Truth and Friendship Commission
The Truth and Friendship Commission ( Commission for Truth and Friendship CTF , also TFC , tetum Kommisaun Verdade no Amizade CVA , Indonesian KKP ) for East Timor should, as an alternative to prosecution, based on the model of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission , deal with the processing of the crimes of 1999 employ. In six rounds, high-ranking politicians and former military personnel were interviewed as witnesses. The final report was presented on July 15, 2008.
background
In 1999 a referendum was supposed to decide on the future of East Timor, occupied by Indonesia . Pro-Indonesian militias and the Indonesian armed forces tried to intimidate the population by force. Up to 1,500 people were killed, hundreds of women and girls were raped, three quarters of the population were displaced and 75% of the country's infrastructure was destroyed. Only the intervention of an international peacekeeping force was able to put a stop to this. East Timor came under the administration of the United Nations . According to the referendum result (78.5% for independence), East Timor became an independent state in 2002.
Human rights and non-governmental organizations issued a statement criticizing the agreement as an attempt to draw a line under the past without punishing the perpetrators. The CTF has no legal power but can only submit proposals to the governments of East Timor and Indonesia. On the Indonesian side, the amnesty is recognized by the legal system.
Independently of the CTF, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan founded an independent international commission of experts in February 2005, the Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission ( Comissão de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliacão de Timor-Leste CAVR ). In contrast to the CTF, it demands the establishment of a tribunal and the conviction of the offenders. Several East Timorese members of the CTF also sit in the CAVR.
The then East Timorese President Xanana Gusmão said of the CAVR that they had “grandiose idealism that goes far beyond conventional political boundaries” . Gusmão promoted a good relationship with the now democratic Indonesia. He stuck to the CTF and its goal of "processing without prosecution" .
On the other hand, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon criticized the CTF in 2007 for granting amnesty for serious crimes. "It is the policy of the United Nations, however, that it cannot endorse or condone an amnesty for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or serious crimes against human rights, and it cannot do anything to support such," said Ban. He forbade UN representatives, such as the UN special envoy in East Timor, Ian Martin in 1999 , to testify before the commission.
After the sixth round of questioning, Chairman Benjamin Mangkoedilaga called on the UN again to let their relatives testify before the CTF.
Members
The chairmen were the Indonesian Benjamin Mangkoedilaga and the East Timorese Cirilo Cristóvão , later Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares . The press secretary was Chalief Akbar. Other members of the CTF were Rober Evans (Director of the US American Plowshares Institute ), for Indonesia Wisber Loeis, Petrus Turang, Agus Widjojo, Achmad Ali (Indonesian professor), Sjamsiah Achmad (deputy), Antonius Sujata (deputy), Fahrul Razi ( former Deputy Commander of the Indonesian Army) and Muladi (Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) and expert in criminal law). For East Timor, other members were Jacinto das Neves Raimundo Alves , Longuinhos Monteiro ( Attorney General of East Timors ), Felicidade de Sousa Guterres , Maria Olandina Isabel Caeiro Alves (Chair of the organization “Women against Violence”), Rui Pereira dos Santos and Isabel da Costa Ferreira .
history
founding
On March 9, 2005, East Timorese President Xanana Gusmão and his Indonesian colleague Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed an agreement in Jakarta to establish the CTF, which is made up of representatives from both countries.
On January 15, 2007, the CTF called for an amnesty for all offenders who confess what they did and apologize to their victims. Over the next six months, it was planned to interview 70 witnesses about the violence in 1999. The following people were invited to the survey at the end of March 2007: Ex-President Jusuf Habibie , the former Bishop of Dili Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo , Major General i. R. Zacky Anwar Makarim , Major General i. R. Adam Damiri, Major General Suhartono Suratman , Galuh Wandita, Domingos Maria das Dores Soares , Mateus Maia , Edmundo Conceicão, Marthinho Fernandes, militia leader Eurico Guterres , José Afat, Sera Malik, Joanica Belo, Esmerelda dos Santos, Nonato Soares, Adelino Brito and Fares da Costa.
