Menjelang kunjungan Dewan Keamanan ke Timor Leste, lembaga-lembaga HAM menuntut keadilan dan akuntibilitas

 

PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202 USA
+1/917-690-4391; etan@etan.org

November 21, 2007

Dear Security Council member,

Protest against the Commission for Friendship

Photo: José Caetano Guterres

As your delegation prepares to leave for Timor-Leste, we write to urge you to pay careful attention to the transitional justice process for that country. As you will be aware, the people of Timor-Leste suffered countless war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Indonesian invasion and 24-year occupation of their homeland, in violation of numerous United Nations resolutions and human rights treaties. We remind you of the Security Council’s earlier commitments, expressed more than seven years ago in Resolutions 1264 and 1272, to bring those responsible to justice.

Indonesia’s Ad Hoc Human Rights Court and the bilateral Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) have proven manifestly unsuitable in both design and implementation to the task of delivering justice in accordance with international law. We applaud the Secretary-General’s decision not to give legitimacy to the CTF unless it terms of reference are substantially changed.

The Serious Crimes process (which only dealt with crimes committed in 1999) was terminated by the Security Council in May 2005 although its work was far from complete. Since then the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) has re-established the Serious Crimes Investigation Team to complete investigations into outstanding cases from 1999. What will happen to the results of these investigations? A total of 290 individuals already indicted under the serious crimes process remain at large in Indonesia, outside the jurisdiction of Timor-Leste. No formal investigations or proceedings are underway for the many serious crimes committed prior to 1999, with the exception of an Australian coronial inquest which recently concluded that the killings of journalists in October 1975 a war crime.

Xanana testifying at the hearing on political conflict of CAVR

Photo: Maria Tschanz

UNMIT’s recent “Report on human rights developments in Timor-Leste August 2006 – August 2007,” highlighted the role that the report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) can play within Timor-Leste in both “unifying” Timorese society and helping to “foster a democratic culture based on the rule of law.” We believe that the unhealed mass trauma experienced by the East Timorese between 1975 and 1999 contributed to the crisis of 2006. The shortcomings of the local and international justice processes have helped create a culture of impunity in which many believe they can, in effect, get away with murder and other crimes. A genuine justice process can help further reconciliation both within Timor-Leste and between the Timorese and Indonesian peoples.

The CAVR report’s recommendations were also addressed to the international community, specifically including the Security Council and its permanent members, as well as Indonesia, a current member. The Security Council should have an open debate that includes representatives of civil society to discuss implementing the report’s recommendations.

Both the CAVR and the UN Commission of Experts recommended the creation of “an ad hoc international criminal tribunal for Timor-Leste” should Indonesia, under a strict time frame, continue to fail to credibly prosecute senior officials responsible for the devastation in 1999. If this is not feasible, we urge you to fully reconstitute the Serious Crimes process, providing it with sufficient resources and backing. This should be done in accordance with recommendations 7.1.1 and 7.1.2 of the CAVR Report – namely, the UN itself should provide the resources and judicial expertise, not Timor-Leste’s court system. The Serious Crimes process must investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed from 1975 onwards, not just those committed in 1999. Indonesia, which is currently a member of both the Security Council and UN Human Rights Council, must extradite for trial those charged by the Serious Crimes process.

This call for substantive justice for past crimes is widely supported within Timor-Leste, especially by the Church and civil society. However, the leaders of Timor-Leste have favored the flawed CTF, because of concerns about standing up to Indonesia, its larger neighbor and former ruler, and especially its still largely unreformed military.

However, in his inauguration speech as Prime Minister in 2006, now President Jose Ramos-Horta acknowledged the “great teachings” of the CAVR report. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, in his speech at the swearing in of members of his government in August this year, called for the consideration of the CAVR report. “We cannot ignore the lessons of the past in order to understand the current crisis, and protect the future,” he said.

East Timor’s diplomatic position means that it cannot take the lead on the matter of justice in the face of opposition from its powerful neighbor. The international community, as embodied in the United Nations, must be involved in addressing these crimes which violated international criminal law, the UN charter and Security Council resolutions. If the Security Council is truly interested in upholding its international human rights responsibilities, we urge the council as a body and its individual members to implement the relevant recommendations of the CAVR and to act forcefully for justice for the people of Timor-Leste.

