Liberation Fighter
C.N.R.M. - NATIONAL COUNCIL OF MAUBERE RESISTANCE
The death by accident of the Commander of FALINTIL - National Armed Forces of East Timor - NINO KONIS SANTANA, on 11 March 1998, in Ainaro, constitutes a tragic loss for the People of East Timor.
NINO KONIS SANTANA was born in Lospalos, 39 years ago. A leader of UNETIM (East Timorese Students' Organisation) until 1975, associated with FRETILIN. Konis Santana worked as a schoolteacher in a village in that same region before the invasion. He was a member of the Commission, which prepared, in 1974, the electoral process in Lospalos. After the Indonesian invasion and occupation he left for the mountains and was appointed assistant to the Lospalos Military Region. In 1981, after the dismantling of the Base Camps he was appointed member of the Liaison Group led by Xanana Gusmão. In the beginning of 1992, after Mau Hodu was captured, he was appointed Political Assistant to Xanana Gusmão. With the capture of Xanana Gusmão, in November 1992, NINO KONIS SANTANA is appointed member of the Military Political Committee headed by Ma'Huno. In 1993, after Ma'Huno was captured by the occupant forces, NINO KONIS SANTANA became the operational Commander of FALINTIL and re-organised the Resistance by establishing the Executive Council of the Armed Struggle and of the Clandestine Front, which co-ordinates all the Resistance's activity inside the territory. NINO KONIS SANTANA was Secretary of the Directive Committee of FRETILIN.
NINO KONIS SANTANA was not only leader of the armed wing of the Resistance together with Xanana Gusmão but also an architect of East Timorese National Unity, reconciliation and tolerance. He worked tirelessly forging national consensus and unity. Although he was the operational leader of FALINTIL, NINO KONIS SANTANA was also a peacemaker, a diplomat and statesman. He was acutely aware of the international dimension of the East Timorese struggle and was always fully aware and kept abreast of international developments. As one of his closest comrades and representative abroad, I was always impressed by the clarity of his thinking, intellect and vision.
NINO KONIS SANTANA was always an unconditional supporter of the three-phased CNRM Peace Initiative. The Peace Initiative was presented to the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights in 1993 and aimed at assisting the UN Secretary General to find a solution to the East Timor conflict. In its first phase, the Resistance proposes the withdrawal of the occupant's military presence in East Timor and several measures to ensure the respect for human rights in the territory. The second phase prepares the conditions for the East Timorese to establish its autonomous political and social structures and, finally, a referendum on self-determination would be held in the third phase.
His death prompts us to renew our determination to pursue this noble combat for Peace and Freedom in every front with every legitimate means available to us. I reiterate my personal commitment and determination to seek a peaceful end, based on the respect for the right of the People of East Timor to self-determination as well as understanding Indonesia's national interest and pride.
As Indonesia faces the most serious economic, financial and political crisis in the 32 years of the regime, I hope that those in power in Jakarta realise that now there is a window of opportunity for Indonesia to cut its losses and withdraw from East Timor with honour and dignity. We will all honour the memory and legacy of NINO KONIS SANTANA who will inspire us to forge ahead until Peace and Freedom are brought our Motherland: EAST TIMOR.
C.N.R.M - NATIONAL COUNCIL OF MAUBERE RESISTANCE
NATIONAL
ARMED FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF EAST TIMOR
( FALINTIL )
Timorese compatriots, children of East Timor! With profound grief and sorrow that today, for the first time, I come to address you through the international means of communication.
To all East Timorese and our friends of the international solidarity spread around the world, to the Clandestine Front and to all fighters scattered in the villages and Mountains of East Timor and specially to the East Timorese leaders, I would like to inform that Nino Konis Santana, Secretary of the Directive Committee of Fretilin, Chief of the Executive Council of The Armed Struggle and the Clandestine Resistance, died on 11 March 1998, in the areas of the district of Ainaro. He was on his way to the central areas of the country on political and military duties. The tragic death of our unforgettable Hero was caused by a fall when he was trying to take shelter in one of his hiding places. He was buried on the same day at 23:30 hrs, East Timor time.
Timorese compatriots, children of East Timor! We have lost a great man, a tireless fighter for the Motherland. Like many other heroes and martyrs of the National Liberation, Nino Konis Santana, has attained a proud place in the history of East Timor and has left a lasting memory for generations that there is duty and obligation to perform, that is to defend the territorial integrity and the self-determination for East Timor. Unfortunately, he has left behind an unfinished task, a history to be concluded and a memory to rest that now it's up to us to assume the responsibility to carry on with that obligation.
Brothers and sisters, Timorese compatriots! In praising the participation and the contribution of our great hero for the liberation of our country, it's very important to stress: his contribution to the reorganisation of the resistance struggle after the capture of the leader of the resistance, Xanana Gusmao; the expansion and the consolidation of our political and military presence in the western part of the Territory; and the reinstallation of radio communications with the outside world. May the people and the history of this country never forget for generations and may God Almighty honour his presence in His kingdom ... The eternal glory for the heroes and martyrs for the National Liberation ... Amen.
