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Stop ongoing impunity

National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) Press release - December 8, 2008

Stop ongoing impunity
Judge the perpetrators of the 7 December invasion
Judge the criminals who violated human rights in Timor-Leste and Indonesia

December Seventh is an historic day for the Nation of Timor-Leste and for all people in our beloved country. The State has also recognized it as a Day of Heroes of the National Liberation. For more than 33 years, the people of Timor-Leste have been suffering because, on 7 December 1975, Timor-Leste was invaded by the Indonesian military, beginning an illegal occupation. For 24 long years, people's human rights were brutally violated by the invaders, including torture, imprisonment, sexual violations, and killing thousands upon thousands of people.

From the 7 December invasion until after we achieved independence, for 33 years, Timor-Leste's people have lived with the injustice of this invasion, especially the injustice to victims and their families who until today must live with hardship and suffering resulting from these violations of their human rights.
The CAVR (Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation) has already looked for truth and facts about human rights violations during the 24-year Indonesian occupation, thinking to find truth, reconciliation and justice, but many victims and their families still suffer because CAVR did not achieve genuine justice. CAVR finished its mandate and submitted its report to the President on 28 October 2005, and on 30 October 2005 the President of the Republic transmitted the CAVR report "Chega!" and its recommendations to the Timor-Leste National Parliament for them to study, so that they can enact laws implementing its recommendations. But until today, three years later, the National Parliament considered this report and its recommendations to be important. This past 10 November, Parliament began discussing debating resolutions on the CAVR report and Chega recommendations, but Parliament voted 29 against, 17 in favor and two abstentions. Therefore, the debate on this resolution did not continue.

The CVA (Truth and Friendship Commission, created by the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste in 2006) has also completed its final report and given very different recommendations from those in Chega. CVA does not give importance to formal justice processes which would bring the perpetrators to court. CVA paid for its report with the people's money, but the report gives no importance to justice, especially to an international tribunal with the credibility to judge the perpetrators of human rights violations, but only talks about the relations between two nations. We would like to clarify that we continue to support reconciliation between the two nations, but justice must be done, because if there is no justice the nation and its people will live with injustice in their hearts.

For this reason, we come together in the Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal to make the following demands:

Bring the criminal perpetrators to be judged by a credible and impartial court.
The United Nations must quickly process the human rights violations which occurred between 1975 and 1999.
Responsible agencies, especially the legislature, should promptly discuss the Chega recommendations.
We also ask the National Parliament to make a law providing national relief for victims of human rights violations between 1974 and 1999.

Justice means that a person cannot commit the same crimes in the future,
Justice also means that no other person can do these things in the future,
Justice will enable people to respect each other,
If there is no justice, our beloved Timor-Leste will fall into daily injustice and never find lasting peace.

Dili, 5 December 2008

Tetum original and PDF files in English and Tetum are at www.laohamutuk.org/Justice/08ANTI7Dec.htm

Witnessed and signed by representatives from the member groups of ANTI:

Fokupers, La'o Hamutuk, Luta Hamutuk, Judicial Systems Monitoring Programme (JSMP), Forum Tau Matan (FTM), HAK Association, Popular Organization of Victims of War (OPVG), NGO Forum Secretariat, Victims' Family Group, Youth for the Future Association (KJHF) and Timor-Leste Student Front (Front Mahasiswa)

La'o Hamutuk (The Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis)
P.O. Box 340, Dili, Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Telephone: +670-3325013 or +670-734-0965 mobile
email: cscheiner@igc.org website: http://www.laohamutuk.org skype:cscheiner