NARRATOR: Geoff Parish
This is a story about courage, and a young man called Lafu. It's also about Australia's best-known military commander and a community's struggle to survive.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE, ARMY CHIEF: I saw him as an adolescent teenage Timorese boy, obviously very brave, and I told him we would help, that we would help as soon as we could.
Lafu and his family live in the former Portuguese enclave of Oecussi, one of the most beautiful but isolated parts of East Timor. Oecussi is an aberration of colonial history, formed when the Portuguese and Dutch carved up the island of Timor 500 years ago. Today it's surrounded on all sides by Indonesian-controlled West Timor. In 1999, after the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence, pro-Indonesian militia burnt down the capital, Dili, and went on a killing spree across the province. Oecussi was also savagely attacked, with at least 55 people massacred in early September.
MAN (Translation): The militia did it!
LAFU DA CRUZ: (Translation): In Oecussi they burned the houses, they killed the animals and they killed the people.
This ceremony last year was held on the second anniversary of that massacre.
FABION DA COSTA, VILLAGE ELDER (Translation): Some of our people were wounded, others are dead. Some were shot and will never recover.
An international force arrived to restore order, led by General Cosgrove, but Oecussi remained isolated and vulnerable. Unarmed and at the mercy of the militia, six village elders met late one night around a fire. They decided to send a messenger to General Cosgrove to plead for help.
FABION DA COSTA (Translation): There was a boy who had potential. During the Indonesian time he travelled a lot, he could go to Indonesia, to Kupang and other parts of Indonesia. His name is Lafu.
LAFU DA CRUZ: (Translation): One brother called Luis Koli said "Are you courageous?" I said "Yes, I am." "Brave enough to call INTERFET, to take a letter to them?" I said "Yes, I'm brave enough."
It would be a dangerous journey through militia-controlled territory.
FRANCISCA DA CRUZ, LAUF'S MOTHER (Translation): I'm not scared. I'm very happy to send my son to Dili. If I don't want my son to go to Dili, I won't let him.
Lafu was just 15 years old, but certainly no angel.
CAROLINO DA CRUZ, LEFU'S FATHER (Translation): This son of mine, has been very naughty since he was born. Since before primary school he was very naughty with his friends, with his teachers. He made trouble for his teachers. From primary school to high school...he never had good relations with teachers. In the end he ran away. He ran away from home. I think he went to Dili.
In his runaway adventures he'd already visited many of East Timor's provinces. He was fast, streetwise and fearless, all of the qualities needed for this impossible task. He left before dawn, and in order to avoid the militia, trekked high into the rugged hills that surround Oecussi, before heading back down towards the coast and turning east towards Dili. The message pleading for help written by the village elders was cunningly hidden in his thong. Once on the coast, he climbed aboard a bus that took him to Atambua, a militia and military stronghold close to the East Timor border. This would be his biggest test. He was asleep in the Atambua bus terminal when the militia arrived.
MILITIAMAN (RE-ENACTMENT) What are yo doing at night like this? Where are you from?
LAFU: Kefa.
MILITIAMAN: Kefa?
LAFU: Yes, brother.
MILITIAMAN: Maybe you are Fretilin?
Lafu told the militia he was the son of someone they knew from a town in West Timor. It was a convincing tale because he'd been there before after running away from home.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: Just being in amongst them, where you would be prone to be asked questions and told what to do and your movement would be monitored and there would be a level of suspicion about any new face in their midst, even that, to me, took enormous courage, especially since some of these people had shown a propensity for casual murder that I think would have been profoundly on Lafu's mind.
The militia believed Lafu's story, and then took his money to buy cigarettes and liquor. After singing pro-integration songs they fell asleep, drunk. Early next morning, Lafu crept quietly away and headed for the border. After a confrontation with Indonesian border guards, he broke away and ran across into East Timor. He cautiously approached two Australian
INTERFET soldiers guarding the beach.
INTERFET SOLDIER (RE-ENACTMENT): Where are you from?
LAFU: I'm from Oecussi.
INTERFET SOLDIER: From Oecussi?
LAFU: Yes.
INTERFET SOLDIER: OK. What's this?
INTERFET quickly realised the significance of the message in his thong and wanted him to go to Dili.
LAFU (Translation): Peter Cosgrove said that I had to go to Dili. Then he asked if I wanted to go by car or by helicopter. I've only been in cars, so I chose the helicopter. "OK, we'll go by helicopter. Just wait, it'll be 30 minutes." I said OK.
