Rice N Peas Salutes Greg Shackleton
In 1975, Australian journalist Greg Shackleton and four of his colleagues traveled to East Timor on a quest to expose the suspected invasion of the country by Indonesia. Today, the atrocities faced by the people of East Timor at the hands of the Indonesians is known and has been documented; but in 1975, at the onset of the vicious invasion, the mainstream media remained silent about the events unfolding in East Timor. Disgusted with his nation for ignoring the massacres in order to maintain positive trade relations with Indonesia, Shackleton decided to take matters into his own hands. Although he had never reported from a war zone before, Shackleton headed straight into the heart of the disaster. He and his four colleagues, who were later named The Bilibo Five, took up residence in the heart of the war zone. Shackleton painted an Australian flag on the side of the house in which they stayed, along with the word “AUSTRALIA,” hoping that their status as Australian journalists would grant them some protection. But their notions proved wrong, for ten days after setting foot in the war zone, all five lost their lives. Initially reported as “missing,” their causes of death were allegedly “never confirmed.” While it is possible that they were all caught in the crossfire of the fighting, it has been confirmed by eye witnesses that the five were brutally murdered in an attempt to keep the footage they had captured tightly under wraps. Shackleton tragically left behind his wife, Shirley, and his eight-year-old son, Evan.
The night prior to their deaths, The Bilibo Five had captured footage of Indonesian warships coming into East Timor, an invasion of which Western intelligence was fully aware. This, amongst other footage the five had captured during their ten days in East Timor, would have fully exposed the Indonesian government’s plans for a full-scale invasion, and thus, the Australian government’s corruption for ignoring such a horrifying plan. Hence, the footage could have been devastating to the Australian government and other Western intelligence if released. It is therefore certain that the journalists were killed in an attempt to keep this footage under wraps. It was later said by eye witnesses that one of the five journalists attempted to record something on his tape recorder, even after being terribly wounded and right up until the minute of his death.
Shackleton and his colleagues, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie, and Brian Peters, were all under the age of 30 when they were brutally murdered by the Indonesian army. While the deaths have never been confirmed, nor even investigated by the Australian or any other government, Shirley Shackleton has traveled to East Timor and spoken to eye witnesses who have retold the gruesome tale of the journalists’ tragic murders. As she told The Independent’s John Pilger in a 1994 interview: “What happened was that most of them were strung up by their feet, their sexual organs were removed and stuffed into their mouths, and they were stabbed with the short throwing knives that Indonesian soldiers carry. Nobody knows for sure whether they choked to death or whether they choked on their own blood, whether they just died from their wounds or whether they bled to death.” According to witnesses, the bodies were then dressed in military uniforms and photographed behind a machine gun in front of the signs Shackleton had painted, in an attempt to “prove” that the murdered journalists were fighting alongside the guerilla forces. The bodies were then burned, leaving no other trace of evidence.
Who among us can honestly say that we would put our lives on the line in the name of justice? Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie, and Brian Peters gave their lives in an attempt to expose the truth. Greg Shackleton left his wife a widow in order to save the lives of others. He left his own child fatherless in a fight to improve the quality of life for other people’s children. He was leagues above and beyond today’s journalists. Should the world one day see a generation of journalists with even a fraction of this righteousness and self-sacrifice, a bighter tomorrow might not seem like such a pipe dream
The night before his horrific death, Shackleton filmed a report that survived what he could not. We reprint the transcription here today in honor of Greg Shackleton, The Bilibo Five, and the incredulous sacrifice these men made in the name of journalistic integrity.
‘Something happened here last night that moved us very deeply. We were brought to this tiny village in East Timor and were targets of a barrage of questions from men who knew they may die tomorrow and cannot understand why the rest of the world doesn’t care. Why, they ask, are the Indonesians invading us? Why, they ask, are the Australians not helping us? I said that we would certainly ask that Australia raise this fighting at the United Nations. At that, the second in charge rose to his feet, exclaimed ‘Camerado journalist,’ shook my hand and we were applauded because we were Australians. That’s all they want – for the United Nations to care about what is happening here. . . The emotion here last night was so strong that we, all three of us, felt we should be able to reach out into the warm night air and touch it. Greg Shackleton at an unnamed village which we will remember forever, in Portugese Timor.”
1st April 2009