Letter to U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
Concerning Justice for East Timor
22 August 2002
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Ambassador Prosper,
Nearly six months have passed since we met in Washington to discuss the
need to address war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in East
Timor. In the interim, the possibility that existing mechanisms might
serve justice in these cases has been all but extinguished. We therefore
urge you to increase your efforts to ensure these atrocities do not go
unpunished by working to establish an international tribunal for East
Timor.
As you know, Indonesia¹s ad hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor
recently acquitted six military and police officers for crimes against
humanity committed in 1999. These include the former head of the
Indonesian police in East Timor, Timbul Silaen, who is directly implicated
in participating in meetings where violence was planned and encouraged. In
addition, he failed to control those under his command. Five Indonesian
military and police officers implicated in the most infamous post-ballot
atrocity, the massacre at the Suai churchyard, were also acquitted of all
charges. According to eyewitness accounts, four of these officers
personally directed the attack, which killed scores of refugees and three
Catholic priests.
The only person found guilty by the Indonesian court is the only
civilian and East Timorese to receive judgment so far. Yet even former
governor of East Timor Abilio Soares, who is implicated in funding and
establishing the militias, received a mere three-year prison sentence.
This is remarkably lenient given the ten-year minimum specified by
Indonesian law.
These results have led Indonesian human rights lawyers to call the
trials a ³comedy.² Amnesty International and the East Timor-based
Judicial System Monitoring Programme stated the Indonesian proceedings do
not meet international standards and ³have delivered neither truth nor
justice.² In a joint statement, the organizations urged the United
Nations to reassess ³its decision not to pursue the recommendations of
its own International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor to establish an
international criminal tribunal.² In response to the verdicts, the former
head of the UN mission that carried out the 1999 referendum on
independence, Ian Martin, echoed the call for the UN to create an
international tribunal.
Most East Timorese people, after a quarter-century of experience with
Indonesian ³justice,² have long dismissed the Jakarta proceedings,
calling for the UN to establish an international tribunal covering the
entire brutal military occupation. Brave victims many of them widows
overcame fear and trauma to give painful testimony; they now ask when
their cases will be heard. Resentment and disillusionment are building, as
East Timorese see low-level militia tried in East Timor receive long
prison sentences while their former military masters go free. The day
after the acquittals were announced, nearly all detainees in East Timor¹s
main prison forced their way out of the building; many cited the
acquittals as justification for their actions.
As a former war crimes prosecutor at the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, you understand the need war-torn countries have for
justice. We know you appreciate that the people of the world¹s newest
nation cannot build a peaceful society in its absence. We believe you hear
us when we say that East Timor, Indonesia and the world community need an
international tribunal for East Timor to uphold and increase respect for
human rights, and to discourage future incidents of serious abuses.
The Indonesian trials have done nothing to answer East Timor¹s cry for
justice. This sham process has only rubbed salt in festering physical and
emotional wounds. Any attempts by the U.S. government to portray the
Jakarta verdicts as even remotely satisfactory as seems to be the case
currently would be unconscionable.
We urge you to publicly and unambiguously reject the Indonesian ad hoc
Human Rights Court on East Timor as unacceptable. We invite you to follow
the example of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and
return to East Timor in the near future to talk with the victims, civil
society and government officials to gain a greater understanding of the
dangers we face. And we implore you to do all that is within your power to
ensure strong, active and formal U.S. government support for the
establishment of an international criminal tribunal for East Timor.
Thank you for your serious consideration of these urgent matters. We
look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Filomena Barros dos Reis
Advocacy Officer, East Timor National NGO Forum
Rue Caicoli,
Dili, Timor Lorosa¹e
Diane Farsetta
National Field Organizer
East Timor Action Network/U.S
Madison, WI
see also Human
Rights and Justice pages
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