After 10 years in a climate of independence, we Timorese people continue to endure long suffering related to the cases of serious crimes that were committed during the Indonesian military occupation of our country. This suffering will not end until there is an effective judicial process to try the perpetrators of human rights violations that resulted in the deaths of 100,000 – 180,000 Timorese during the Indonesian occupation from 7 December 1975 until October 1999. As citizens of a new country, we remain deeply hopeful that the United Nations Security Council will maintain the principle of rejecting impunity for all serious crimes and crimes against humanity. Therefore, we believe that the members of the United Nations Security Council will take concrete action to address the cases of serious crimes that happened in our country during the Indonesian military occupation. Also, we had great expectations when the United Nations, by means of the mandate of UNTAET, established the Special Panels on Serious Crimes to achieve accountability by prosecuting the perpetrators of many serious crimes. However, the current UNMIT mandate only includes investigation processes but not prosecutions, and only covers serious crimes committed in 1999. We are worried that this limited mandate will not end the cycle of impunity in Timor-Leste. We are very concerned that if impunity prevails in Timor-Leste it will nourish impunity in other countries, and all of us who struggle for human rights will not succeed. Therefore, if the United Nations fails to end impunity for past crimes against humanity committed in Timor-Leste, there can be no accountability for ongoing crimes, such as those committed during the 2006 crisis in our country. We, citizens belonging to civil society organizations, individuals and victims, still wait for sufficient and adequate action from Your Excellencies. We need your good will to explore new possibilities for prosecutions of unresolved serious crimes cases when you revise and extend the UNMIT mandate. We strongly believe in democracy and rule of law that the UN and its members have robustly supported, and fear its demise if the phenomenon of impunity continues to prevail in Timor-Leste. We are very conscious that our state is still fragile. Timor-Leste alone is not strong enough to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and serious crimes, because most of them are protected by Indonesia. Likewise, the courts in Indonesia do not have the political will to bring the suspects involved in crimes in Timor-Leste during the occupation to trial. Additionally, the governments of Timor-Leste and Indonesia currently do not prioritize human rights, but give preference to friendly bilateral intergovernmental relations. The lack of attention to human rights violations undermines the democratization process in Indonesia and respect for law in Timor-Leste. It certainly has and continues to impede the considerable efforts of the United Nations to end the cycle of impunity. Thus there must be accountability for human rights violations. Given this situation, we think it is best that the Security Council discuss the recommendations of the Commission of Experts that visited Timor-Leste and Indonesia in April and May 2005 to evaluate the justice processes. There is no need for United Nations to waste more energy and time waiting for insincere Indonesian trials that fail to effectively prosecute perpetrators of these crimes, eventually freeing them all. The United Nations has a responsibility to secure justice for crimes against humanity and serious crimes committed in Timor-Leste that must be addressed now. | Duranti tinan 10 resin iha klima ukun an nia laran, ami povu Timor-Leste kontinua infrenta sofrementu naruk ne’ebé iha relasaun ho kazu krime grave ne’ebé akontese iha tempu okupasaun militar Indonesia nian. Sofrementu hirak ne’e nunka ultra-passa kuandu laiha proesesu julgamentu efetivu ba autores violasaun direitus humanus ne’ebé mak rejulta ema 100.000 liu mak mate duranti periodu okupasaun Indonesia nian husi 7 Decembro 1975 to’o Outubro 1999. Hanesan sidadaun iha nasaun foun, ami laran metin tebes-tebes ba Conselu Seguransa ONU ne’ebé nafatin mantein nia prinsipiu hodi la tolera impunidade ba kualker krime grave no krime kontra umanidade. Tamba ne’e ami fiar katak membru Conselu Seguransa ONU sei foti asaun konkretu ruma ba kazu krime grave hirak ne’ebé mosu iha ami nia rai duranti okupasaun militar Indonesia. Ami mos iha esperansa boot tebes bainihira ONU liu husi mandatu UNTAET nian hodi hari’i tiha ona Painel Especial ba Krime Grave (SPSCU) ne’ebé prosesa kazu krime grave lubun ida hodi bele iha akontabilidade husi autor kriminozu sira. Maiske nune’e, to’o ohin loron, mandatu UNMIT ne’e mak hala’o deit prosesu investigasaun maibe la halo prosesu julgamentu. (UNMIT 1999 deit.) Ami preokupa katak la bele hakotu sikulu impunidade iha Timor-Leste no iha mundo. Ami konsiente tebes, bainhira impunidade iha Timor-Leste buras ne’e sei haburas liu tan impunidade iha rai sel-seluk no ita hotu nia preukupasaun ba direitus humanus ne’ebé mak ita hotu luta no louva ne’e sei labele alkansa. Ne’e indika katak, ONU mos failha hodi mantein atu hapara impunidade no violasaun kontra humanidade iha Timor-Leste no sei mosu iha rai seluk mos. No mos krime akontese iha TL nafatin, hanesan krize 2006 nebe laiha akuntabilidade. Ami reprezenta sidadaun ne’ebé kompostu husi organizasaun sosiedade sivil, individual no vitima hein nafatin asoens sufisiente no adekuadu husi ita boot sira atu ho