Media Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
John M. Miller, +1-718-596-7668 (New York, USA)
Charles Scheiner, +670-723-4335 (Dili, East Timor)
International Federation
May 20,
2003 - On the first anniversary of the new country's independence,
the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) urged the UN Security
Council to establish an international tribunal to try the masterminds
of
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territory from
1975
to 1999.
In an open
letter to council members, IFET called a tribunal "essential to
punish past violence and deter future violence against the people of East
Timor and Indonesia and against UN personnel."
Indonesia
has established an Ad Hoc Court on Human Rights for East Timor,
and verdicts in its last trials are due shortly. in order to deflect moves
to establish an international tribunal. But Indonesia has failed to
"overcome [the court's] inherent flaws," IFET wrote, citing
numerous
criticisms by UN officials of the ad hoc court. East Timor's leaders have
urged the international community to take primary responsibility for
judging crimes against humanity committed in East Timor.
Moreover,
noted IFET, "[a]n international tribunal is not only a matter of
justice for the people of East Timor." The letter pointed out that
Indonesian security forces committed the crimes as Indonesia defied
multiple UN resolutions and, in 1999, sought to undermine a UN operation.
"Many
of those accused of abuses continue to occupy positions of
responsibility in Indonesia," IFET wrote. The letter cited the example
of
Major General Adam Damiri, who missed a recent session of his trial before
Indonesia's ad hoc court because he was involved in preparing military
operations in Aceh. On Monday, Indonesia launched a military assault
against the war-torn province. It was the largest attack by Indonesia
since
the 1975 invasion of East Timor.
The letter
concluded that East Timor's "[r]econciliation with Indonesia is
... hampered by the failure to bring to justice the Indonesian military,
political, and police leaders who planned, organized and commanded the
terror campaign in 1999 and who ordered the invasion, occupation and
destruction in East Timor."
Finally,
IFET called on the Security Council to extend the mandate of the
Serious Crimes Investigation Unit (SCU) and its special courts. IFET said
the "work of the SCU would serve as a solid basis for an ad hoc
international tribunal." The SCU has issued several indictments of
ranking
Indonesian officials for crimes committed in 1999, Among those indcted
are
General Wiranto, the former Defense Minister, and two-thirds of those
indicted by the SCU are believed to reside in Indonesia, which refuses
to
extradite anyone to East Timor.