |
| Ritabou ambush | 16 March 1999 | Ritabou, Maliana, Bobonaro | 4 | Four members of Fretilin, Pedro dos Santos, Domingos dos Santos, Jóse Barros and Fonseca Asu Mau were ambushed and killed by the Indonesian Army and Halilintar militiamen during a meeting in Ritabou.[10] | |
| Liquiçá Church massacre | April 1999 | Liquiçá | 30-100[11] | Members of the Indonesian Army and Besi Merah Putih massacred over 200 catholic civilians at the church in Liquiçá. | |
| Manuel Carrascalão House massacre | 17 April 1999 | Dili | 12 | 12 people were killed by the pro-Indonesia Aitarak militia, commanded by Eurico Guterres, including Carrascalão's 17-year-old son Manelito, who was tortured and hacked to death.[12] | |
| Dili Diocese massacre | 5 September 1999 | Dili | 15-24+ | Around 15 to 24 people who were seeking refuge in the Dili Diocese were massacred by the Indonesian Army and Aitarak militamen. 11 of the bodies were discovered in a burnt out truck which included those of victims killed in the attack. | |
| Suai Church massacre | 6 September 1999 | Suai | 136[13] -200[14] | Members of the Indonesian Army and Laksaur massacred over 100 Catholic civilians at the Ave Maria Church in Suai. | |
| Mau-Nuno massacre | 23 September 1999 | Mau-Nuno, Ainaro Municipality | 11 | Members of the Mahidi murdered 11 people in Mau-Nuno and forcibly relocated the remaining villagers to West Timor. | |
| Massacre at the Veromoco River | 25 September 1999 | Veromoco, Lautém Municipality | 9 | Members of the pro-Indonesian militia Team Alfa, led by Joni Marques, murdered nine people at Malaiada on the northern coastal road from Lautém to Baucau. Among the victims were two nuns, three priests and Indonesian journalist Agus Muliawan.[15] | |
| Maubusa market bombing | 29 May 2001 | Maubusa, Balibo | 5 | Former members of the Dangi Dadaras Merah Putih militia threw around four hand grenades over the Loes River, which was around 50 to 100m away, from the Indonesian side of the market to the East Timorean side killing 5 and injuring over 40. The attack was in retaliation for the men getting in debt in a cross border gambling ring, and were targeting those involved in the operation. One of those killed was the leader of the operation, but the rest were all uninvolved.[16] | |
| Caicoli massacre | 24 May 2006 | Caicoli, Dili | 10 | Members of the F-FDTL led by general Taur Matan Ruak massacred 10 unarmed PNTL officers at their headquarters in Dili, 27 officers were injured in the massacre. | |
| Tragedy of Kulu Hun | 17 November 2018 | Kulu Hun, Dili | 3 | An intoxicated off duty police officer, José Mina and three other officers attempted to stop an argument between two men at a during a kore metan, while this was happening a power outage occurred and Mina then stood on a bench and began to fire his service pistol into the darkness killing three young men, Leo Sequeira, Luis Belo and Erick Bria, five others were injured. Mina and the three other officers were all arrested.[17] [18] |