Anyone who does not appear before the CTF or who makes a false statement should not fall under the amnesty.
Survey rounds
In early May 2007, the former police chief was Dili , Hulman Gultom interviewed. He tearfully testified that he and his police officers were too poorly armed to stop the 1999 perpetrators. He said, “I don't want to remember what happened. If we take friendship seriously, we should forget the dark period and get on with our lives. "
A few days later, General Wiranto denied any connection with the pro-Indonesian militias. The acts of violence were not human rights violations, but simple criminal offenses. "The quick courts used time and energy and it has been clearly shown that no gross human rights violations have taken place," said Wiranto. He declined any responsibility for any crime under his command. Every soldier is responsible for his own actions. The general also criticized the UN for giving Indonesia responsibility for security during the independence referendum. Concerning the militias, Wiranto said they were neither formed nor founded, nor did the military equip the militias or exercise control over them.
The fifth round of surveys took place at the end of September 2007 in Dili. In camera, Xanana Gusmão (now Prime Minister of East Timor ), the former head of FALINTIL Taur Matan Ruak (later Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces of East Timor ) and Tiotonio Azis as the then finance officer of the pro-autonomy movement were interviewed. Gusmão and Taur Matan Ruak were not asked as witnesses of the violence, but about the historical context. In a public hearing attended by 150 invited spectators from the government, diplomatic corps, UNMIT and national and international non-governmental organizations, six witnesses testified:
- Sancho Ramos de Reisoreição was expelled from the 745 Indonesian Infantry Battalion .
- Tomás Gonçalves was chairman of the pro-integration party APODETI and district chief of Aileu .
- Joni ( Jhony ) Marques , head of the pro-Indonesian militia Alfa .
- Francisco de Carvalho Lopes , founder of the BRTT pro-autonomy wing.
- Marcus Baquin , pro- independence advocate and witness of the Passover massacre .
- Mario Gonçalves, pro-independence advocate and witness to the incidents in Lolotoe .
Tomás Gonçalves said that the Indonesian military had asked him to set up a militia to defend East Timor's involvement in Indonesia. According to Gonçalves, the information minister Mohammad Yunus Yosfiah pledged funds and weapons. Transmigration Minister Abdullah Hendropriyono also pledged funds to set up a militia. "We were trained by General Prabowo in Aileu," said Gonçalves. General Prabowo Subianto was then the chief of the Indonesian special military forces. Gonçalves also testified that the then governor José Abílio Osório Soares had then ordered the killing of independence advocates and church leaders.
Joni Marques , who is serving a 33-year sentence in a Timorese prison, accused the then Indonesian President Jusuf Habibie and his Minister for Security ( Menkopolkam ) General Feisal Tanjung of being responsible for the violence in 1999. The political decisions were made by the central government and the head of the military, Marques said. He testified that he had ordered his men to raid a convoy of nuns and a priest in Lospalos . He was drugged at the time. A total of eight people were killed and 300 women were sexually abused in various raids by his militia.
There were protests against the CTF during the polling round in Dili. Around 70 demonstrators called for the CTF to be dissolved, as it did not provide for any punishment of the perpetrators.
In the sixth and final round of interviews in Jakarta , senior former Indonesian officers were interviewed. Lieutenant General Kiki Syahnakri , the last military commander of the Timor Timur Province, and Colonel Aris Martono , who was in 1999 in command of an army battalion in Lospalos.
Syahnakri denied that there were human rights violations by Indonesia in East Timor. Instead, he accused the United Nations of being responsible for the bloodbath. He also claimed that the referendum in which the East Timorese voted for independence by a large majority had been manipulated. "The post-referendum violence was the result of widespread fraud by UNAMET and early publication of the results," said Syahnakri. "The Indonesian military police in East Timor were neutral and for peace."
