Crimes against East Timor

As for illegal detention incidents, or other alleged pro-independence violations, these were minor when compared to the TNI’s massive deportations to Indonesian Timor. They were trivial when compared to the killing of as many as many as 1,500 Timorese, and the wave of destruction that led to the destruction or severe damaging of 73 per cent percent of all buildings and houses in East Timor; to those of us on the ground at that time, the latter was clearly a TNI operation, one carried out as an act of revenge against those who voted against remaining with Indonesia. The independence groups were overwhelmingly at the mercy of the TNI and their militia. And Falantil units, under strict orders from Xanana, remained in their agreed cantonments.

To create an equation of these crimes against humanity is thus bordering on the absurd. It is the kind of distortion that may serve to minimise those crimes against humanity that need to be taken seriously. What the report lacks is a clear unequivocal statement of the true situation in East Timor in 1999. It is clearly somewhat diluted in favour of those Indonesians who fear the consequences of a full exposure of their past role in the former Portuguese territory. Thus the command role of Kopassus is in effect obscured. And of course the report apparently makes no attempt to identify the individual responsibility of the TNI officers who were really the militia commanders. Yet it is probably unfair to TNI commanders to conclude that all officers were involved in ordering, or agreeing to, crimes against humanity like those committed at Suai, Maliana, and Liquica.

For all its shortcomings the report is nevertheless an important document, which will stir the political scene in Jakarta, hopefully increasing pressure for a wider and more comprehensive enquiry. It will surely also lead to demands for a comprehensive reform of the TNI, especially it’s the still powerful Kopassus (Special Forces).

Beyond that it will be a matter of political will on the part of Indonesian and East Timorese leaders, and the influential members of the international community, and in this case the political will of Australia.

We must not welcome the report as the final word; it is more of a step in the right direction. However, whether it will lead to action against those responsible military commanders is another matter, a matter that still consumes the passions of many Timorese. Although some Timorese and Indonesian leaders now claim that the report has put the past behind the two countries, bringing closure to the matter, that will not happen until it has been aired to the satisfaction of the victims, and of those, in both countries, who are determined to ensure that the lessons of this tragic episode are burned into the consciousness of their politicians.

There is also the concern of the international human rights and legal community to whom this concept of impunity for such crimes is simply not acceptable. No doubt President Horta had this in mind when he conceded to a journalist that further action on these past crimes against community could be taken up in the future.

There is also the role of the United Nations to be considered. It is an act of faith that crimes against humanity of this nature must not be removed from the agenda of the relevant UN agencies until those responsible have been brought to account in an acceptable way.

It is therefore very important that the UN, while not ignoring the CTF report’s positive aspects, should keep up pressure on all parties to seek a more acceptable solution. International pressure on the SBY government at this time could make a difference, and here the position (and conscience) of Australia will be tested.

The CTF report could well be an important step in the right direction, if there is genuine political will on the part of all parties involved to vigorously implement its recommendations, and to question its shortcomings. Expressions of regret, however well-intentioned, cannot be the end of the matter. In relation to the facts of what transpired in 1999 the CTF report, for all its merits, is lacking both in balance and accuracy and its status should be judged accordingly.