Yours sincerely,

Yasinta Lujina, Coordinator
La’o Hamutuk Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and
Analysis, Timor-Leste

Angelina Maria Sarmento, Executive Director
NGO Forum Timor-Leste

Mericio Akara, Program Manager
Luta Hamutuk – Timor Leste

João Pequinho
Forum Tau Matan, Timor-Leste

Edio Saldaha
Yayasan HAK, Timor-Leste

Sisto do Santos
Student Front, Timor-Leste

José Fernandes Teixeira
Member of National Parliament (elected June 2007)

Former Minister for Natural Resources, Minerals and
Energy Policy
Second and Third Constitutional Governments

Poengky Indarti, Director of External Relations
Ully Sarimayam, Communication Officer
Imparsial, The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor,
Indonesia

Rafendi Djamin, Coordinator
Indonesia NGO Coalition for International Advocacy
(Human Rights Working Group)

Usman Hamid, Executive Director
KontraS, Indonesia

Winston Neil Rondo, Coordinator
CIS TIMOR Volunteers Association, Indonesia

Gustaf Dupe, Chairman
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
(KAP T/N)
Chairman, Association of Prison Ministries, Indonesia
Chairman, Law Enforcement Watch (LEW), Jakarta
General Secretary, Jakarta Christian Communication
Forum, (FKKJ)

John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesian Action Network, USA
UN Representative, International Federation for East
Timor (IFET)

Carmel Budiardjo, Director
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, UK

Dr Clinton Fernandes
Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor

Gus Miclat
Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), Philippines

Anselmo Lee, Executive Director
Tadzrul T. Hamzah, South East Asia Programme Officer
FORUM-ASIA, Thailand

Brad Adams, Director for Asia
Human Rights Watch

Pedro Pinto Leite, Secretary
International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, The
Netherlands

Charles Scheiner, International Secretariat
International Federation for East Timor

Robert B. Fisher, Chairperson
VIVAT International

Brian Keane, Director
Land is Life

Roger S. Clark, Board of Trustees
International League for Human Rights

Shulamith Koenig Founding President
PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning;
Recipient of the 2003 UN Human Rights Award

Juan Federer, Former Coordinator
East Timor International Support Center

Maire Leadbeater, Spokesperson
Indonesia Human Rights Committee, Auckland

Edwina Hughes, Coordinator
Peace Movement Aotearoa

Dr. Monika Schlicher, Executive Director
Watch Indonesia! Working Group for Democracy, Human
Rights and Environmental Protection in Indonesia and East
Timor, Berlin, Germany

Geoffrey C. Gunn, Professor of International Relations,
Nagasaki University, Japan
Former consultant sociologist to UNTAET; former
consultant to CAVR on “international actors.”

Kyo Kageura
Japan East Timor Coalition

Ahmed Seif Elislam Hamad, Executive Director
Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC), Egypt

James Dunn, former UNTAET expert on crimes against
humanity in East Timor

Dr Helen M. Hill, Chairperson
Australia-East Timor Association (Victoria)

Celine Massa, Campaign Organiser
SEARCH Foundation, Australia

Rob Wesley-Smith, Convenor
Australians for a Free East Timor, Darwin Australia

Jefferson Lee, Spokesperson
Australia East Timor Association, NSW Australia

Dr Vacy Vlazna
Fmr Coordinator, East Timor Justice Lobby
Sydney, Australia

Brian T. Manning
Campaign for an Independent East Timor, Darwin

Gabriel Jonsson, Chairman
Swedish East Timor Committee

Carlos Semedo
France-Timor Leste

Bruno Kahn
Directeur de recherche au CNRS
Paris, France

Clionadh O’ Keeffe
Community Development Worker and Human Rights
Activist, Ireland

Ed McWilliams, retired senior Foreign Service Officer,
former Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy, Jakarta
West Papua Action Team, USA

Neil Hicks, Director,
Human Rights Defenders Program, Human Rights First
Rev. Dr. Dennis M. Davidson, President
Unitarian Universalist Peace Fellowship

Sharon Silber & Eileen B. Weiss, Co-Founders
Jews Against Genocide

Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF, Leader
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office

Wheaton Franciscans
Rev. John Chamberlin, National Coordinator
East Timor Religious Outreach

