Thanks again,
Paul
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human
Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire
GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: http://www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression
in Indonesia and East Timor, 1973-2001
Embargoed until 9 am 13.06.01
The Catholic
aid agency CAFOD, CIIR and London-based
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign are joining other international
aid agencies and human rights groups to press for an international criminal
tribunal for East Timor.
A statement endorsed by 45 signatories released at an international donor conference on East Timor, meeting today in Canberra, Australia, urges the international community to set up an international tribunal without further delay.
The occupying Indonesian army and their militia allies unleashed a wave of violence in East Timor up to and after the 30 August 1999 independence vote, including systematic murder, torture and rape.
CAFOD’s East Timor Programme Officer Catherine Sexton says, “Indonesia has prevaricated too long on this issue. Jakarta does not intend to pursue justice for the East Timorese. It is now time for the international community to act. An international tribunal must be set up. Timely justice and the ending of impunity are essential for peace and reconciliation in East Timor and for democracy and stability in Indonesia.”
In February 2000, the UN Security Council required Indonesia to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity in East Timor as soon as possible. Many of the suspects were high-ranking Indonesian army commanders.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid’s recent decree establishing an ad hoc tribunal for crimes committed in East Timor allows for prosecution of crimes committed only after the 30 August 1999 independence ballot. Many crimes committed before the vote will go unpunished in Indonesia, such as a massacre at Liquica Church on 6 April 1999 when more than 50 people were killed.
Indonesia’s inability and unwillingness to administer credible justice was further demonstrated by the outcome in May 2001 of proceedings against those accused of involvement in the killing of three employees of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Atambua, West Timor in September 2000. The six accused were not charged with murder or manslaughter, but with lesser offences. Consequently, their sentences ranged from only 10 to 20 months imprisonment.
Sexton says, “It is evident that the Indonesian authorities are neither willing nor able to administer meaningful justice in relation to the East Timor crimes. The international community’s decision to allow Indonesia time to try the perpetrators has not worked and the international community’s inaction can no longer be justified.”
The agencies say the absence of credible justice in East and West Timor is seriously undermining attempts to repatriate those among the 100,000 or so refugees remaining in West Timor who wish to return home. The failure to prosecute those responsible for serious crimes helps to fuel an environment in which intimidation is widespread, humanitarian assistance is severely hampered and refugees are unable to make free and informed decisions about where they wish to live.
For further details please Patrick Nicholson on 020 73888456 or pnicholson@cafod.co.uk
See also:
May
8 Catholic aid agency CAFOD calls for war crimes court on East Timor
Release
“It is clear that there is no political
will in Jakarta for any serious steps to be taken against those who commit
human rights atrocities. Jakarta’s efforts on this front have lost all
credibility. ... One of the best steps towards the development of democracy
in the long-run is the promotion of justice and the rule of law. CAFOD
is concerned that groups being seen as clearly above and outside the law
will affect the development of democratic principles in both East Timor
and Indonesia, and will only promote the use of violence in both societies.
... It is time for the international community to realise that we can best
support these fledgling democracies by bringing to justice those guilty
of such atrocities. Indonesia cannot and will not do this itself, and it
is time for the establishment of an international tribunal on East Timor.”
Catherine
Sexton, CAFOD Programme Officer for East Timor
Apr
26 TAPOL: Indonesia forfeits right to conduct Timor trials
Release
“The Indonesian authorities have cynically
misled the international community as to their true intentions and cannot
be trusted. Indonesia is neither willing nor able to provide justice to
the long-suffering victims of the appalling crimes committed by the Indonesian
military and its militia proxies in East Timor. International justice must
now take its course.” Paul Barber, TAPOL,
the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
Dec
2 2000 CCET: Christian churches call for justice and peace in East Timor
Statement
"While the International
community ... has waited for the Indonesian government to try perpetrators,
the defenceless victims of these mostly pre-meditated actions, are struggling
to come to terms with huge physical and emotional loss. No healing process
can start in the knowledge that perpetrators are at large, and will go
unpunished. Without healing, East Timor's unique chance of founding a nation
based on higher principles rooted in freedom and equity, will be still-born.
Justice is vital not only to East Timor's future, but also to the future
of Indonesia, which is also struggling to found a democratic state based
on the rule of law.
* We call for
an international ad hoc tribunal
in which both Indonesia and East Timor
will participate.
* We call for all
suspected perpetrators to be tried, regardless of their military rank."
Christian Consultation on East Timor (statement
signed by 36 Christian organisations and churches)
BD: Calls for International War Crimes Tribunal - A collection of recent reports, articles and news