| Subject: Indonesian and Timorese NGOs
reject Truth and Friendship Commission
Kompas, 19 March 2005 Translation
The establishment of a Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) by the
Indonesian and East Timorese governments has been severely criticised by a
group of non-governmental organisations in East Timor and Indonesia. They
see this as a hasty move and suspect that it is the result of political
deals struck between the two states.
These strong criticisms were contained in a joint statement issued by
NGOs in Indonesia and East Timor at a press conference on Friday, held at
the office of the Commisision for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence
in Jakarta. They called on the two states to render an account for the
establishment of the CTF to the parliaments and the public in both
countries.
The NGOs from East Timor consist of Perkumpulan Hukum, Asasi Manusia
dan Keadilan (HAK), Judicial System Monitoring Program, Fokupers, Lao
Hamutuk, SAHE, Forum Tau Matan and Khadalak Salimutu. The NGOs from
Indonesia are the Human Rights Working Group, Kontras, PBHI and Imparsial.
The statement was read out at the press conference by Usman Hamid of
Kontras, in the company of Amado Hei of Perkumpulan HAK, Choirul Anam of
the HRWG, Atnike Sigiro of Elsam and Alex Flor of Watch Indonesia.
Amado said that they reject the establishment of the CTF because it is
in grave conflict with the real situation in East Timor. Moreover, the
decision taken by the two governments is unconstitutional as it fails to
comply with the constitutions of the two countries which mandate the
states to deal with crimes against humanity perpetrated in East Timor in
1999.
'At the present stage, we are awaiting the evaluation of the UN and the
formation of the Commission of Experts by the UN. We regard the CTF as
ignoring all the procedures undertaken up to the present by the UN in East
Timor, namely the Commission for the Recognition of East Timor Truth and
Reconciliation which is to complete its report in July this year,' said
Amado.
The two groups of NGOs therefore deeply regret the establishment of the
CTF which they consider as disregarding justice for the victims of serious
human rights violations in East Timor.
At the same time, the NGOs welcome the establishment of the Commission
of Experts set up by the General Secretary of the UN.
'We suspect that political deals lie behind the hasty establishment of
the CTF. This is also evident from the shoddy wording of the CTF,' said
Usman
Legal impunity
Measures to revise the CTF wording amount to nothing more than changing
a few words while the content remains the same. For instance, the word
'amnesty' in 14 (e) was replaced by 'forgiveness', and the sentence
'rehabilitation for those accused of arbitrarily violating human rights'
was replaced by ' rehabilitation for those accused of violating human
rights where the accusation was erroneous'. 'This paragraph legalises
impunity for perpetrators who have already been tried in the two
countries,' Usman said. [Note from TAPOL; most of those tried in Indonesia
were in fact acquitted.]
Under 'objectives', the sentence which reads 'to affirm conclusive
truth' has now been reworded as ' to affirm the final truth'.
These revisions show that the CTF has been set up for purely practical
reasons, while failing to establish firmly-based long-lasting mutual
relations between the countries. On the contrary, they forgive the
violators of human rights.
The CTF as at present constituted is not in accord with the joint
statement issued by Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda and East
Timorese foreign minister Ramos Horta., which declared that impunity would
not be included in the CTF.
-------
JOINT STATEMENT
Non Government Organizations of Timor Leste and Indonesia:
"Political deals" were made over the Establishment of the
Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF)
We the non government organizations of Timor Leste and Indonesia regret
the stance taken by the governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia who
officially established a Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) on 9
March 2005. We are of the opinion that this political decision made by the
two aforementioned countries has disregarded demands for justice made by
victims of serious human rights violations that occurred in East Timor in
1999. Moreover, we suspect that political deals were made over the
establishment of the CTF which was done so hurriedly and contains draft
terms of reference that are appalling.
Efforts to improve the contents of the draft terms of reference (TOR)
for the CTF have been restricted to replacing a few words without actually
changing the meaning. For example, in point 14 (c) (i) the word
"amnesty" has been changed to 'pardon'; the sentence
"rehabilitation for those accused of arbitrarily violating human
rights" has been replaced with "rehabilitation for those wrongly
accused of violating human rights." In the section entitled aim, the
sentence "to establish the conclusive truth" has been replaced
with "to establish the final truth". In the section entitled
mandate, the sentence "to reveal the factual truth" has been
replaced with "to reveal the facts."
In our opinion the establishment of the CTF contradicts statements made
by senior officials from the two countries who initially guaranteed that
the CTF would grant no impunity. An examination of the approved draft TOR
shows that the political decision to establish the CTF is clearly intended
to pardon those guilty of serious human rights violations in East Timor,
without regard to their degree of culpability.
We must emphasize that the principle of reconciliation and friendship,
or whatever it may be called, must be rooted in justice. It should not
merely be intended to pardon, but to also determine culpability. And it
should not aim for the exact opposite, by contributing to current impunity
by denying justice, or sacrificing justice in the interests of the current
political-economic needs of the two countries. Therefore, we urge the
governments of these two countries, in the interest of the victims'
rights, to take responsibility before the public and parliament for their
decision to establish the CTF.
Jakarta and Dili, 18 March 2005
Non Government Organizations of Indonesia; HRWG (Choirul Anam) KONTRAS
(Usman Hamid/+62.811812149) ELSAM, (Ifdhal Kasim), PBHI (Jhonson Panjaitan),
IMPARSIAL (Rachland Nashidik), Jaringan Kerja Budaya (Hilmar Farid).
Non Government Organizations of Timor Leste; Perkumpulan HAK (Jose Luis
de Oliveira/ +670-7237172, Judicial System Monitoring Program (Tiago
Amaral Sarmento)/+670-7233725, Fokupers (Manuela Leong), Lao Hamutuk (Akara),
SAHE (Nuno Rodrigues), Forum Tau Matan (Joao Pequinho), Khadalak Sulimutu
Institute (Lita Sarmento).
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