Soon after, Lafu was on his way to meet General Cosgrove.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: You know, I had the message loud and clear that he was representing a community in need. I was in the headquarters working after dark - 6:00, 6:30, something like that - and I was notified there was a young man at the entrance to the headquarters who'd come up with some Australians from Batugade, having been escorted up, with a tale to tell. So I went downstairs and there in amongst all these vast, tall, heavily armed Australians milling around in the front of the headquarters building was this small East Timorese boy, Lafu, and that was then the unfolding of a rather remarkable tale.
LAFU (Translation): Then Peter Cosgrove asked if I could go back by myself as they didn't have enough troops yet. I said no. I wanted to go with INTERFET. We disagreed, so we said we'd meet again the next day. He told me to think about it.
Cosgrove knew the people of Oecussi were in grave danger, but says at that time he didn't have the military resources to quickly launch an operation.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: One of the more difficult decisions I had as INTERFET commander was the notion, that notwithstanding this genuine and heartfelt plea for assistance, that I had to do carefully prepare and launch the operation properly so that it would be fully effective when it arrived.
But the general hadn't bargained for a 15-year-old boy determined to protect his community.
LAFU (Translation): "I'll go by myself on one condition," I said. "You have to give me about 15 guns." Peter Cosgrove didn't agree. "If they were mine I'd give them to you, but they are the government's. If I give them to you, I will lose my reputation and my job."
A compromise was reached and Lafu was secretly taken by boat back to a beach in West Timor. He carried what Cosgrove calls an "electronic lifeline" - a satellite radio - and instructions to contact resistance fighters with news of any impending attack.
LAFU (Translation): They all got in the boat and went back to the ship and left me alone with that radio. I just believed in myself and continued the journey. I said to the, "You can go."
General Cosgrove knew that carrying the radio through enemy territory placed the young boy in extreme danger.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: Of course we thought of that. At that stage it was not possible for us to introduce significant or meaningful forces into Oecussi to do the job properly. We would have perhaps only provoked more military operations - military-style operations - by the militia inside Oecussi and this could have rebounded very badly on the population remaining inside the enclave.
Lafu returned to Oecussi but was soon back in the hills again with another message.
LAFU: I like INTERFET come in Oecussi, have militia in here.
The militia were planning an all-out attack. Cosgrove had been preparing his Oecussi force and after receiving the call, decided it was time to act. This is actual footage of the operation, filmed by the Army.
LAFU (Translation): Inside me I wondered if these helicopters were TNI or INTERFET. I SAID "They're outs." The helicopter flew around, some yelled "Viva East Timor!" "Viva Oecussi, viva Lafu!"
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: So, we actually brought forward our timetable considerably to go into Oecussi, obviously not as early as Lafu and his community would have wished, but much earlier than we originally thought possible.
The 15-year-old adventurer had averted a massacre and as Australian troops fanned out across the enclave, it quickly became obvious they'd arrived in the nick of time. This man had been beaten by the militia, handcuffed, and was waiting to die.
SOLDIER: They took him over two weeks and beat him and last night they were going to kill him.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: So he had to sort of make his way through those people and appear in front of INTERFET troops, who were themselves an unknown quantity to him - he had to sort of convince them of his bona fides and trust that they would treat him in a sympathetic way. All of that took enormous gumption and I think the kid was a rather marvellous example of the sort of stoic and brave East Timorese people.
FRANCISCA DA CRUZ (Translation): He took a letter and I'm very happy about that. Because we went to school and understood the history, we love our country, and we have to give ourselves and our courage to win our country back.
But the story of Lafu and the people of Oecussi doesn't end there. The people are grateful for the UN's help, but fearful of what might happen when the peacekeepers leave. Those who sought to destroy them almost three years ago remain close at hand. And what now for Lafu? He has high hopes of becoming a commando in East Timor's new army.
LAFU (Translation): So I will go to school here and I would like to take a course learning Portuguese and English, then I will join the army.
The people of Oecussi are free, thanks to a fearless boy, a tenacious Australian general, and a sturdy thong. But their future remains tenuous.
JANA WENDT: And a footnote - there are trials currently under way in Jakarta for the few police, military and civilians charged with the murders that occurred after the pro-independence vote in 1999. However, a recent report by the International Crisis Group says there are serious doubts that any of the accused will be convicted.
