EAST TIMOR: Justice for the victims in East Timor: UN must act at once
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
News Service 020/00
AI INDEX : ASA 57/02/00
January 31, 2000
Justice for the victims in East Timor: UN must act at once on Commission
of Inquiry's report
NEW YORK -- The United Nations must act without delay on the
recommendations of its own Commission of Inquiry(COI) to set up an
international mechanism to investigate and try those responsible for
gross human rights violations in East Timor, Amnesty International said
today.
The human rights organization welcomed the recommendations of the
Commission of Inquiry on East Timor, which were officially released
today.The COI has asked the UN to set up two bodies, an independent
international investigatory body, and an international tribunal to deal
with cases of those accused by the investigators.
"This is a step forward -- a long overdue one -- in the struggle for
justice for East Timorese victims," Amnesty International said.
The organization urged the international community to provide the
political and financial backing needed to support rapid and effective
implementation of the COI s recommendations.
"It is now over four months since East Timor was destroyed and its
people forced to flee. Each day brings new evidence of killings, rapes,
forced expulsions and other crimes committed during that period. But
those responsible remain at large, and free to repeat these atrocities
elsewhere," the human rights organization pointed out.
"Therefore, investigations that provide a full account of the truth and
which determine individual criminal responsibility must take place as a
matter of urgency," it said.
The proposed investigatory body must include criminal investigators and
experts in forensics, ballistics, gender-based violence and issues
relating to children. It must also must be provided with sufficient
logistical, financial and political support, to carry out its work under
the auspices of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East
Timor (UNTAET), the human rights organization said.
"Once sufficient evidence and testimonies have been gathered by
investigators to form the basis of prosecutions, the UN should establish
an international tribunal to bring the perpetrators to justice," Amnesty
International said.
While welcoming the willingness of Indonesian human rights investigators
to fix responsibility for crimes committed in East Timor, the human
rights organization appealed to Jakarta to cooperate with international
investigations.
"By participating in an international process of accountability,
Indonesia will strengthen its new and fragile democratic institutions,
and show the world that it is firmly committed to shedding its
authoritarian past."
"Indonesian and international efforts to investigate crimes in East
Timor should not be seen as mutually exclusive, but as supporting and
reinforcing each other,"Amnesty International said.
Apart from East Timor, there are thousands of victims, both current and
past, of killings, "disappearance", torture and arbitrary arrests in
Aceh, Papua and elsewhere in Indonesia, Amnesty International pointed
out.
"Their search for justice must not be forgotten by Indonesia. For long
term peace, stability and development, the new Indonesian government
must take immediate measures to improve the human rights situation and
to address all these issues of accountability," Amnesty International
said.
Background
Following the orchestrated violence by pro-Indonesian militia and
Indonesian security forces against the people of East Timor, after they
had voted overwhelmingly for independence, a special session of the UN
Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution, on 27 September 1999,
calling upon the UN Secretary General to establish an international
Commission of Inquiry on East Timor.
The COI was asked to investigate possible violations of human rights and
acts which might constitute breaches of humanitarian law.
After a number of delays, the five members of the COI visited East Timor
and Jakarta from 25 November to 8 December 1999 and submitted a report
to the Secretary General a few weeks later. That report was made public
today.
An investigation team was also established in September 1999 by
Indonesia s National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM). This
body, called the Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations in
East Timor (KPP-HAM), also submitted its report and recommendations to
the Indonesian government today. It is reported to have recommended that
33 people, including six generals, should be further investigated by
Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman for their role in the mass violence in
East Timor.
ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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