Bill Ramsey
Human Rights Action Service, St. Louis

David Hartsough, Executive Director PEACEWORKERS,
San Francisco

Green Delaware

Rev. James Kofski, Associate Asia/Pacific and Middle
East Issues

Maryknoll Global Concerns, Washington

Elaine Donovan, co-founder
Concerned Citizens for Peace, Hemlock, NY

Wade Schemmel
Conference Minister of the Northern Plains Conference,
United Church of Christ

Roland Watson, Founder
Dictator Watch

Mary T. Whittlinger, Treasurer
Ecumenical American Moluccan Church

Mariza Cabral
Seattle International Human Rights Coalitionmargin-left: -10px;

PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202 USA
+1/917-690-4391; etan@etan.org

21 Nopember 2007

Yang Terhormat Para Anggota Dewan Keamanan,

Protes terhadap Komisi untuk Kebenaran dan Persahabatan

Foto: José Caetano Guterres

Sehubungan dengan persiapan delegasi Anda meninggalkan Timor-Leste, kami menulis surat ini untuk mendesak Anda untuk memperhatikan proses keadilan transisi bagi Timor-Leste secara cermat. Sebagaimana akan Anda sadari, penduduk Timor-Leste menjadi korban dari kejahatan perang dan kejahatan melawan kemanusiaan yang tak terhitung jumlahnya dalam kurun waktu invasi dan 24 tahun pendudukan Indonesia di Timor-Leste, yang merupakan pelanggaran atas sejumlah resolusi Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB) dan perjanjian-perjanjian antar negara mengenai hak asasi manusia. Kami mengingatkan Anda akan komitmen awal Dewan Keamanan yang dinyatakan 7 tahun lalu dalam Resolusi 1264 dan 1272 untuk menindak para pelakunya ke hadapan pengadilan.

Pengadilan Hak Asasi Manusia Ad Hoc Indonesia dan Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF)(Komisi untuk Kebenaran dan Persahabatan) yang bersifat bilateral, jelas terbukti tidak sesuai baik dalam hal rancangannya maupun implementasinya untuk menghasilkan keadilan sesuai dengan hukum internasional. Kami memuji keputusan Sekretaris Jendral untuk tidak memberikan legitimasi kepada CTF jika pasal-pasal referensinya secara mendasar tidak dirubah.

Xanana menjadi saksi di sidang CAVR

Foto: Maria Tschanz

Proses pengusutan Kejahatan Serius (kejahatan yang dilakukan di tahun 1999), dihentikan oleh Dewan Keamanan di bulan Mei 2005 sekalipun tugas pengusutan itu masih belum lengkap sama sekali. Sejak itu, United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT)(Misi Terintegrasi PBB di Timor-Leste) mempekerjakan kembali Serious Crimes Investigation Team (Tim Penyidikan Kejahatan Serius) untuk menyelesaian penyidikan atas kasuskasus tahun 1999 yang belum sempat diusut. Apa yang akan terjadi dengan penyidikan ini? Secara total sejumlah 290 individu yang disangka sebagai pelaku, sebagian besar menetap di Indonesia, di luar yurisdiksi Timor-Leste. Tidak ada penyidikan dan proses peradilan yang dilakukan atas kejahatan serius yang dilakukan sebelum tahun 1999, dengan satu perkecualian yaitu pemeriksaan penyebab kematian (catatan penerjemah: tergantung kasusnya, bisa meliputi otopsi atau pemeriksaan mayat) oleh Australia yang menyimpulkan bahwa pembunuhan para wartawan di bulan Oktober 1975 adalah kejahatan perang.

Laporan UNMIT akhir-akhir ini tentang “Perkembangan hak asasi manusia di Timor-Leste antara bulan Agustus 2006 – Agustus 2007” menggarisbawahi bahwa Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation(CAVR)(Komisi bagi Penerimaan, Kebenaran, dan Rekonsiliasi) dapat memainkan peranan dalam wilayah Timor-Leste baik untuk menyatukan masyarakat Timor-Timur dan membantu untuk “mendorong budaya demokratis berdasarkan asas pemerintahan oleh hukum.” Kami yakin bahwa trauma rakyat Timor Timur yang akibat pengalaman antara tahun 1975 sampai dengan 1999 memainkan peranan dalam krisis di tahun 2006. Kekosongan proses peradilan baik lokal maupun internasional telah menciptakan budaya kebal hukum dimana banyak orang percaya bahwa mereka dapat menghindari pertanggungjawaban hukum atas pembunuhan dan kejahatan lainnya yang mereka lakukan. Proses hukum yang sejati, dapat membantu proses rekonsiliasi baik di dalam Timor-Leste sendiri dan antara rakyat Timor-Leste dengan rakyat Indonesia.

