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versaun tetum iha kraik
ALIANSI NASIONAL TIMOR LESTE BA TRIBUNAL
INETRNASIONAL
TIMOR-LESTE NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
c/o Timor-Leste NGO Forum, Caicoli, Dili, Timor-Leste
Tel. +670 7278653 (Nicolau Alves)
dan +670 7284602 (Edio Saldanha Borges)
Statement Truth and Friendship Commission
Investigation must be for Justice, Not Amnesty
The Indonesia-Timor-Leste Truth and
Friendship Commission held its second public hearing from
26-30 March. This event includes testimony from a number of
high ranking military and Indonesian government officials,
officials who served in the East Timor provincial government
in 1999, several commanders of the “Integration Fighters’
Force” and a number of East Timorese who were victims of
human rights violations in 1999.
The Timor-Leste Alliance for an
International Tribunal – which is comprised of a number of
non-governmental organizations working in the field of human
rights, student organizations, and victims and their
families – wishes to emphasize the following points:
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Section 160 of the Constitution of the
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste states that “Acts
committed between the 25th of April 1974 and the 31st of
December 1999 that can be considered crimes against
humanity of genocide or of war shall be liable to
criminal proceedings with the national or international
courts.” The mandate of the Truth and Friendship
Commission is to seek the truth about serious crimes in
Timor-Leste before, during and after the 1999 referendum
which was conducted based on the May 5 agreement between
Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations.
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In international law there is a Set of
Principles to Combat Impunity (E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1,
Principle 24) requiring that cases of genocide, crimes
against humanity, gross violations of the 1949 Geneva
Convention and Additional Protocol I, as well as other
violations of humanitarian law and international human
rights law (such as torture, forced disappearance,
extra-judicial killings, and slavery) must be brought to
trial. Furthermore, these principles state that amnesty
may not be given in such cases.
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On this basis, we demand that the
truth-seeking conducted by the Truth and Friendship
Commission be carried out so as to bring those
individuals who are suspected of being directly or
indirectly responsible (by instigating, ordering or
planning) and/or those individuals found to have had
either individual responsibility or command
responsibility to justice. We reject the suggestion that
such individuals may be granted amnesty. * The Truth and
Friendship Commission’s mandate to “promote friendship
as a new and unique approach” may only be applied in the
case of minor crimes, not the serious crimes mentioned
above. In addition, the recommendation that the Truth
and Friendship Commission grant amnesty may only be
applied to individuals who are suspected of having
committed minor crimes, not serious crimes.
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If the Truth and Friendship Commission
recommends amnesty for the perpetrators of serious
crimes, that recommendation cannot be applied in
Timor-Leste because it would contravene the Constitution
of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Furthermore,
such a recommendation would be in violation of
international law (including The Principles to Combat
Impunity) which regulates relations between civilized
nations, and hence would not be acknowledged by the
international community.
Dili, 28 March 2007
Board, Timor-Leste Alliance for an
International Tribunal
Mari Afonso
Edio Saldanha Borges
Flaviano Lemos
Francisco Soares
Sisto dos Santos
Santina Soares
Nuno Rodriguez
see also
Human Rights,
Accountability & Justice page
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