East Timor: NGO Statement On CTF Report Handover
Joint NGO statement on the handover of the report of the commission of truth and friendship
East Timor Action Network (ETAN), Association HAK (Timor-Leste), Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East
Timor, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (U.S.), Human Rights First, International Center for Transitional
Justice, The Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence (Kontras) (Indonesia), Maria Afonso de Jesus,
victims' families representative (Timor-Leste), TAPOL (UK), Timor-Leste University Students' Front
This week the report of the bilateral Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) will be handed over to the presidents of
Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The report concludes that crimes against humanity took place for which militia groups and the
Indonesian military, police and civilian government bear institutional responsibility. The report should be made public
as soon as possible, and must not be the end of efforts to assign responsibility for violence in 1999 and before.
While Indonesia bears most of the responsibility to respond to the challenges posed by the report, both countries and
the international community must work together to ensure individual accountability for the past, and reform of these
institutions in the future.
The Commission was formed by the two governments to 'establish the conclusive truth' about the events of 1999 'with a
view to further promoting reconciliation and friendship.' In 1999 militias created, trained, and directed by the
Indonesian military carried out a terror campaign that left more than 1,400 dead, hundreds of thousands forcibly
displaced, and much of the territory's infrastructure destroyed. According to available information, the report has
found that Indonesian security forces often directly participated in the violence.
Flaws in the Commission documented by our own groups and others include: a mandate that put a priority on rehabilitating
the names of accused perpetrators over justice or compensation for victims; prohibitions on assigning individual
responsibility or on recommending prosecutions or creation of judicial bodies; inadequate witness protection; and a
narrow focus on events in 1999.
As a result, despite the intent of the two nations to find 'definitive closure,' and a report that contributes to a
better understanding of the violence, the Commission cannot be the last word on responsibility for past human rights
violations in Timor-Leste. The body is by design inadequate for the task of identifying the truth or obtaining closure
in any meaningful sense of the word.
However, despite its limitations, commissioners from both countries made an effort to sift through the information and
produce meaningful conclusions. Notably, the Commission did not exercise its power to recommend amnesties for any
individuals. The Commission has found that the Indonesian military, as an institution, was responsible for crimes
against humanity. This finding leads our organizations to two inescapable conclusions:
An institution that was responsible for crimes against humanity remains a powerful and largely unreformed force within
Indonesia. Despite a few important steps following the fall of President Soeharto, such as the separation of the police
from the military and the loss of automatic seats in parliament, the military has made little progress in accepting
civilian control, divesting of its massive empire of legal and illegal businesses, or holding its members accountable
for human rights violations.
A further judicial mechanism is needed to assign individual responsibility for those crimes. Individual responsibility
is a fundamental principle of international criminal law and an essential aspect of reconciliation. Some of those
implicated in the violence maintain positions of influence in Indonesia, either within the military or as retired
civilians active in politics.
It is also important to note that just as the Commission must not be the last word, neither was it the first. A 2000
report by an investigative team from Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission identified serious violations and
recommended investigation of numerous civilian and military officials. Timor-Leste's Commission of Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation (CAVR) produced a comprehensive 2,000 page report with recommendations on accountability and reparations
that have been largely unimplemented. The U.N.-backed Serious Crimes Unit in Dili indicted numerous individuals for
prosecution, most of whom remain at large in Indonesia. A U.N. Commission of Experts found that Indonesia's efforts at
accountability, the Jakarta ad hoc tribunals, were 'manifestly inadequate.' The only defendant serving time for a
conviction in those trials, militia leader Eurico Gutteres was recently acquitted on appeal. The CTF report notes
serious shortcomings of the Jakarta trials.
Both the U.N. Commission of Experts and the CAVR urged that an international tribunal be formed if Indonesia did not
promptly act to hold the perpetrators accountable. It is possible that the findings of the Commission of Truth and
Friendship will spur further prosecutions in Indonesia, ideally in conjunction with the international community to
ensure both credibility and resources. However, Indonesia's record in this area is clear, and it is highly unlikely that
the Indonesian government will act without clear signals from the international community that an international tribunal
remains a credible option.
Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia's invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste must be
identified and prosecuted, for the sake of justice for past victims in Timor-Leste and for a future in which human
rights are respected in Indonesia.
The international community and the government of Timor-Leste must play a role in ensuring both prosecutions and
reparations to victims. As recommended by the Commission, Indonesia must comprehensively reform its armed forces.
If Indonesia truly wants closure and full acceptance by the international community as a rights-respecting nation, there
is no alternative but an end to impunity through individual as well as institutional accountability.
***
* Association HAK (Timor-Leste)
* Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor
* East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (U.S.)
* Human Rights First
* International Center for Transitional Justice
* The Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence (Kontras) (Indonesia)
* Maria Afonso de Jesus, victims' families representative (Timor-Leste)
* TAPOL (UK)
* Timor-Leste University Students' Front
ENDS