SPECIAL COLLECTION | Santa Cruz massacre, 12 November 1991

In 1991, hundreds of Timorese died or were injured at the hands of Indonesian soldiers at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, Timor-Leste. The massacre was pivotal in the Timor-Leste independence struggle, bringing systematic violations of human rights and mass atrocities to global attention and sparking a wave of solidarity activism around the world. The story has been told, but primary source documents remain relatively scarce and the story, therefore, incomplete.

For the thirtieth anniversary of the massacre, and in conjunction with a workshop hosted in Dili by the Timor-Leste Studies Association, this special collection features new documents generated through the international solidarity movement as well as from inside Timor-Leste.

The new Santa Cruz Massacre Special Collection is now under construction, and welcomes contributions of new material related to the 12 November 1991 massacre, its aftermath, and its effects on global Timor solidarity. A brief introduction to this project by John Waddingham of the Clearing House for Archival Records on Timor appears at https://timorarchives.wordpress.com/2021/08/10/docs-santa-cruz-30-years/

This 'Special Collection' provides access to, or draws attention to, materials about the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre which may not be easily retrievable in internationally-held archival collections.

Access all records at https://timorarchive.ca/scm-special-collection