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Posted to East Timor
list on 21 July 2006 by John M Miller <fbp@igc.org> : http://etan.org/resource/etlist.htm
See ETAN Menu - Current Crisis in
East Timor (2006): http://www.etan.org/et2006/may/crisis.htm
For further info on the Timor-Leste National Alliance for an
International Tribunal see:
19 Jan 2006 Timor-Leste National
Alliance for an International Tribunal Letter to UN Secretary-General:
http://www.etan.org/news/2006/01ngo.htm
Subject: Letter
to United Nations on Justice
His Excellency Kofi Annan Secretary-General
The United Nations
1 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017-3515
July 21, 2006
Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
We are writing on behalf of three coalitions of NGOs concerned with the
transitional justice process in Timor-Leste.
We understand that UN Special Envoy Ian Martin will report to you on 7
August with his recommendations on the shape of the new UN mission to
Timor-Leste. We also understand that around the same time you will be
reporting to the Security Council on your proposals for the future of
justice and reconciliation in Timor-Leste, in response to the 2005
Commission of Experts (CoE) report.
The recent crisis in Timor-Leste has created the need for new justice
and peacebuilding processes, and we are confident that the UN
Independent Commission of Inquiry will provide a sound basis for these
processes.
However, the crisis this year has also reinforced the need to deal with
“unfinished business” from the past. Numerous reports from independent
bodies, including the UN’s own CoE, have concluded that the right of
the people of Timor-Leste to achieve justice for war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed between 1975 and 1999 has been poorly served
by the Serious Crimes process which the Security Council
terminated in May 2005, despite widespread acknowledgement that its
work was incomplete and Indonesia’s Ad Hoc Human Rights Court.
The joint Indonesia and Timor-Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship
has serious shortcomings which render it unable to meet international
legal standards or deliver justice.
Events between 1975 and 1999 continue to strongly impact the people of
Timor-Leste. The reactions of Dili residents to the unfolding crisis
were those of a population that has suffered mass trauma which remains
largely unhealed. In addition, the severe shortcomings of the local and
international justice processes have helped to create a culture of
impunity in which a range of actors believe they can, in effect, get
away with murder and other crimes.
We believe that the creation of a new, expanded UN mission is necessary
if Timor-Leste is to succeed as a nation. In addition, the
international community must seize this unique opportunity to make
amends for its failure to adequately support the transitional justice
process. In particular, the new mission should include a reconstitution
of the Serious Crimes process, in line with recommendations 7.1.1 and
7.1.2 of Chega! (Enough!), the final report of the Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) that is, with increased
resources and directly depending on the UN rather than the nascent
judicial system of Timor-Leste.
This would not only allow for prosecution of the 339 accused who remain
at large in Indonesia, outside the jurisdiction of Timor-Leste, but
would also facilitate remaining investigations into serious crimes
committed in 1999, as well as those from 1975 on.
Should Indonesia be unwilling to extradite those charged to face
prosecution, or to institute a credible alternative judicial tribunal,
arrest warrants should be issued through Interpol to make international
travel by the suspects impossible. Other sanctions should also be
considered.
The only credible alternative to a revived serious crimes process is
for the Security Council to follow recommendations 29 or 30 in the CoE
report ie, “to create an ad hoc international criminal tribunal
for Timor-Leste, to be located in a third State”, or to utilize “the
International Criminal Court [ICC] as a vehicle for investigations and
prosecutions of serious crimes committed in East Timor.” Since the
creation of an international tribunal would be an expensive and lengthy
process, and the ICC is likely to resist attempts to accord it
jurisdiction for crimes committed prior to 2002, we strongly advise you
to support the reconstitution of a credible Serious Crimes process.
This may be the UN’s last chance to achieve justice for the people of
Timor-Leste in line with the Security Council’s earlier commitment,
expressed nearly seven years ago in Resolutions 1264 and 1272. If this
does not happen, there may be further instability in Timor-Leste, and
the rule of law and respect for human rights internationally will be
undermined. There will also continue to be calls for an international
tribunal.
Finally, we note that our position is widely supported within
Timor-Leste, especially by the Church, opposition political parties and
civil society. In the past the leaders of Timor-Leste have expressed
ambivalence about international justice mechanisms, primarily because
they did not feel that this small, new and poor nation could afford to
take a stand against its powerful neighbor and former ruler, Indonesia.
However, in his inauguration speech Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta
acknowledged the “great teachings” of the CAVR report, while at the
press conference after the swearing in of the new government, President
Xanana Gusmao said that ““Reconciliation cannot be achieved without the
truth and the truth would be meaningless without justice.”
We take this as a sign that they acknowledge that a policy of
appeasement is unsustainable, and that more effective measures are
required to complete the process that was started in 1999 under your
stewardship. It is now up to the international community to show the
political, financial and legal commitment to resolve this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Rosentino Amado Hei, Timor-Leste National Alliance
for an International Tribunal
Dr Mark Byrne, Convenor, Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice
in East Timor
John M. Miller, UN Representative, International Federation for East
Timor
CC Ian Martin , UN Special Envoy to Timor-Leste
Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Members, UN Security Council
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