He went on to say: “Indonesia cannot and does not need to take full responsibility for the unrest, because Portugal , elements in the international community and the United Nations played a role in the emergence of the unrest. (...) From the beginning, the United Nations and the elements in the international community had the plan for an independent East Timor and were not interested in a fair and independent election. "
However , Syahnakri confirmed the arming and military training of civilians by the Indonesian Armed Forces TNI . The so-called Wanra (from indon. Perla wan an ra kyat for people's resistance) are legal, "civil defense groups" , which at that time were part of the general Indonesian defense system and existed everywhere in Indonesia and therefore also in East Timor. These groups were armed at their own request only to protect their neighborhood.
Final report
The final report had been announced since January 2008, but was delayed until July 2008. It states that the Indonesian government, military and police are "grave complicity in the grave human rights violations" in the 1999 riots. The old occupying power had "financed and equipped the militias". Indonesian soldiers are accused in the report of "leading roles in the massacres". The police are accused of "participating in the violence" rather than preventing it. This violence was "not accidental, arbitrary or spontaneous," but an organized campaign of violence. "Here, the report contradicts the previous Indonesian account. On a smaller scale, independence groups are also held responsible for human rights violations, such as the deprivation of liberty.
The final report was unanimously adopted by the CTF and accepted by the governments of both countries. The report asks those responsible to apologize to the victims. Names of individual perpetrators are not listed in the report, which is criticized by outsiders. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared his "regret for the mistakes" made in 1999. East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão said he was pleased with the apology.
Web links
- Final report of the CTF (English)
- Criticism of the CTF by NGOs
- Statement from the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c ETAN, May 13, 2006, RI, Timor Leste urged to get behind truth commission
- ↑ Reuters, July 27, 2007, UN chief criticizes Timor-Indonesia "truth" body
- ↑ bdnews24.com/Reuters, October 26, 2007, Timor truth commission gives UN another chance
- ↑ Jakarta Post: Truth and Friendship Commission members sworn in , August 12, 2005 ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 21, 2015.
- ^ A Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) Indonesia-Timor Leste , August 5, 2006 , accessed April 13, 2016.
- ↑ Channel News Asia, November 30, 2006, Timor truth commission to question Indonesian generals over 1999 violence
- ^ Antara News, March 26, 2007, RI-E. Timor commission to interview 18 people late March . Retrieved November 6, 2007 (page 6).
- ^ The Age, Lindsay Murdoch, Jan. 15, 2007, Amnesty offer over East Timor
- ↑ AFP, May 3, 2007, Police powerless to stop E Timor violence
- ↑ BBC, May 5, 2007, General denies E Timor violations
- ↑ ANTARA: East Timor PM, military chief to testify to truth commission. September 24, 2007. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 29, 2015 ; Retrieved November 6, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Official website of the CTF, The visit CTF to Dili, Timor-Leste 23 through 29 September 2007
- ↑ a b Taipei Times, September 26, 2007, Protesters demand justice as East Timor probe closes
- ↑ a b Reuters, September 26, 2007, E. Timor ex-militia chief blames Indonesia for 1999 mayhem
- ↑ The Jakarta Post : Timor Leste commission nears its final verdict , October 24, 2007 ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . accessed on December 29, 2015.
- ↑ Earth Times, October 24, 2007, Former Indonesian general denies rights violations in East Timor
- ↑ Reuters, October 24, 2007, UN shares blame for Timor riots, Indonesia says
- ↑ The Jakarta Post: TNI 'armed' East Timor civilians ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (October 25, 2007)
- ↑ The West Australian, July 12, 2008, Consensus on East Timor report: Soares ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Financial Times, July 12, 2008, Jakarta blamed for East Timor rights violations ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ BBC, July 15, 2008, Indonesia regrets E Timor wrongs
- ↑ Reuters Alertnet, July 16, 2008, INTERVIEW-E. Timor PM satisfied with Indonesia's regret