Comrades-in-arms, children of Motherland, as a consequence of the tragic event, today, I officially announce my assumption to assume the leadership of the Resistance inside the country subject to final decision by the competent organs.
By inheriting the complex organ of this struggle, my fundamental mission is:
Before ending, I would like to appeal to the International community, especially to the European Union and the United States of America to exert pressure on Jakarta for the adoption of a more flexible position in its approach to the East Timor question. I appeal to the Community of the Portuguese speaking countries, to unite in the front line of the struggle of our people. I appeal to the international solidarity organisations all over the world, to consolidate and expand their network in support of our cause, the cause of our people and country. I appeal to Portugal to maintain it's firm stand in accordance with the principles of Intentional Law and the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.
From our part, we will continue to support the inclusion of Portugal in the quest for a just solution to East Timor. I appeal to the Jakarta government to work in conjunction with the international community towards a peaceful resolution and to consciously realise that the radicalism approach will not benefit Indonesia. On the contrary, it will only contribute to aggravate the internal situation, which consequently will damage the international reputation of Indonesia.
Finally, I appeal to FALINTIL members, to the youth of East Timor, from North to South, from East to West, to be ready to face the new challenges in our struggle for Freedom.
Motherland or Death!
To Resist is to Win!
By the Executive Council of the Resistance
Taur Matan Ruak
Chief of Staff of FALINTIL
East Timor, March 30, 1998.
Obituary:
Nino Konis Santana: The gentle warrior
Jill Jolliffe, Jose Ramos Horta
WHEN I first met Nino Konis Santana, the commander of Falintil, the East Timorese guerrilla movement, who has died aged 39, he told me of his worst moment. It was 1990 and he was in an eight-strong unit ambushed by the Indonesian army. Six of his unit were killed outright. He was shot in the neck, thigh and foot, and his companheiro, Kakehe, was shot six times in the back. They crawled to safety in some bushes; he was naked but had a gun. They hid for a week, living on grass. Kaheke cried so badly that Santana thought they would be found. Eventually, villagers discovered them, and nursed them back to health. Kaheke was to die in a later battle. Our meeting took place in 1994 in the East Timorese mountains. We talked solidly for 48 hours, first in a safe house, and later in a forest clearing, after a pre-dawn mountain march. Santana, with bushy hair and a mandarin beard, charming and mercurial, had reluctantly taken over as commander of Falintil a year earlier. He was the fifth holder of the post since the Indonesian invasion of the former Portuguese colony in 1975. The first East Timorese leader, Nicolau Lobato, died in 1979. His three successors were all captured by the Indonesians and, at the time of Santana's succession, there was talk of the leadership passing outside the territory.
Resistance leaders abroad, Santana told me, described him and his men as "the illiterates". The guerrillas had indeed been reduced to a minimal existence. They fought on with aged weapons, and even resorted to bows and arrows, but their mettle was unquestionable and the resistance struggle was kept alive against the Indonesian onslaught. Santana was saddened by the lack of financial support from Timorese people abroad. He was also critical of past ill-treatment of dissidents within his movement. A member of the Fatu-luko tribe, Santana was born near eastern Lautem in Lospalos, and received a Catholic education, qualifying as a teacher's aide. In 1974, then aged 16, he got involved in politics and the following year, after the Indonesian occupation, he joined the guerrillas in the mountains, where he was to remain.
AS for his death, the direct cause his colleagues said, was a fall from an escarpment in heavy mist while returning from a patrol. But he had long suffered from untreated war wounds. He was said to be moving with difficulty because of gangrene from a bullet lodged in his thigh since 1990. My most cherished memory of him is of our breakfast in the forest. When the sun finally rose, villagers appeared from nowhere, bringing flasks of steaming coffee and freshly-baked rolls. Another, uninvited villager -somehow evading the look-outs - gaped with amazement to see a white woman picnicking with a heavily-armed guerrilla group.
Santana sat down next to him and held his hand. He explained gently that they were of the resistance and that he must never speak of what he had seen. The interloper nodded solemnly and went on his way.
Jill Jolliffe
Jose Ramos Horta adds: Santana was a very humble, sensitive individual, someone who dealt with his fighters as though with his brothers or children. He devoted his life to the resistance and his loss is tragic, one I feel personally hit by as I had enormous affection for him. We never met but many times we communicated by letters, audio and video tapes smuggled out of East Timor to Lisbon.
He was extraordinarily loyal to me and supported me in my work as the United Nations representative for East Timor. He was extremely popular, second only to Xanana Gusmao, with whom he had fought alongside for many years, and who is now in prison in Jakarta. He was self-taught but nonetheless incredibly knowledgeable about international politics, far more than most dissidents abroad although he never left East Timor.
People in East Timor will honour him in silence. To do so publicly would provoke retaliation by the Indonesian military. Nino Konis Santana, liberation fighter, born 1959; died March 11, 1998
Jose Ramos Horta is the East Timorese Nobel Peace Prize winner living in exile in Lisbon
The Guardian (London), April 3, 1998
AVCAT: April 10, 1998