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Commission of Experts calls for renewed action on serious crimes

JSMP Press Release - June 29, 2005

The long-awaited final report of the UN Commission of Experts appointed to investigate the judicial processes for atrocities committed in Timor Leste in 1999, submitted to the UN Security Council this week, has called on the governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia to take important steps to truly bring to justice those responsible for the crimes.

The serious crimes processes in both countries have "not yet achieved full accountability of those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of human rights committed in East Timor in 1999", according to the Commission.

The Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for Timor Leste was found to have been a complete failure as a credible judicial mechanism. Prosecutions were "manifestly inadequate, primarily due to a lack of commitment on the part of the prosecution" and "[m]any aspects of the ad hoc judicial process reveal scant respect for or conformity to relevant international standards".

The serious crimes process conducted with UN support in Timor Leste was found, on the other hand, to have been a generally effective and credible judicial process, although hampered by limited resources, and ultimately thwarted by a lack of cooperation from Indonesia.

The Commission found that there is "frustration among the people of Timor-Leste about the inability of the judicial process to bring to justice those outside the country's jurisdiction, particularly high-level indictees" and "concern that the overwhelming majority of offenders convicted by the Special Panels are from Timor-Leste".

Both processes have now been brought to a close, and the governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia are now relying on a "Commission of Truth and Friendship" to, as Minister for Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos-Horta has said, "finally close this chapter...and...resolve once and for all the events of 1999". Many see this as a choice of political and economic expediency over justice for the people of East Timor. The authorisation of amnesties and prohibition of prosecutions under its terms of reference potentially violate the Constitution of Timor Leste. Further, the Commission of Experts warns that this process may "contradict international standards on denial of impunity for serious crimes".

Instead, the Commission calls on the Security Council to ensure that the serious crimes process continues in Timor Leste, and calls for a complete reopening of prosecutions before the Ad Hoc Court in Indonesia within six months, with significant international support to bolster prosecutorial capacity. In particular it recommends that the indictment of General Wiranto et al, issued in Timor Leste, be handed over to Indonesian authorities and acted upon. Further, due to the complete failure of the Indonesian Ad Hoc Court, the Commission recommends that completed trials of persons indicted in Indonesia be reopened and reheard from the beginning where appropriate.

If either government fails to properly implement these recommendations the Commission calls upon the Security Council to create an ad hoc international criminal tribunal, to be located in a third state.

JSMP welcomes the release of the report and the responsibility it places with the governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia to ensure accountability for serious violations of international law. JSMP calls upon the Security Council to adopt, and for both governments to meaningfully respond to, its recommendations. The international community must unequivocally demonstrate that it is no longer willing to accept impunity and that it is dedicated to bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity committed in Timor Leste.

Background briefing

East Timor was under Portuguese colonial rule for 450 years and was later invaded by Indonesia in 1975. A quarter-century of brutal military occupation followed, during which Indonesian troops directly or indirectly killed an estimated 200,000 East Timorese people, one-third of the population, and perpetrated widespread and systematic violations of basic human rights, both of pro-independence activists and of the civilian population.

In the wake of continued international pressure, economic crisis and the fall of the Suharto regime, Indonesia in 1999 agreed to a UN organised popular consultation to determine the future status of the territory.

Parallel to this development, the Indonesian army established and trained pro-Indonesian militias in East Timor. In early 1999 they initiated an orchestrated campaign of violence against the people of East Timor.

Despite the environment of fear and intimidation, on 30 August 1999 almost 80% of the East Timorese people implicitly voted for independence by rejecting Indonesia's proposal. After the announcement of the result on 4 September, the situation deteriorated rapidly. It is now estimated that some 1,400 people were killed in the months preceding and in the immediate aftermath of the ballot. More than a quarter of a million people, or some 30 per cent of the population, were forcibly deported or fled across the border to West Timor in Indonesia, where an estimated 28,000 remain today. An unknown number of people were subjected to other human rights violations, including torture and rape.

Accordingly to Resolution 1272, issued on 25 October 1999, the Security Council "condemns all violence and acts in support of violence in East Timor, calls for their immediate end, and demands that those responsible for such violence be brought to justice".

On that basis the Special Panels for Serious Crimes were a hybrid UN-East Timorese Tribunal established by the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) in the Dili District Court in June 2000, in response to UN Security Council demands in resolutions 1264 (1999) and 1272 (1999) that those responsible for the serious crimes committed in Timor Leste during 1999 be brought to justice. According to Security Council Resolution 1543 (2004) investigations had to be completed by 30 November 2004 and trials by 20 May 2005. Eighty-four defendants were convicted by the SPSC, while 339 accused remain outside East Timor. Indonesia established its own Ad Hoc Human Rights Court on Timor Leste in 2000 but this was widely regarded as critically flawed. Six of the 18 people indicted were convicted but five of these convictions have been overturned by the Indonesian Court of Appeal and the remaining conviction is pending judgment on appeal.

The Secretary General appointed a Commission of Experts in February 2005 to investigate the successes and failures of the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court and the Special Panels for Serious Crimes. The Commission of Experts visited Timor Leste in early April 2005, but members were denied visas to visit Indonesia until late May 2005. The members of the Commission were Justice P N Bhagwati (India), Dr Shaista Shameem (Fiji) and Professor Yozo Yokota (Japan).
 

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