LtCol Lukito - Master of Terror

LtCol (Inf) Lukito

Commander, 700 Airborne Battalion (Linud 700)

Together with another Kostrad unit (Battalion 432 under Maj Eriet Hadi Uriyanto), Battalion 700 was only sent to East Timor during 1999 (from its base in Makassar, South Sulawesi) upon the declaration of martial law on 7 September.[1] When it landed at Laga harbour on 15 September, East Timorese feared this combat battalion was about to engage Falintil militarily.[2] It was therefore in East Timor at the height of the destruction.

It was the last to leave East Timor, on 30 October 1999.[3] Afterwards it was briefly posted in neighbouring Flores, where local NGOs protested that its presence seemed to signal a militarisation of the island.[4]

Prior to 1999, Battalion 700 saw a lot of action in East Timor and had a reputation for cruelty. In 1976 it took part in the siege of Mount Matebean in eastern East Timor, which left a large number of civilians dead.[5] In 1991, then under the command of Gerhan Lentara, Battalion 700 was centrally involved in the Dili massacre of 11 November.[6] A 1996 report had Battalion 700 troops distributed around several military districts in the western part of East Timor: Aileu, Ainaro, Bobonaro, and Suai. It turned up in several resistance and human rights reports in that region at the time.[7]

Following a Falintil attack on an army post at Alas (Manufahi district) on 30 October 1998, Battalion 700 troops took part with other troops in reprisal actions in which dozens of civilians were arrested and tortured.[8] This presence in East Timor late in 1998 raises the question whether at least some of the battalion's personnel may not have been there throughout 1999.

One report said it was controlled by the Kopassus intelligence unit SGI.[9]

After East Timor it turned up in Aceh, where it soon developed a similar reputation for brutality.

Extra Information

Current Status:
2 - Priority 2 for further investigation. Not included in any other formal list, but mentioned in other independent reports, bearing structural responsibility, but with minimal data so far for involvement in ET violence.

See map of location
This individual is also mentioned in these profiles:
LtGen Djamari Chaniago
Maj Eriet Hadi Uriyanto

[1] 'Penerapan darurat militer: Landasan hukum bagi militer untuk lebih keras dan tegas', Kompas, 8 September 1999.

[2] 'Pasukan Kostrad mendarat di Baucau', MateBEAN, 18 September 1999.

[3] 'Bendera Merah Putih tak lagi berkibar di Timtim', Kompas, 31 Oktober 1999; 'TNI di Timtim: Tinggal Yon 700 dan tiga kompi pasukan elite', Kompas, 27 September 1999.

[4] Pos Kupang, 28 September 1999.

[5] 'Pasukan Kostrad mendarat di Baucau', MateBEAN, 18 September 1999.

[6] 'The army's casualty - who is he?', Tapol Bulletin, No. 108, December 1991.

[7] 'A Report from the Congressional Research Service [Translated From Portuguese by David Skelly, CRS Language Services]', Appendix to Senator Claiborne Pell, 'Democracy: An emerging Asian value', A report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, June 1996, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1996. In May 1996 it tortured an arrested Falintil guerrilla near Ermera (National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM), 'East Timor report', 5 June 1996 (broadcast Indonesia-L, 5 June 1996)); In July 1996 Battalion 700 detained and tortured seven men in Gleno for a fortnight (East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC), 'Urgent action - progress report', 24 October 1996); On Christmas Eve, 1996, troops from Battalion 700 killed two civilians in Ermera town as part of a hunt for the local Falintil commander (John Martinkus, pers. comm. with Tony O'Connor, 5 February 1997); In January 1997 Battalion 700 troops took part in a counter-insurgency action near Ermera (Falintil Guerrilla Autonomous Region No.4, 'Guerrilla Communique covering January 1997 to 10 February 1997', National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM), 14 February 1997 (broadcast on internet nusa-l@indopubs.com, 2 July 1997)).

[8] Sekretariat CNRT, 'Laporan kronologis peristiwa Alas', Dili, 21 Nopember 1998 (broadcast on internet by MateBEAN, 1 December 1998); 'Pembantaian di Same hantui kemesraan Lisabon-Jakarta', MateBEAN, 24 November 1998.

[9] East Timor Observatory / Observatório Timor Leste / Observatoire Timor-Oriental, 'ETO - Numbers and identification of Indonesian mlitary in East Timor' (Reference: FA09-1999-07-06eng), 13 July 1999 (http://homepage.esoterica.pt/~cdpm).