Also - Impunity: Report of the Secretary-General

From http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/62chr/E.CN.4.2006.93.pdf 

E/CN.4/2006/93 7 February 2006

Original: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Sixty-second session

Item 17 of the provisional agenda

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Study by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights and transitional justice activities undertaken by the human rights components of the United Nations system*

* The report was submitted after the deadline in order to incorporate the received replies.

33. In February 2005, the Secretary-General established a Commission of Experts to Review the Prosecution of Serious Violations of Human Rights in Timor-Leste (then East Timor) in 1999. The Commission of Experts sought to review the results of the accountability mechanisms established in Jakarta and Dili. His decision was outlined in his letter to the Security Council dated 11 January 2005 (S/2005/96). The Commission of Experts presented its report to the Secretary-General in May 2005 (S/2005/458, annex II). The report was submitted to the Security Council on 27 June 2005. The report of the Commission of Experts stated that the prosecutions before the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court established by Indonesia as "manifestly inadequate" (paras. 17 and 375) and accuses it of "scant respect for or conformity to relevant international standards". The Commission found that the work of the prosecutors was inadequate, verdicts were inconsistent and perpetrators were not held accountable. With regard to Timor-Leste, the report acknowledged that the United Nations-backed serious crimes process - halted in May 2005 as part of the downsizing of the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) - had attained a "notable degree of accountability" (para. 8), E/CN.4/2006/93

page 12

but observed that it had been hampered by poor planning, inadequate resources, insufficient support from the Government of Timor-Leste, and a lack of cooperation by Indonesia. The Commission recommended that the Serious Crimes Unit and Special Panels for Serious Crimes be revived at least until July 2007, with a clear strategy for the handover of their functions to local institutions. By Security Council resolution 1599 (2005), the United Nations Office in Timor-Leste retains a small presence in these functions.

34. In March 2005, the Governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste issued a joint declaration establishing a Commission of Truth and Friendship "aimed at dealing with matters pertaining to the events of 1999". The joint declaration stated that the two Governments "have opted to seek truth and promote friendship as a new and unique approach rather than the prosecutorial strategy". The Commission of Experts expressed serious reservations about the joint commission concluding that the terms of reference contradict international and domestic law, and offer no mechanisms for addressing serious crimes. The report recommends that the Governments revise the terms of reference as a precondition to receiving international support for this initiative. While the Secretary-General has welcomed the establishment of the joint commission he has indicated to the Governments that because the terms of reference contemplate amnesty for acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, the United Nations is not in a position to offer assistance.

35. On 31 October 2005, the chairman of the Timor-Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) presented its report to the President of Timor-Leste. It was presented to Parliament in November. CAVR was established to investigate human rights violations committed in Timor-Leste between April 1974 and October 1999, and to facilitate community integration and accountability for those who committed less serious offences. The report has not been made public. From 2002 to 2005, the human rights unit of UNMISET placed two international human rights officers in CAVR to provide support to the institution. OHCHR provided various forms of assistance to CAVR, including preparation of a submission concerning human rights violations during 1999, provision of specialist legal advice, assistance with development of the CAVR database, and support for editorial work on the final report.

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From http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/62chr/E.CN.4.2006.89.pdf 

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Sixty-second session

Item 17 of the provisional agenda

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Impunity

Report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.4/2006/89

15 February 2006

page 7

A. International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor

9. In 1999, OHCHR was requested to support the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. Additionally, in 2005, the Secretary-General appointed a Commission of Experts to Review the Prosecution of Serious Violations of Human Rights in Timor-Leste (the then East Timor) in 1999.

10. The International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/S-4/1, adopted at its special session on 27 September 1999, as endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in its decision 1999/293 of 15 November 1999, to "gather and compile systematically information on possible violations of human rights and acts which might constitute breaches of international humanitarian law committed in East Timor since the announcement in January 1999 of the vote and to provide the Secretary-General with its conclusions with a view to enabling him to make recommendations on future actions". The mandate of the Commission also included cooperation with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights and thematic rapporteurs. The resolution also requested the Secretary-General to make the report of the Commission available to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.

11. On 15 October 1999, the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced the appointment of five international experts as members of the Commission of Inquiry. The Commission was supported by an OHCHR secretariat composed of six persons, including the secretary, human rights officer, methodology officer, data management officer and security/logistics officer. On 18 November 1999, the Commission began its work in Geneva, and later during that month travelled to Darwin, Australia, where it finalized its methods of work, met with several United Nations Mission in East Timor officials, as well as members of the Indonesian National Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. From 25 November to 3 December 1999, the Commission visited East Timor, where it travelled extensively around Dili and surrounding areas to verify material destruction, to hear witnesses and to collect testimonies and documents. During this nine-day period, the Commission received detailed testimonies from more than 170 individuals, as well as information provided by United Nations bodies and agencies, international and non-governmental organizations. The Commission gave special attention to receiving testimony from women victims and it heard accounts from child victims. In addition to first-hand witness statements, the Commission reviewed reports and documents made available by UNAMET and United Nations Transnational Administration in East Timor and international and national NGOs, and took note of the joint report by Special Rapporteurs and initial findings of the Indonesian National Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. The Commission was, however, unable to conduct the planned visit to West Timor so as to obtain first-hand information on the situation of displaced people there. From 5 to 8 December 1999, the Commission visited Jakarta, where it conducted meetings with the Indonesian Human Rights Commission and its National Commission of Inquiry on East Timor, as well as representatives of the Government of Indonesia and NGOs. While the Government of Indonesia had agreed for this visit to take place, it maintained its position that, in view of the fact that the National Commission of Inquiry was established with the task of conducting an investigation on alleged human rights violations in East Timor, the establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry was unnecessary.

12. The Commission of Inquiry completed its work within seven weeks and, in preparing its report, carefully considered the testimony of witnesses, the reports of experts, information provided by the United Nations, reports of other organizations, its own observations in East Timor, as well as information and views provided by the Government of Indonesia and the Indonesian Commission of Inquiry. On 31 January 2000, the Secretary-General released the Commission's report to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.12 The report, inter alia, concluded that there had been "patterns of gross violations of human rights and breaches of humanitarian law which varied over time and took the form of systematic and widespread intimidation, humiliation and terror, destruction of property, violence against women and displacement of people",13 and that "patterns were also found relating to the destruction of evidence and the involvement of the Indonesian Army (TNI) and the militias in the violations".14 The report called for the rapid return of displaced persons back to East Timor, the disarmament of the militias in West Timor and demobilization of all non-regular forces in East Timor, further investigations, prosecutions, reparations for victims, and the establishment of an international human rights tribunal for East Timor.15 Subsequently, Indonesia established the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for Timor-Leste in Jakarta to try individuals responsible, inter alia, for crimes against humanity committed in April and September 1999 in East Timor. The Serious Crimes Unit and Special Panels for Serious Crimes were established in 2000 by UNTAET to conduct investigations, prosecutions and judicial proceedings relevant to crimes against humanity and other serious crimes committed in East Timor.

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