East Timor: Justice for whom?<\/p>\n
Adirito de Jesus Soares, Dili<\/p>\n
Many people have commented about the first 100 days of
\nPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency. One of his
\ncampaign promises, as we know, was to deal specifically with
\ncorruption -- one of most acute problems facing Indonesia.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, this promise shows the seriousness of SBY's
\ngovernment, at least in public, in establishing good governance
\nand democracy. However, he has ignored the issue of human rights
\nviolations committed by state apparatus over the last several
\ndecades<\/p>\n
This includes crimes against humanity that took place in East
\nTimor during the illegal occupation by the Indonesian regime.
\nPeople might recall some of the other big atrocities, such as the
\nkilling of alleged Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members in
\n1965 and more recent cases like the May 1998 riots were thousands
\nof people were killed. We can add to this list cases like human
\nrights violations in Aceh, Papua and Maluku.<\/p>\n
In relation to human rights violations in East Timor, East
\nTimorese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ramos Horta
\nand his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda met with UN
\nSecretary-General Kofi Annan and then U.S. secretary of state
\nColin Powell in Washington in December last year. In these
\nmeetings, the two foreign ministers proposed what they called the
\nInternational Truth and Friendship Commission to deal with crimes
\nagainst humanity that took place in East Timor during and after
\nthe 1999 referendum there.<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear what the mandate of this commission would
\nbe. However, as explained by Horta, it seems that the commission
\nwould have the task of naming those who committed human rights
\nviolations in East Timor. Horta, the main proponent of this
\ncommission, has been campaigning for this proposal while ignoring
\nthe voices of the victims in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Of course this proposal has attained significant support from
\nthe Indonesian government, since it would avoid the demands of
\nvictims both in Indonesia and East Timor who are still pursuing
\njustice by demanding the establishment of an international
\ntribunal to try the alleged perpetrators.<\/p>\n
In other word, this commission would pave the way for the
\nperpetrators to keep enjoying their impunity. In contrast, in the
\neyes of the victims, an international tribunal would put an end
\nto the impunity enjoyed by those who committed human rights
\nviolations both in East Timor and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Horta and Wirayuda's proposal seems especially odd as Kofi
\nAnnan is preparing to establish a Commission of Experts in order
\nto carry out an assessment of the ad hoc Human Rights Court in
\nJakarta and the Special Panel Court in Dili. These two tribunals
\nhave a mandate to try those who committed crimes against humanity
\nin East Timor prior to and after the referendum in 1999.<\/p>\n
It has been more than obvious that these two tribunals have
\nnot offered any real justice to the victims of 1999. The ad hoc
\nHuman Rights Court in Jakarta is merely a show, with the main
\nalleged perpetrators being acquitted, while the Special Panel
\nCourt in Dili has no teeth to bring to court those big fish who
\nare still residing in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
So what exactly is the hidden agenda behind this odd proposal?
\nIt appears that the underlying aim of the commission is to put
\nbilateral relations between East Timor and Indonesia ahead of
\njustice for the victims or rights abuses. It is obvious that
\npragmatic politics always puts aside justice for victims in the
\nname of leaders who claim to represent them.<\/p>\n
The international community, through the UN, has a noble
\nmission of dealing with perpetrators of gross human rights
\nviolations as hostis humani generis -- enemies of mankind.<\/p>\n
Consistently, the UN has to push for the idea of establishing
\na Commission of Experts in order to carry out an assessment. If
\nthis assessment takes place, then the UN has to work out how to
\nfind an alternative, which could be an international tribunal if
\nthe assessment shows that there is no hope for justice via the
\npresent mechanisms. This is consistent with all of the UN's
\nearlier findings and recommendations after the 1999 East Timor
\nreferendum.<\/p>\n
It is likely, however, that Horta and Wirayuda's proposal will
\nbypass and undermine Kofi Annan's idea of establishing a
\nCommission of Experts. Worse still, this proposal shows where the
\nleaders' real interests lie, and for sure it is not justice for
\nthe victims.<\/p>\n
The author, a lawyer and human rights advocate, is a former
\nmember of East Timor's Constituent Assembly and currently teaches
\nat Dili University. He can be contacted at sahe_lib@yahoo.com<\/p>",
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