Truth commission set for traumatized East Timor
Truth commission set for traumatized East Timor
Dean Yates, Reuters, Jakarta
East Timor will formally open a truth and reconciliation
commission next week in a major step toward shedding light on
widespread human rights abuses committed during Indonesia's
brutal rule over the territory.
Similar in principle to the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission that probed apartheid-era crimes,
officials said the East Timor body was vital to helping Timorese
traumatized by the past deal with their suffering.
Officials said seven Timorese national commissioners were
scheduled to be sworn in on Monday to mark the official opening
of the body, although hearings would not start immediately.
"Many Timorese want answers from those who caused their loss
and suffering," Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's independence hero and
the man expected to become the territory's first president, said
in remarks carried in commission documents obtained by Reuters.
"With answers, people can start the healing process and close
the horrible chapter in their lives."
The establishment of the Commission for Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation in East Timor comes as Jakarta moves closer to
putting 19 suspects, including three generals, on trial over
alleged major human rights abuses in East Timor linked to the
territory's vote for independence in 1999.
The vote prompted pro-Jakarta militias, with support from the
Indonesian army, to go on a rampage in which the UN estimates
more than 1,000 people were killed.
East Timor, currently administered by the United Nations, will
become formally independent on May 20.
Indonesia's 1975 invasion and subsequent 24-year occupation of
the former Portuguese territory left more than 200,000 people --
a quarter of the population -- dead from fighting, famine and
disease. The United Nations never recognized Jakarta's rule.
The commission, being set up by the UN administration with
widespread support from Timorese political leaders, will operate
for two years. It can extend for a further six months if needed.
It has no judicial function but has strong powers to probe
abuses, and any evidence of serious crimes will be referred to
Timorese courts.
Evidence can also potentially be used in Indonesia or by the
international community to prosecute people, the documents said.
The commission documents said the truth would be sought
especially about events leading up to and in the months just
after the independence ballot; the period before and after the
Indonesian invasion in December 1975; and the overall impact of
Jakarta's presence.
"Through its truth-seeking function, the commission will lend
an official ear to people's stories," Pat Walsh, commission
project coordinator, told Reuters by telephone from the East
Timor capital Dili.
The commission will also look at reconciliation within
communities, allowing people who carried out lesser crimes such
as theft, minor assault or killing livestock to admit wrongdoing
and make amends.
The word "reception" in the commission title refers to a role
offering Timorese who fled to West Timor after the independence
vote an orderly way of being received back into their
communities.
Jakarta has been under strong pressure from foreign donors
over its own delayed trials of those accused of rights abuses in
East Timor in 1999. Officials have said a special court should
convene this month, although a date has not yet been set.