This is a story about courage, and a young man called Lafu. It's also about Australia's best-known military commander and a community's struggle to survive.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE, ARMY CHIEF: I saw him as an adolescent teenage Timorese boy, obviously very brave, and I told him we would help, that we would help as soon as we could.
Lafu and his family live in the former Portuguese enclave of Oecussi, one of the most beautiful but isolated parts of East Timor. Oecussi is an aberration of colonial history, formed when the Portuguese and Dutch carved up the island of Timor 500 years ago. Today it's surrounded on all sides by Indonesian-controlled West Timor. In 1999, after the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence, pro-Indonesian militia burnt down the capital, Dili, and went on a killing spree across the province. Oecussi was also savagely attacked, with at least 55 people massacred in early September.
MAN (Translation): The militia did it!
LAFU DA CRUZ: (Translation): In Oecussi they burned the houses, they killed the animals and they killed the people.
This ceremony last year was held on the second anniversary of that massacre.
FABION DA COSTA, VILLAGE ELDER (Translation): Some of our people were wounded, others are dead. Some were shot and will never recover.
An international force arrived to restore order, led by General Cosgrove, but Oecussi remained isolated and vulnerable. Unarmed and at the mercy of the militia, six village elders met late one night around a fire. They decided to send a messenger to General Cosgrove to plead for help.
FABION DA COSTA (Translation): There was a boy who had potential. During the Indonesian time he travelled a lot, he could go to Indonesia, to Kupang and other parts of Indonesia. His name is Lafu.
LAFU DA CRUZ: (Translation): One brother called Luis Koli said "Are you courageous?" I said "Yes, I am." "Brave enough to call INTERFET, to take a letter to them?" I said "Yes, I'm brave enough."
It would be a dangerous journey through militia-controlled territory.
FRANCISCA DA CRUZ, LAUF'S MOTHER (Translation): I'm not scared. I'm very happy to send my son to Dili. If I don't want my son to go to Dili, I won't let him.
Lafu was just 15 years old, but certainly no angel.
CAROLINO DA CRUZ, LEFU'S FATHER (Translation): This son of mine, has been very naughty since he was born. Since before primary school he was very naughty with his friends, with his teachers. He made trouble for his teachers. From primary school to high school...he never had good relations with teachers. In the end he ran away. He ran away from home. I think he went to Dili.
In his runaway adventures he'd already visited many of East Timor's provinces. He was fast, streetwise and fearless, all of the qualities needed for this impossible task. He left before dawn, and in order to avoid the militia, trekked high into the rugged hills that surround Oecussi, before heading back down towards the coast and turning east towards Dili. The message pleading for help written by the village elders was cunningly hidden in his thong. Once on the coast, he climbed aboard a bus that took him to Atambua, a militia and military stronghold close to the East Timor border. This would be his biggest test. He was asleep in the Atambua bus terminal when the militia arrived.
MILITIAMAN (RE-ENACTMENT) What are yo doing at night like this? Where are you from?
LAFU: Kefa.
MILITIAMAN: Kefa?
LAFU: Yes, brother.
MILITIAMAN: Maybe you are Fretilin?
Lafu told the militia he was the son of someone they knew from a town in West Timor. It was a convincing tale because he'd been there before after running away from home.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: Just being in amongst them, where you would be prone to be asked questions and told what to do and your movement would be monitored and there would be a level of suspicion about any new face in their midst, even that, to me, took enormous courage, especially since some of these people had shown a propensity for casual murder that I think would have been profoundly on Lafu's mind.
The militia believed Lafu's story, and then took his money to buy cigarettes and liquor. After singing pro-integration songs they fell asleep, drunk. Early next morning, Lafu crept quietly away and headed for the border. After a confrontation with Indonesian border guards, he broke away and ran across into East Timor. He cautiously approached two Australian
INTERFET soldiers guarding the beach.
INTERFET SOLDIER (RE-ENACTMENT): Where are you from?
LAFU: I'm from Oecussi.
INTERFET SOLDIER: From Oecussi?
LAFU: Yes.
INTERFET SOLDIER: OK. What's this?
INTERFET quickly realised the significance of the message in his thong and wanted him to go to Dili.
LAFU (Translation): Peter Cosgrove said that I had to go to Dili. Then he asked if I wanted to go by car or by helicopter. I've only been in cars, so I chose the helicopter. "OK, we'll go by helicopter. Just wait, it'll be 30 minutes." I said OK.
