South China Morning Post
August 29, 2001
EAST TIMOR
Amnesties split leaders on eve of crucial poll
VAUDINE ENGLAND in Dili
East Timor's president-in-waiting, Xanana Gusmao, yesterday restated
his
belief that amnesties should be considered for people who committed serious
crimes.
But Dili's bishop, Nobel peace laureate Carlos Belo, disagrees, as do
most
victims of political violence in East Timor.
Whoever wins tomorrow's election for a constituent assembly to draw up
a
constitution, the amnesty issue is one of the most complicated facing
East
Timor.
"We must not say no, never to amnesty. We must consider how to practise,
how
to exercise justice in East Timor, but we should not throw amnesty out,"
Mr
Gusmao said.
He also was equivocal on the subject of whether an international tribunal
should be set up to prosecute Indonesian soldiers and Timorese militia
who
wrecked East Timor and traumatised a generation during the pro-independence
ballot two years ago.
In yesterday's Age newspaper in Australia, Bishop Belo wrote that a tribunal
must be set up, adding that without a firm implementation of justice for
the
country's many victims, its future could not be assured.
"Justice cannot be provided simply or easily. One thing is certain,
however,
and that is that the future of East Timor depends on it," Bishop
Belo wrote.
"Justice for the people of East Timor requires that the perpetrators
of the
most serious crimes be identified and prosecuted."
His view, rather than Mr Gusmao's, is shared by many victims of East
Timor's
violence. One such group is the Widows' Co-operative in Maliana, a town
near
the border with Indonesian West Timor, which was ransacked by
Indonesia-backed militias and where hundreds of East Timorese were murdered.
"I know who killed my husband. He was a militia member. He came
up to me and
told me he had just killed my husband," said Agusta da Silva, a 30-year
old
mother of two who looks twice her age.
"Yes I would testify against him, I know his name. There must be justice.
"Only if we have justice, if the militia is tried first, only then
can I have
no hard feelings in my heart. All this must go through the legal process."
Vittoria da Silva found the burned body of her husband at a schoolhouse
and
says she knows the two men who murdered him.
"I am afraid they will come back and kill us too, but I want to
see justice.
I will testify," she said.
A young activist in the Malian Centre for Human Rights, Diolinda, lost
her
father to the militia mobs in 1999.
"Everyone must be tried . . . everything is serious and everybody
has to
recognise this so it won't happen again," she said.
"At first I was not willing to accept the militia back at all, but
I have
come to accept that if this country wants to stand on its own feet we
also
have to have reconciliation."
One diplomat said yesterday Mr Gusmao's strong position in favour of
reconciliation put him "well ahead of his people".
"It's probably due to his personality, his tolerance and desire
to look to
the future rather than to the past," the diplomat said.