New international initiative needed to create justice for East Timor
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