New international initiative needed to create justice for East Timor
Agung Yudhawiranata, Jakarta
In an effort to stave off the creation of an ad hoc international rights tribunal to investigate the clearly orchestrated violence that accompanied the vote for independence in East Timor, Indonesia made unambiguous commitments to the international community and the people of East Timor to prosecute those individuals responsible for the atrocities.
Despite its creation of the Human Rights Court on East Timor in Jakarta (the ad hoc court), which was created specifically to hear these cases, Indonesia has signally failed to keep its commitments. The Special Panels prosecution division at the Dili District Court has only made a modest contribution in addressing the larger issues of justice and accountability that continue to hang over the world's newest country, primarily for technical and financial reasons.
The main reason appears to be the lack of political will in Jakarta to prosecute senior Indonesian officials responsible for the violence. Ironically, such a lack of political will was later endorsed by the East Timorese government.
In fulfillment of the UN Security Council's request that the secretary-general inform it of developments in the area of prosecution of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in East Timor in 1999, a three-member Commission of Experts was appointed by the UN secretary-general in February 2005 to assess the progress made in bringing to justice those responsible for such violations and to determine whether full accountability has been achieved.
It is inexplicable that, instead of demonstrating a clear commitment to human rights on the world stage, the Indonesian government is instead expressing less than full cooperation regarding the UN security-general's own representatives. The Indonesian government has refused to issue visas to members of the Commission of Experts.
The latest effort to bring to justice those most responsible for atrocities in East Timor is the creation of a bilateral Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), which resulted from a bilateral meeting between the governments of Indonesia and East Timor in Bali on Dec. 14, 2004, in reaction against the establishment of a Commission of Experts by the UN secretary- general.
The working principles of the CTF are, among others:
Fist, the CTF shall bear in mind the complexity of the transitional situation in 1999, aiming at further strengthening of reconciliation and friendship between the two countries and peoples.
Second, the CTF will not lead to prosecution and will emphasize institutional responsibilities.
Third, the CTF will further promote friendship and cooperation between governments and peoples of the two countries, and promote intra and inter-communal reconciliation to heal the wounds of the past.
Fourth, the CTF does not recommend the establishment of any other judicial body.
The CTF shall have the mandate to reveal the factual truths of the violence; the cause and the extent of reported violations of human rights prior to and following the 1999 popular consultation by:
Reviewing all the existing materials, with a view to recommending follow-up measures in the context of promoting reconciliation and friendship among peoples of the two countries.
Issuing a report establishing the shared historical record of the human rights violation related to the 1999 popular consultation.
Devising ways and means as well as recommending appropriate measures to heal the wounds of the past, to rehabilitate and restore human dignity, inter alia: recommending amnesty for those involved in human rights violations that cooperate fully in revealing the truth, recommending rehabilitation measures for those wrongly accused of human rights violations, recommending ways to promote reconciliation between peoples based on customs and religious values, and recommending innovative people-to- people contacts and cooperation to further enhance peace and stability
In the conduct of their work, the commission shall be guaranteed: freedom of movement throughout Indonesia and East Timor; free access, in accordance with the law, to all documents of the KPP HAM, the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court in Jakarta, the Special Panels in Dili and the CAVR final report; the right to interview all persons in possession of information considered relevant by the commission, guaranteeing privacy and confidentiality if necessary; and security arrangement by both government to the commission members and persons interviewed by the CTF, and persons who provide information and documents to the CTF, and for documents obtained and retained by the CTF.
From the facts above, one should note that there is no requirement of the CTF -- in their work to try and reveal the truth of the events prior to and following the 1999 popular consultation -- to hold hearings involving both the alleged perpetrators and victims and/or survivors of human rights violations.
Furthermore, the CTF mandate is limited to the examination of documents. However, the CTF does not have guaranteed free access to documents of the Indonesian intelligence and military institutions that played a role in East Timor prior to and following the 1999 popular consultation.
In the same context, the CTF has only the rights to interview all persons in possession of information considered relevant by the commission, but has no right to request by force (subpoena) or to confiscate documents.
There are no problems at all between Indonesians and East Timorese, so a reconciliation between peoples of the two countries is not needed. The problem of human rights violations in East Timor does not lie in people-to-people relations, but lies instead with the TNI and its militias as the alleged perpetrators of the violence against the East Timorese.
It is time for the international community, led by the UN, to launch a new initiative to bring the perpetrators of the violence in East Timor to justice.
The writer is an international relations researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ESAM), a Jakarta- based rights group. He can be reached by email at agung@elsam.or.id