Soon after, Lafu was on his way to meet General Cosgrove.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: You know, I had the message loud and clear that he was representing a community in need. I was in the headquarters working after dark - 6:00, 6:30, something like that - and I was notified there was a young man at the entrance to the headquarters who'd come up with some Australians from Batugade, having been escorted up, with a tale to tell. So I went downstairs and there in amongst all these vast, tall, heavily armed Australians milling around in the front of the headquarters building was this small East Timorese boy, Lafu, and that was then the unfolding of a rather remarkable tale.
LAFU (Translation): Then Peter Cosgrove asked if I could go back by myself as they didn't have enough troops yet. I said no. I wanted to go with INTERFET. We disagreed, so we said we'd meet again the next day. He told me to think about it.
Cosgrove knew the people of Oecussi were in grave danger, but says at that time he didn't have the military resources to quickly launch an operation.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: One of the more difficult decisions I had as INTERFET commander was the notion, that notwithstanding this genuine and heartfelt plea for assistance, that I had to do carefully prepare and launch the operation properly so that it would be fully effective when it arrived.
But the general hadn't bargained for a 15-year-old boy determined to protect his community.
LAFU (Translation): "I'll go by myself on one condition," I said. "You have to give me about 15 guns." Peter Cosgrove didn't agree. "If they were mine I'd give them to you, but they are the government's. If I give them to you, I will lose my reputation and my job."
A compromise was reached and Lafu was secretly taken by boat back to a beach in West Timor. He carried what Cosgrove calls an "electronic lifeline" - a satellite radio - and instructions to contact resistance fighters with news of any impending attack.
LAFU (Translation): They all got in the boat and went back to the ship and left me alone with that radio. I just believed in myself and continued the journey. I said to the, "You can go."
General Cosgrove knew that carrying the radio through enemy territory placed the young boy in extreme danger.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: Of course we thought of that. At that stage it was not possible for us to introduce significant or meaningful forces into Oecussi to do the job properly. We would have perhaps only provoked more military operations - military-style operations - by the militia inside Oecussi and this could have rebounded very badly on the population remaining inside the enclave.
Lafu returned to Oecussi but was soon back in the hills again with another message.
LAFU: I like INTERFET come in Oecussi, have militia in here.
The militia were planning an all-out attack. Cosgrove had been preparing his Oecussi force and after receiving the call, decided it was time to act. This is actual footage of the operation, filmed by the Army.
LAFU (Translation): Inside me I wondered if these helicopters were TNI or INTERFET. I SAID "They're outs." The helicopter flew around, some yelled "Viva East Timor!" "Viva Oecussi, viva Lafu!"
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: So, we actually brought forward our timetable considerably to go into Oecussi, obviously not as early as Lafu and his community would have wished, but much earlier than we originally thought possible.
The 15-year-old adventurer had averted a massacre and as Australian troops fanned out across the enclave, it quickly became obvious they'd arrived in the nick of time. This man had been beaten by the militia, handcuffed, and was waiting to die.
SOLDIER: They took him over two weeks and beat him and last night they were going to kill him.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PETER COSGROVE: So he had to sort of make his way through those people and appear in front of INTERFET troops, who were themselves an unknown quantity to him - he had to sort of convince them of his bona fides and trust that they would treat him in a sympathetic way. All of that took enormous gumption and I think the kid was a rather marvellous example of the sort of stoic and brave East Timorese people.
FRANCISCA DA CRUZ (Translation): He took a letter and I'm very happy about that. Because we went to school and understood the history, we love our country, and we have to give ourselves and our courage to win our country back.
But the story of Lafu and the people of Oecussi doesn't end there. The people are grateful for the UN's help, but fearful of what might happen when the peacekeepers leave. Those who sought to destroy them almost three years ago remain close at hand. And what now for Lafu? He has high hopes of becoming a commando in East Timor's new army.
LAFU (Translation): So I will go to school here and I would like to take a course learning Portuguese and English, then I will join the army.
The people of Oecussi are free, thanks to a fearless boy, a tenacious Australian general, and a sturdy thong. But their future remains tenuous.
JANA WENDT: And a footnote - there are trials currently under way in Jakarta for the few police, military and civilians charged with the murders that occurred after the pro-independence vote in 1999. However, a recent report by the International Crisis Group says there are serious doubts that any of the accused will be convicted.