Rekomendasi yang disampaikan dalam laporan CAVR juga ditujukan kepada komunitas internasional, khususnya Dewan Keamanan, baik anggota-anggota tetapnya maupun anggota tidak tetap yang salah satunya adalah Indonesia. Sebaiknya Dewan Keamanan mengadakan debat terbuka yang mengikutsertakan perwakilan-perwakilan dari masyarakat madani untuk mendiskusikan pelaksanaan dari rekomendasi tersebut.

Baik CAVR maupun Komisi Ahli PBB merekomendasikan didirikannya “Pengadilan Pidana Internasional Ad Hoc bagi Timor-Leste” apabila Indonesia dalam kurun waktu singkat gagal mengadili perwira-perwira senior yang bertanggungjawab atas penghancuran di tahun 1999 dalam suatu proses yang dapat dipercaya. Jika hal ini tidak memungkinkan, kami mendesak Anda untuk sepenuhnya melanjutkan kembali proses Kejahatan Serius, memperlengkapinya dengan cukup sumber daya dan dukungan. Hal ini seharusnya dilakukan sesuai dengan rekomendasi 7.1.1 dan 7.1.2 dari Laporan CAVR – yaitu, PBB harus menyediakan sumber daya dan tenaga ahli di bidang peradilan, bukan bergantung pada sistem peradilan Timor-Leste. Proses Kejahatan Serius harus menyidiki kejahatan perang dan kejahatan melawan kemanusiaan yang dilakukan mulai dari tahun 1975, tidak hanya yang dilakukan di tahun 1999. Indonesia, yang saat ini adalah anggota baik dalam Dewan Keamanan dan Dewan Hak Asasi manusia PBB, harus mengekstradisi mereka yang dinyatakan sebagai tersangka oleh proses Kejahatan Serius.

Akan tetapi, dalam pidato pengangkatannya pada tahun 2006 sebagai Perdana Menteri, José Ramos-Horta, presiden Timor-Leste sekarang ini, mengakui bahwa “ajaran-ajaran yang sangat bernilai” dari laporan CAVR itu. Dalam pidato saat pengangkatan sumpah di bulan Agustus tahun ini di hadapan para anggota pemerintahannya, Perdana Menteri Xanana Gusmão mendesak agar laporan CAVR dipertimbangkan secara serius. “Kita tidak dapat mengabaikan pengalaman masa lalu apabila hendak memahami krisis yang terjadi saat ini dan apabila hendak melindungi masa depan,” demikian dikatakan olehnya.

Posisi diplomatis Timor-Leste saat ini yang berhadapan dengan tetangganya yang kuat, membuat Timor-Leste tidak dapat melakukan kepemimpinan dalam rangka mendesak keadilan. Komunitas internasional, yang diwujudkan dalam tubuh PBB, harus membahas kejahatan-kejahatan yang merupakan pelanggaran atas hukum pidana internasional, Piagam PBB, dan resolusi-resolusi Dewan Keamanan. Jika Dewan Keamanan sungguh merasa berkepentingan untuk menjaga tanggung jawab hak asasi manusianya, kami mendesak Dewan Keamanan sebagai badan dan anggotanya masing-masing, untuk mengimplementasikan rekomendasi CAVR dan untuk mengambil tindakan tegas mewujudkan keadilan bagi masyarakat Timor-Leste.

