Agustinho 'Sera Malik' Boavide Ximenes

Commander, Sera Team, Baucau

Sera Team was the last in an earlier generation of militias, set up to help Abri fight Falintil in the hills rather than primarily to intimidate voters. It dates from the early or mid-1990s. It was so closely related to the Saka Team (led by Sgt Joanico Belo), that they were sometimes fused in reports. In 1999 they had a combined membership of 970 men, 250 of them armed with modern weapons, according to one report.[1] This and other militias such as Halilintar and Saka Team were on the regular payroll of the armed forces. A 1996 US Congressional report stated that Sera and Saka both belonged to the Baucau military district (kodim 1628).[2] In April 1999 it was revealed that Sera Malik was one of six militia leaders who coordinated the various militia forces in East Timor.[3]

Sera Malik and the Saka commander took part in a meeting with MajGen Zacky Makarim and Col Tono Suratman at the Baucau Kopassus headquarters on 26 July 1999. The meeting, no doubt routine, concerned the distribution of weapons in the event of a 'civil war'.[4] Perhaps this was part of Abri's less than successful mobilisation of the pro-Indonesian militias in the Baucau area. Little violence took place here in the aftermath of the ballot. There were reports that East Timorese soldiers in the Indonesian army in this district had made an agreement with Falintil not to engage in fighting.[5] There are no reports of violence or intimidation against civilians conducted by this individual or the militia he led in 1999.

After the Indonesian withdrawal from East Timor, Sera Malik moved across the border to West Timor, where he remained as of October 2000.[6]

Sera Malik was captured by Falintil guerrilla commander Taur Matan Ruak in January 1998, but was released unharmed. The capture may have been related to death threats he had recently sent to Manuel Carrascalao, an increasingly outspoken former parliamentarian. On the other hand, his release may have been related to the fact that he was a former comrade. One report says he had been a 'personal bodyguard' for guerrilla commander Xanana Gusmao until he was captured by Indonesian troops, presumably some time in the early 1990s. Abri often put captured guerrillas to work to track down their former comrades.[7]

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