Rights Groups Urge Secretary-General to Appoint Commission on
Justice for East Timor
Response from Secretary-General
His Excellency Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
The United Nations
1 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017-3515
24 June 2004
Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
As human rights and international justice organizations that have
closely followed and supported the UN’s efforts to establish justice
in East Timor, we applaud your initiative to create an International
Commission of Experts to review the status of efforts undertaken in
the region and to hold individuals accountable for war crimes and
crimes against humanity committed in East Timor. To be as effective
as possible, we urge that the Commission be formed immediately and
that it cover the work of the ad hoc Human Rights Court in Jakarta
and the UN-established Serious Crimes process in East Timor. The
Commission’s mandate should include everything from indictments to
prosecutions and appeals. We are concerned that if the Commission
does not convene and report promptly, options to address core
accountability issues in the region will be lost, especially given
the Security Council’s recent resolution, S/RES/1543 (2004),
encouraging the Serious Crimes Unit to complete investigations by
November 2004 and the Special Panels to complete trials by May 2005.
Four years ago, you and members of the international community
gave the Indonesian government an opportunity, as they requested, to
prove they could conduct full and fair investigations and
prosecutions of crimes arising from the violence in East Timor in
1999 without direct international participation or supervision. This
was done with the proviso that you would “closely monitor progress”
and ensure a “credible response in accordance with international
human rights principles.”
By all accounts, Indonesia’s ad hoc Tribunals’ efforts have been
deeply disappointing in that they do not appear to demonstrate a
genuine effort to punish the perpetrators or maintain minimum
recognized standards of independence and impartiality. They also
risk perpetuating an incorrect historical record. Indeed, following
the release of its first two verdicts, on 14 August 2002, your
Spokesman issued a statement in which he aimed to set the record
straight:
“In the course of the proceedings, it has been suggested by
judges, prosecutors and defendants that there were irregularities
in the conduct of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
during the 30 August 1999 Popular Consultation…These
irregularities are alleged to have contributed to the widespread
violence that engulfed the territory in September 1999. These
allegations are false.”
Disturbingly, just last month, a brief presented by counsel to
General Wiranto repeated this version of history identifying UNAMET
and its “deceit” as “the trigger of the riots”. We are deeply
concerned that such revisionism may go unchallenged.
As transparency and fairness are essential to the Commission’s
success, it is vital that this group of experts evaluate the work
undertaken in both East Timor and in Indonesia. From the perspective
of those whose processes are being scrutinized there will never be a
perfect time to conduct an objective assessment. It is worth noting,
however, that Jakarta’s trials were largely completed last year and
that the Serious Crimes process has experienced many recent
difficulties, making the Commission’s work especially important at
this time.
We urge you, with the support of the Security Council, to
establish a Commission of experts in the areas of international
humanitarian law, criminal law and transitional justice to review
the aforementioned justice processes and decisions. The Commission
should aim to make recommendations that ensure fulfillment of the
Security Council’s demands in Resolution 1272 issued under a Chapter
VII mandate, namely that “those responsible for such violence be
brought to justice”.
Mr. Secretary-General, we appreciate your urgent attention to
this matter. The steps requested above will serve the interests of
peace and security in East Timor and Indonesia, bolster UN authority
and honor your promise of justice to the victims.
Juan
E. Mendez
President
International Center for Transitional Justice
|
Ken
Roth
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch |
Irene
Khan
Secretary General
Amnesty International
|
Jim
Goldston
Executive Director
Open Society Justice Initiative |
Nina
Bang-Jensen
Executive Director
Coalition for International Justice |
John
M. Miller
UN Representative
International Federation for East Timor |
see ETAN's
Human
Rights & Justice page
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
22 July 2004
Dear Mr. Mendez,
Thank you very much for the letter of 24 June that you and your
colleagues at other human rights and international justice
organizations sent, regarding the issue of serious crimes committed
in East Timor in 1999.
I would like to assure you that the issue is very close to my
heart. The United Nations itself was attacked and a number of its
staff killed.
I agree with you that the brief presented by General Wiranto's
counsel in May was indeed disturbing, and that an assertion that the
United Nations Mission in East Timor's `deceit' was the trigger of
the riots cannot be tolerated. As you may know, it has always been
my strong conviction that the perpetrators must be brought to
justice.
In this connection, relevant departments within the Organization
have been working on ways for the United Nations to move the serious
crimes process forward and bring about a resolution of the issue.
The Commission of Experts, which you have touched upon in your
letter, is one of the options under serious consideration. I shall
of course seek the support of the Security Council for the
appropriate action to be taken to address this issue.
I would appreciate it very much if you would share this letter
with all the other signatories of your letter.
Yours sincerely,
Kofi A. Annan
Mr. Juan E. Mendez
President
International Center for Transitional Justice
New York
|