Timor Truth Commission Report Released on ICTJ Web Site

Source: International Center for Transitional Justice

NEW YORK, January 30, 2006

Today the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) posted the final report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor on its web site at www.ictj.org. The report details the systematic human rights violations committed during the 24-year Indonesian occupation of Timor and the failure to achieve justice for these crimes. The report, entitled "Chega!" ("Enough!" in Portuguese), is available in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

The Commission (CAVR in its Portuguese acronym) submitted its report to the president of Timor-Leste, Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão, on October 31, 2005. In accordance with Timorese legislation, the president then handed the report over to the Timorese parliament and cabinet on November 28, 2005, and to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on January 20, 2006. A key component of the Commission's mandate is the dissemination of the final report to the Timorese and international public.

The CAVR's final report is a product of extensive public testimony from more than 7,000 victims and of comprehensive investigations and research that yielded dramatic evidence of Indonesia's responsibility for at least 102,800 deaths. The report also points to the failure of Indonesia and the international community to uphold their legal and moral obligations to bring perpetrators to justice. In that light, the report is a seminal document
that should be widely available, not only to the people of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, but also across the globe.

"The Indonesian authorities should finally face up to the truth uncovered by the report, acknowledge their responsibility, hold those responsible accountable, and pay reparations to victims," said Eduardo Gonzalez, senior associate and head of the ICTJ's Indonesia and Timor-Leste programs. "The UN Security Council and the international community should also fulfill their obligation to ensure that those responsible for international crimes are brought to justice."

The ICTJ has posted an advance version of the CAVR final report in PDF format on the organization's web site at www.ictj.org. (While the content of the report will not change, some formatting improvements still need to be
made.)

The ICTJ in Indonesia and Timor-Leste

The ICTJ has been working in Indonesia and Timor-Leste since the organization's inception in 2001, consulting with the UN, governments, civil society groups, and academics on a variety of transitional justice initiatives.

In June 2005, the Center released a report on the serious crimes process in Timor-Leste entitled "Justice Abandoned?" The report concluded that the quest for justice in Timor- Leste had begun with good intentions, but was not backed up by the strategic planning and effective political support necessary to counter the damaging effects of Indonesian lack of cooperation.

Released in August 2003, "Intended to Fail," the ICTJ's analysis of the trials before the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court in Jakarta, suggests that Indonesia never intended to fulfill its promise of holding perpetrators
accountable for the violence surrounding the East Timorese vote for independence in 1999. Senior Associate Eduardo Gonzalez worked with local and international NGOs to request that the UN develop an appropriate
response to this failure.

The ICTJ has also monitored parliamentary efforts to establish a truth commission and coordinated with local partners to ensure that the proposed body respects victims' rights and promotes accountability. In January 2005,
the Center disseminated a study of the Indonesian law establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and in February, co-sponsored a conference in Jakarta for civil society leaders and activists to develop a
strategy to respond to the TRC law.

The ICTJ has actively supported efforts in Timor-Leste to address the human rights violations and impunity left by 24 years of Indonesian occupation by assisting the work of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) and the Serious Crimes Unit (SCU). To help inform the debate about accountability, the Center produced a report in August 2003, "Crying Without Tears: In Pursuit of Justice and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste," which examines the perspectives of a cross-section of Timorese citizens on issues of violence, truth, justice, and reconciliation.

The Center urged the UN Secretary-General to convene an international Commission of Experts to examine the situation of impunity for the crimes committed in 1999 and to devise workable, efficient, and fair strategies to
ensure accountability. In January 2004, the Center released "The Struggle for Truth and Justice," a report that maps nearly 200 transitional justice initiatives undertaken by Indonesian civil society organizations. The Center
publishes a monthly newsletter in Bahasa Indonesia to disseminate transitional justice information throughout the region.

All four reports are available on the ICTJ web site at www.ictj.org.

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