Hormat Kami,

Yasinta Lujina, Coordinator
La’o Hamutuk Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and
Analysis, Timor-Leste

Angelina Maria Sarmento, Executive Director
NGO Forum Timor-Leste

Mericio Akara, Program Manager
Luta Hamutuk – Timor Leste

João Pequinho
Forum Tau Matan, Timor-Leste

Edio Saldaha
Yayasan HAK, Timor-Leste

Sisto do Santos
Student Front, Timor-Leste

José Fernandes Teixeira
Member of National Parliament (elected June 2007)

Former Minister for Natural Resources, Minerals and
Energy Policy
Second and Third Constitutional Governments

Poengky Indarti, Director of External Relations
Ully Sarimayam, Communication Officer
Imparsial, The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor,
Indonesia

Rafendi Djamin, Coordinator
Indonesia NGO Coalition for International Advocacy
(Human Rights Working Group)

Usman Hamid, Executive Director
KontraS, Indonesia

Winston Neil Rondo, Coordinator
CIS TIMOR Volunteers Association, Indonesia

Gustaf Dupe, Chairman
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
(KAP T/N)
Chairman, Association of Prison Ministries, Indonesia
Chairman, Law Enforcement Watch (LEW), Jakarta
General Secretary, Jakarta Christian Communication
Forum, (FKKJ)

John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesian Action Network, USA
UN Representative, International Federation for East
Timor (IFET)

Carmel Budiardjo, Director
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, UK

Dr Clinton Fernandes
Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor

Gus Miclat
Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), Philippines

Anselmo Lee, Executive Director
Tadzrul T. Hamzah, South East Asia Programme Officer
FORUM-ASIA, Thailand

Brad Adams, Director for Asia
Human Rights Watch

Pedro Pinto Leite, Secretary
International Platform of Jurists for East Timor, The
Netherlands

Charles Scheiner, International Secretariat
International Federation for East Timor

Robert B. Fisher, Chairperson
VIVAT International

Brian Keane, Director
Land is Life

Roger S. Clark, Board of Trustees
International League for Human Rights

Shulamith Koenig Founding President
PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning;
Recipient of the 2003 UN Human Rights Award

Juan Federer, Former Coordinator
East Timor International Support Center

Maire Leadbeater, Spokesperson
Indonesia Human Rights Committee, Auckland

Edwina Hughes, Coordinator
Peace Movement Aotearoa

Dr. Monika Schlicher, Executive Director
Watch Indonesia! Working Group for Democracy, Human
Rights and Environmental Protection in Indonesia and East
Timor, Berlin, Germany

Geoffrey C. Gunn, Professor of International Relations,
Nagasaki University, Japan
Former consultant sociologist to UNTAET; former
consultant to CAVR on “international actors.”

Kyo Kageura
Japan East Timor Coalition

Ahmed Seif Elislam Hamad, Executive Director
Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC), Egypt

James Dunn, former UNTAET expert on crimes against
humanity in East Timor

Dr Helen M. Hill, Chairperson
Australia-East Timor Association (Victoria)

Celine Massa, Campaign Organiser
SEARCH Foundation, Australia

Rob Wesley-Smith, Convenor
Australians for a Free East Timor, Darwin Australia

Jefferson Lee, Spokesperson
Australia East Timor Association, NSW Australia

Dr Vacy Vlazna
Fmr Coordinator, East Timor Justice Lobby
Sydney, Australia

Brian T. Manning
Campaign for an Independent East Timor, Darwin

Gabriel Jonsson, Chairman
Swedish East Timor Committee

Carlos Semedo
France-Timor Leste

Bruno Kahn
Directeur de recherche au CNRS
Paris, France

Clionadh O’ Keeffe
Community Development Worker and Human Rights
Activist, Ireland

Ed McWilliams, retired senior Foreign Service Officer,
former Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy, Jakarta
West Papua Action Team, USA

Neil Hicks, Director,
Human Rights Defenders Program, Human Rights First
Rev. Dr. Dennis M. Davidson, President
Unitarian Universalist Peace Fellowship

Sharon Silber & Eileen B. Weiss, Co-Founders
Jews Against Genocide

Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF, Leader
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office

Wheaton Franciscans
Rev. John Chamberlin, National Coordinator
East Timor Religious Outreach

Bill Ramsey
Human Rights Action Service, St. Louis

David Hartsough, Executive Director PEACEWORKERS,
San Francisco

Green Delaware

Rev. James Kofski, Associate Asia/Pacific and Middle
East Issues

Maryknoll Global Concerns, Washington

Elaine Donovan, co-founder
Concerned Citizens for Peace, Hemlock, NY

Wade Schemmel
Conference Minister of the Northern Plains Conference,
United Church of Christ

Roland Watson, Founder
Dictator Watch

Mary T. Whittlinger, Treasurer
Ecumenical American Moluccan Church

Mariza Cabral
Seattle International Human Rights Coalition

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