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Open letter on Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report

Progressio, TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign and Campaign Against Arms Trade - February 3, 2006

Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 1AA

3 February 2006

Dear Mr Straw,

We were pleased to hear that the final report of Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) has been submitted to the UN Secretary-General and we trust that the UK government as a member of the UN Core Group on Timor-Leste and a major donor to the CAVR has received a copy and had the opportunity to study its findings and recommendations.

We welcome the completion of the report and pay tribute to all those who participated in the process, especially the many victims and their families still traumatised by their experiences. We also commend the UK government for the support it has provided to the CAVR.

We urge you to press for the formal dissemination of the report to members of the Security Council and other interested parties and for it to be publicly distributed as widely as possible without delay.

The report provides the most detailed and comprehensive documentation of the human rights abuses perpetrated by all parties between 1974 and 1999 and is a crucial account of the truth about the widespread and systematic crimes committed before and during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste. It includes a number of important findings and recommendations which concern the UK.

The UK role

The report concludes that whereas the UK government acknowledged the right of the people of Timor-Leste to self-determination, it chose to stay silent on the issue. It did not intervene to halt the Indonesian invasion in 1975 although it knew of Indonesia's intentions. Instead it took the view that 'it is in Britiain's interests that Indonesia should absorb the territory as soon as and as unobtrusively as possible: and that if it comes to the crunch and there is a row in the United Nations, we should keep our heads down and avoid siding against the Indonesian government'.

The UK failed to promote the right to self-determination or provide assistance to the Timorese struggle until 1998. On the contrary, it actively supported Indonesia's campaign by advising Indonesian officials on the management of the issue and on 'how to handle reports of atrocities'.

'Britain's decision to keep "our heads down" was largely dictated by the importance it attached to its long-standing commercial interests in Indonesia', says the CAVR. During the occupation, the UK increased aid, trade and military co-operation with Indonesia.

The report notes that the UK was a major supplier of arms to Indonesia during the occupation and that senior Indonesian military officials were given training in British military establishments. The CAVR cites credible reports that British equipment was used in Timor-Leste, but makes the important point that:

'Whether or not British-made military equipment was used in specific violations in Timor-Leste, the provision of military assistance helped Indonesia upgrade its military capability and freed up the potential for the Indonesian armed forces to use other equipment in Timor-Leste. More importantly, the provision of military aid to Indonesia by a major Western power and member of the Security Council was a signal of substantial political support to the aggressor in the conflict, and outraged and bewildered East Timorese who knew of Britain's professed support for self-determination.' As regards the UK, the report recommends that:

• The report is distributed as widely as possible through the media, internet and other networks.
• The UK government makes available classified and other archival material on the period 1974-1999 so that Timor-Leste can build a comprehensive depository of information on its history.
• The UK, as a state that had a military co-operation programme with the Indonesian government, apologises to the people of Timor-Leste for failing to adequately uphold internationally agreed fundamental rights and freedoms.
• The UK, as a state that gave military backing to Indonesia and a permanent member of the Security Council duty bound to uphold the highest principles of world order and peace and to protect the weak and vulnerable, assists the government of Timor-Leste in providing reparations to victims of human rights violations suffered during the Indonesian occupation.
• Business corporations which profited from the sale of weapons to Indonesia during the occupation contribute to the reparations programme.
• The UK, along with all UN member states, refuses a visa to any Indonesian military officer named in the report for either violations or command responsibility for troops accused of violations and takes other measures such as the freezing of bank accounts until that individual's innocence has been independently and credibly established.
• The UK, along with all other states, regulates military sales and cooperation with Indonesia more effectively and makes such support totally conditional on progress towards full democratisation, the subordination of the military to the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with international human rights, including respect for the right of self-determination.
• The UK undertakes a joint initiative with the governments of Australia and New Zealand to establish the truth about the deaths of the six foreign journalists at Balibo in Timor-Leste in 1975 so that the facts and accountability are finally established.

Justice for past atrocities

The report finds that 'there have been no adequate justice measures for the crimes against humanity committed in Timor-Leste throughout the 25-year mandate period'. It notes that for both Timor-Leste and Indonesia the result of this lack of justice is that impunity has become entrenched.

