Army refuses to pay East Timor crash victims

Photo / APN

SYDNEY: Two brothers seriously injured in a collision with an Australian Army vehicle in East Timor are unable to feed their families but had a compensation request rejected by the Australian Defence Force, it emerged yesterday.

The ADF, which has more than 400 soldiers in East Timor, said it was up to the Dili Government to compensate its citizens in such cases. It also revealed that its International Stabilisation Force - which has been deployed in East Timor since the civil unrest of 2006 - had been involved in nine road accidents within two years involving civilian injuries.

Fairfax newspapers yesterday reported on the plight of Adelino Madeira, 33, and his 38-year-old brother, Lorenco, whose motorcycle collided with a military vehicle in May last year. Both were treated in hospital, with Adelino airlifted to Darwin, and they were given A$1500 ($1888) by the Dili Government. But according to Australian academic Clinton Fernandes, who saw them recently in their village in Lautem district, they have been unable to resume work - Lorenco as a farmer, Adelino as a schoolteacher. The brothers have six children between them.

Under the terms of an agreement governing Australian troops in the former Indonesian province, East Timor is responsible for compensation to civilians who are injured or suffer property damage as a result of the soldiers' activities.

This year there was controversy over the case of 65-year-old Gracinda da Costa, who died from head injuries after being hit by an Army vehicle in Dili last December. Her family was eventually given a no-fault payment by the ADF, which the head of the armed forces, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told an Australian Senate committee was intended to cover the funeral and other expenses.

Fernandes urged Australia to compensate the Madeira brothers, telling Fairfax: "The required compensation would be quite modest, and far less than the cost of Defence's glossy brochures on winning hearts and minds on operations."

The ADF said yesterday that the ISF regretted the accident, which - according to its inquiry - occurred because the men were riding on the wrong side of the road. It said the IDF had "paid close and continued attention to the Madeira brothers' welfare to ensure they were provided an appropriate level of treatment".