João da Costa Tavares[1] (6 April 1931 – 8 June 2009) was the Commander-in-Chief of the pro-Indonesian Militia in East Timor.

[3] From May 1976 to 1989, Tavares was regent (Bupati) of the Bobonaro District,[1] Here he commanded the Halilintar militia, which was inactive between 1980 and 1995 but was then reactivated during the 1999 East Timorese crisis.

During a demonstration of pro-integration militias after the appointment of Tavares, they, together with Indonesian security forces, committed the massacre in the house of Manuel Carrascalão, in which at least 19 people died.

[2] In July 2003, Tavares was tried in absentia in Dili for crimes against humanity and his active leadership of the Bobonaro militias, leading to multiple offenses culminating in the massacre at the Maliana police station on September 8, 1999.

Several Halilintar militia officers were sentenced to long prison terms by the Dili District Court's Special Panel for Serious Crimes.