'Those who planned, ordered, committed and are responsible for the most serious human rights violations have not been brought to account, and in many cases have seen their military and civil careers flourish as a result of their activities.' The CAVR believes that the achievement of justice hinges on the commitment of the international community and in particular, the UN.

It recommends the renewal of the mandates of the Serious Crimes Unit and Special Panels in Timor-Leste in order to investigate and try cases from throughout the period 1975-1999. It also calls for focused investigations and prosecutions by the Indonesian authorities of those members of the Indonesian armed forces named in the report and further measures by the international community to demonstrate its commitment to justice. The UN, and in particular the Security Council, should, says the CAVR, remain 'seized of the matter of justice for crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste for as long as necessary, and be prepared to institute an International Tribunal...should other measures be deemed to have failed to deliver a sufficient measure of justice and Indonesia persists in the obstruction of justice'.
 

The Secretary-General is preparing for the Security Council a report based on the recommendations of the UN Commission of Experts appointed last year to review the process of justice for 1999 crimes. The Commission of Experts also recommended the establishment of an international tribunal should Indonesia fail to take the final opportunity to comply with its obligations to secure accountability for serious crimes committed in Timor-Leste.

We urge the UK government, as a permanent member of the Security Council and a member of the Core Group on Timor-Leste, to act on the recommendations it receives from the CAVR, the Commission of Experts and the Secretary-General and to ensure that the UN does all it can to bring those responsible for past atrocities to justice as soon as possible.

Preventing future violations

It was part of the mandate of the CAVR to make recommendations that, if implemented, will assist in preventing a recurrence of the violations of the past. We, therefore, urge you to reflect carefully on the report's implications for UK policy on Indonesia.

In particular, we would ask you to think again about your department's permissive attitude towards the use of British-supplied armoured personnel carriers fitted with water cannons in West Papua.

Irrespective of whether the water cannons are used in specific violations, your department's refusal to object to their use provides a strong signal of political support for Indonesia's repressive policies in West Papua - in the same way that UK military assistance provided political support for Indonesian aggression in Timor-Leste. In our view, the very presence of the water cannons is a powerful deterrent to Papuans wishing to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly and therefore in itself a violation of their human rights.

Regrettably, West Papua does not benefit from 'full democratisation, the subordination of the military to the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with international human rights, including respect for the right of self-determination', which according to the CAVR's recommendations should be a pre-requisite of UK military support for Indonesia. Just last month, Indonesian troops opened fire on a group of unarmed protestors in West Papua's Paniai district, killing one thirteen-year-old and seriously wounding two others. Two Papuan activists languish in jail for 15 and 10 years simply for the offence of raising the West Papuan flag. It is highly unlikely that those responsible for the Paniai atrocity will receive similar lengthy sentences. Last week, the UN Secretary-General's special adviser on the prevention of genocide said that West Papua is an area of concern where the indigenous population is in danger of extinction.

The CAVR notes that the suffering of the Timorese was made possible 'due to the climate of impunity that prevailed...due on the one hand to the absence of democratic checks and balances on the Indonesian military within the Indonesian system and, on the other had, to the tolerance by the international community of the Indonesian government's excesses in the conduct of its affairs'.

The UK government's similar tolerance of Indonesian government excesses in West Papua is a sign that it has not learnt from its mistakes in relation to Timor-Leste.

We urge you to review your position on West Papua and on the water cannons vehicles and we call upon you to:

• demand the immediate withdrawal of the water cannons from West Papua;
• condemn all acts of violence and intimidation by the Indonesian military and police which prevent the Papuans from exercising their democratic rights to peacefully protest and express their political aspirations;
• work through the UN to press Indonesia to allow a UN-mandated independent investigation into human rights abuses in West Papua;
• actively encourage the UN Secretary-General to engage in the promotion of peace and human rights in West Papua.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Barber TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
Catherine Scott Regional Manager Africa, Middle East and Asia, Progressio (formerly CIIR)
Ann Feltham Parliamentary Coordinator, Campaign Against Arms Trade

Cc:

Tina Redshaw, UK Ambassador, Timor-Leste
Charles Humfrey, UK Ambassador, Indonesia
Paul Speller, Head of Southeast Asia and Pacific Group, FCO
Margaret Tongue, Head of Indonesia and Timor-Leste team, FCO

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