Opinion - The ABC's Mark Willacy tells how Four Corners investigated alleged torture and mistreatment by Australian soldiers in East Timor, and the NZ connection.
Australia's only prosecution of an elite SAS soldier for crimes in combat collapsed because key witnesses were refused "standard" identity protections, the New Zealand military has revealed.
Secret documents reveal that New Zealand special forces witnessed the alleged brutalisation of militia corpses in East Timor by an Australian SAS soldier.
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I first visited Timor-Leste in January 1975, as a masters student from Monash University. I spent two months travelling the country with Jose Ramos-Horta, Nicolau Lobato, and Mari Alkatiri. I rode Timor ponies with Mau Lear and Vicente Sahe dos Reis to visit the FRETILIN literacy programs.
Following Indonesias illegal and brutal invasion of December 1975, I was unable to visit the country again for another 24 years. But my concern for the Timorese people had not waned. In early 1976, I was in New York, assisting Ramos-Horta set up his office at the United Nations to advocate internationally for Timor-Lestes self-determination. This was long before