“Impunity continues for Indonesian perpetrators of the countless crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste. The CTF report makes no progress toward achieving justice for the thousands of victims and their families,” said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN.
“The Commission was restricted to looking at 1999, the final year of Indonesia’s illegal 24-year occupation. Even within that limited period, the Commission was prohibited from naming individuals who committed crimes or recommending ways to bring them to justice,” added Miller.
“We are encouraged that the Commission acknowledged the institutional responsibility of the Indonesian state and its security forces, and that it refused to recommend amnesties or find credible the self-serving testimony by former Indonesian generals.” said Miller. “The advance copy we have seen is better than many had feared, but must not be the final word.”
"Establishing and admitting institutional responsibility is important, but the repressive policies in Timor-Leste in 1999 were directed and carried out by individuals,"
“The CTF report insists on a false even-handedness between violations by pro-Indonesia and pro-independence forces, and a dishonest equivalence between people struggling for their legal right to self-determination and those enforcing an illegal foreign military occupation. It is clearly a political document, resulting from compromises between Indonesian and Timor-Leste Commissioners, rather than a definitive, objective statement of events,” Miller said.
"The CTF report proposes some reforms in Indonesia. For years, the Indonesian government has promised to implement many of them. Unfortunately, this reform effort reform has been stalled by opposition from a still-powerful military," added Miller.
Several of the generals -- including Presidential candidate Wiranto who headed the Indonesian armed forces during 1999 and was indicted for crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste, have rejected the report's findings of institutional responsibility.
Miller urged that the two governments “quickly release the report to the public, so all can fully evaluate its merits and recommendations. Friendship between government officials must not be allowed to pre-empt justice for perpetrators and reparations to their victims.” The report, Per Memoriam Ad Spem (From Memory to Hope), is scheduled to be handed to the presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste in Bali on Tuesday.
"Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the UN have produced several official reports on the atrocities of 1999, some of which underlie the CTF report. Names have been named, indictments issued, and some trials held, albeit of low-level perpetrators (by the UN) or without serious intention (by Indonesia). Nine years after Indonesian soldiers and the militia proxies they commanded ravaged Timor-Leste, senior Indonesian officials in charge of those events enjoy promotions, active political careers or cozy retirement,"
”The CTF’s report is more credible than we expected, although its findings confirm much of what past reports had long ago concluded, especially that Indonesian military, police and government controlled the anti-independence militia, as well as directly engaging in the violence and destruction against the overwhelming majority of the Timor-Leste population who supported independence,”
“We cannot accept that the CTF’s conclusion that the atrocities of 1999 were caused by low-level Indonesian soldiers failing to follow recently-instituted policies to respect human rights. The campaign of violent intimidation was so well-planned and pervasive that there must have been orders for crimes against humanity passed down the chain of command. The events of 1999 were a direct out-growth of the preceding 23 years of Jakarta’s brutal military occupation,”
“The CTF report attempts to artificially balance the massive crimes by Indonesian forces with accusations of a small number of human rights violations (mainly illegal detention) by pro-independence supporters. Most observers at the time praised the pro-independence side for its restraint in the face of intense provocation. It is disingenuous to assign responsibility to the current government of Timor-Leste for a few actions contrary to resistance movement policy."
BACKGROUND
Indonesia invaded neighboring Timor-Leste in December 1975 in an unprovoked act of military aggression. The ensuing 24-year occupation, which killed more than 100,000 Timorese civilians, was never recognized by the United Nations. When the East Timorese were finally allowed to express their views through a UN-conducted referendum in 1999, nearly 80% voted for independence. Both before and after the referendum, Indonesian military and police forces, aided by Timorese militia they created and directed, created an atmosphere of terror in Timor-Leste, finally laying waste to the entire country.
The CTF was mandated to establish "the shared historical record of the reported human rights violations that took place in the period leading up to and immediately following the popular consultation in Timor-Leste in August 1999" to bring "definitive closure of the issues of the past." However, its mandate prohibited the commission from recommending prosecution of individuals or any judicial processes.
The UN considered that the commission’s mandate to grant amnesties violated international norms against impunity and declined to cooperate with it. In addition, the Timor-Leste Catholic Church and other civil society organizations in both countries objected to the CTF, expecting it to undermine and delay efforts at justice and accountability.
The CTF took testimony from many powerful people in private sessions, and Timor-Leste victims who testified in public were harassed. Indonesia refused to allow the CTF to access security forces' files. Although only about 1% of the murders and massacres during Indonesia’s illegal occupation occurred in 1999, the commission could only look at that year.
In early 2000, the Indonesian government’s Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses in East Timor (KPP HAM), working with fewer resources and less time than the CTF, recommended a number of individuals for investigation and prosecution. Beginning soon after Indonesia’s withdrawal, experts working on behalf of the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretary-General have produced several highly credible reports on the events of 1999. Timor-Leste's independent Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) produced a comprehensive report on human rights violations from 1974 to 1999. Although a UN-supported Serious Crimes Process indicted nearly 400 people for 1999 crimes in Timor-Leste, more than 70% of them, including General Wiranto and other high-ranking Indonesian military officials, enjoy sanctuary in Indonesia.
ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Indonesia. For additional background, see www.etan.org.
