Four Corners: Ghosts of Timor Part 1 – East Timor: The ‘dark stain’ on Australia’s proudest military operation

April 04, 2022

An Australian soldier was accused of kicking and punching dead bodies in the southeast Asian country of East Timor in 1999. In previously secret statements, New Zealand SAS soldiers claim what happened went much further.

Two decades ago, Australia’s military forces led an international armed intervention in East Timor, now known as Timor-Leste, to stop a wave of sickening violence that claimed more than a thousand lives.

Backed by the United Nations, cheered on at home and applauded internationally, the intervention force brought peace to Timor.

But behind that success is an untold story.

Over two documentaries, Four Corners will reveal allegations of military misconduct that include the kicking and punching of a body and even evidence of torture.

Some claim the incidents were the first link in a chain of events leading to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.