vontade boot hodi foti medida ne’ebé bele aplikabel ba mandatu UNMIT hodi loke espasu foun ba prosesu julgamentu ba kazu krime grave ne’ebé seidauk remata. Ami iha korazen katak, estadu de direitu demokratiku ne’ebé hetan suporta makas husi ONU ho nia membru tomak sei la vale tamba fenomena impunidade iha rai Timor-Leste buras nafatin. Ami konsiente tebes, ami nia Estadu mos frazil hela, no laiha kbiit natoon hodi julga autor principal ne’ebé komete krime kontra humanidade no krime grave tamba kuaze maioria hela iha Indonesia. Nune’e mos tribunal Indonesia laiha ona vontade politika hodi bele julga autor ne’ebé mak komete krime iha Timor iha periodu duranti okupasaun nia laran. Buat seluk mos, aktualmente Estadu Tmor-Leste no Indonesia la fo importansia ba violasaun direitus humanus maibe prefere liu ba relasaun amizade no bilateral. Relasaun diak amizade entre governu rai rua bele impede demokratizasaun iha Indonesia no rule of law iha Tmor-Leste. Certeza, ne’e realidade ne’ebé impede hela no sei impede nafatin esforsu lubun boot ne’ebé durante ne’e ONU esforsa hodi hakotu korenti impunidade no tenke iha akontabilidade ba hahalok violasaun direitus humanus. Ho fenomena aktual, ami senti, kmanek liui Conselo seguransa atu hahú buka hodi diskute rekomendasaun Commission of Experts nian ne’ebé mak uluk mai halo avaliasaun ba prosesu krime grave iha Timor-Leste iha fulan Abril 2005. Hodi nune, ONU mos labele gasta tan enerjia no rekursus tomak hodi hein tribunal Indonesia nian ne’ebé mak hala’o julgamentu la loos no fo libre hotu ba autor krime nain sira. ONU iha responsibilidade, tenke implementa duni kedas. |
Timor-Leste organizations Community Development Interest (CDI) FOKUPERS Forum Tau Matan (FTM) Front Mahasiswa Timor-Leste (FMTL) HAK Association Institute Edukasaun Popular (IEP) Ita Ba Paz Judicial Monitoring Program (JSMP) Kdalak Solimutu Institute (KSI) Klibur Solidaridade Knua Buka Hatene (KBH) Luta Hamutuk Mata Dalan Institute (MDI) National Program Associate – ICTJ – Timor-Leste Organizasaun Popular Vitima da Guerra (OPVG) Sekretariado Timor-Leste NGO Forum (Fongtil) Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis (La’o Hamutuk)
International groups who endorse this letter Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) International Federation for East Timor (IFET) Pedro Pinto Leite, IPJET-International Platform of Jurists for East Timor (IPJET) Shulamith Koenig, People's Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHRE)
Europe Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL, Promoting Human Rights, Peace and Democracy in Indonesia (UK) Cristina Cruz, CIDAC (Portugal) Free East Timor Foundation (VOT) (Netherlands) Gabriel Jonsson, Chairman, Swedish East Timor Committee Koen J. de Jager, Foundation Pro Papua (The Netherlands) Tibor van Staveren, Progressio (UK) Watch Indonesia! - Working Group for Democracy, Human Rights and Environmental Protection in Indonesia and East Timor, Berlin (Germany)
Asia Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) (Philippines) Japan East Timor Coalition Freddy Gamage, Friends of the Third World (FTW) (Sri Lanka) Sr. Monica Nakamura ACI, The Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Japan) | United States Brian Keane, Director, Land is Life Chuck Warpehoski, Co-Director, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Ann Arbor, Michigan Concerned Citizens for Peace, Honeoye, NY David Hartsough, Director, PEACEWORKERS, San Francisco, CA Diana Bohn, Co-Coordinator, Nicaragua Center for Community Action East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) Greg Stanton, President, Genocide Watch Health Alliance International, Seattle Jesse Lokahi Heiwa, Asia Pacific Action Kevin Martin, Executive Director, Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund Michael Beer, Director, Nonviolence International Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, Portland, OR Rev. John Chamberlin, National Coordinator, East Timor Religious Outreach Rosemarie Pace, Director, Pax Christi Metro New York Sharon Silber and Eileen Weiss, Co-directors, Jews Against Genocide United for Justice with Peace Vivek Ananthan, Volunteers for Intl Solidarity and Center for Creative Activities William H. Slavick, coordinator, Pax Christi Maine
Canada April Ingham, Executive Director, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership Jess Agustin, Development and Peace
Indonesia Bonar Tigor Naipospos, Solidarity Without Borders (Solidamor), Jakarta, Indonesia Gustaf Dupe, Chairman, Association of Prison Ministries
Chairman, Law Enforcement Watch
Secretary General, Jakarta Christian Communication Forum
Head, International Relationships, Institute of Struggle for the Rehabilitation of the Political Victims of the New Order Regime (LPR KROB) KontraS (Komisi Untuk Orang Hilang dan Korban Tindak Kekerasan/ Commission for the "Disappeared" and Victims of Violence) Winston Rondo, Director, CIS TIMOR Association Volunteers
Australia Adam Breasley, Graduate Human Rights Student from Australian Catholic University Australia-East Timor Association (AETA) Dr Clinton Fernandes, Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor Jefferson Lee (Special Project Officer ) – Australia-East Timor Association (NSW) Justice for Palestine Matters, Sydney Rob Wesley-Smith, convenor, Australia for a Free East Timor (AFFET), Darwin Rosemary McKay, Chair, Australia East Timor Friendship Association SA Inc Zelda Grimshaw, RMIT University
New Zealand Maire Leadbeater, Spokesperson, Indonesia Human Rights Committee |
