85 Australian inquiry on East Timor unsettles Indonesia

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Australian inquiry on East Timor unsettles Indonesia

For years I supported the East Timor Resistance. But now I think it's a mistake to re-open old wounds.

The East Timorese have their country - thanks to John Howard. But the recent Amnesty International report, calling for an International Tribunal, could destabilise Indonesia and plunge the region back into Turmoil - even Bloodshed. Indonesia's President Yudhoyono is a moderate; he's done a good job uniting the country after the severance of East Timor, and the traumas in Aceh and West Papua.

The "Justice" that's being touted is the Jewish idea of Justice. "Getting Over It" - let alone Forgiveness - is not part of their thinking.

How would South Africa have been if Mandela had sought "Justice"?

Feuds continue for years, decades, even centuries, as each side seeks "Justice".

The struggle in East Timor was part of the Cold War. Fretelin was a Trotskyist organization; that's why Trots (eg at Green Left Weekly) won't let the issue rest.

Indonesia can retaliate by letting lots of boatloads of "asylum-seekers" proceed through its waters, bound for Australia. The disintegration of Indonesia would also swamp Australia with asylum-seekers.

(1) Amnesty International calls for International War Crimes Tribunal on East Timor
(2) Ramos-Horta: There will be no international tribunal
(3) East Timor 10 years on — still waiting for justice
(4) Australia Hopes New East Timor Inquiry Won't Hurt Jakarta Ties
(5) Indonesia's President Yudhoyono upset over Australian Federal Police inquiry
(6) INDONESIAN President Yudhoyono warns Australia over AFP probe
(7) Gusmao sceptical on Balibo probe
(8) Ramos-Horta changes tune on Balibo
(9) Emotion makes it hard to focus on harsh realities

(1) Amnesty International calls for International War Crimes Tribunal on East Timor

Ten years on, 'impunity' reigns in ETimor: Amnesty

(AFP) – Aug 27, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jSHlqrV1vAnqnKxZuzJ2aL0y74bQ

DILI — A culture of impunity is denying justice to victims of violence and rights abuses in East Timor 10 years after its historic independence referendum, Amnesty International said Thursday.

Most of those responsible for violence by Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militia that killed 1,400 people in the wake of the August 30, 1990 vote remain untouched by the law, the rights group said in a report.

The governments of East Timor and Indonesia have refused to prosecute crimes including "unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, threats and intimidation", it said.

"Today, despite various national and internationally-sponsored justice initiatives over the last decade, most of those who were suspected of committing the 1999 crimes are still at large in Indonesia, and are yet to be brought before an independent court.

"Of those who have been prosecuted in Indonesia, all have been acquitted in proceedings which have been severely criticised as fundamentally flawed. Only one remains imprisoned in Timor-Leste," the report said, referring to East Timor by its official name.

Amnesty called on the UN Security Council to set up an international criminal tribunal to "end impunity" over abuses committed throughout Indonesia's 1975 to 1999 occupation.

Around 100,000 people were estimated to have been killed, mainly by Indonesian forces and their proxies, or died of starvation and illness during the period, according to East Timorese figures.

Amnesty's report was released as East Timor prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the vote of Sunday.

Many of those accused of orchestrating the violence have walked free, including former Indonesian military chief Wiranto, who ran for the vice-presidency in July.

Eurico Guterres, the militia leader blamed for much of the mayhem, had a 10-year conviction for rights violations quashed by Indonesia's Supreme Court last year.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. ==

Rights group seeks U.N. tribunal for East Timor abuses

Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:35am IST

By Sunanda Creagh

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42006520090826

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The United Nations Security council should set up an international criminal tribunal to investigate abuses in East Timor both under Indonesian rule and in the vote for independence, a rights group said on Thursday.

East Timor, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and which voted overwhelmingly for independence a decade ago, will not be able to shake off a culture of impunity unless those guilty of human rights abuses are punished, watchdog Amnesty International said in a report.

"In 1999, anti-independence militias, supported by the Indonesian military, killed more than a thousand Timorese in front of the world, but there has not been proper accountability for these atrocities," said Donna Guest, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy director, in a statement.

Amnesty said abuses perpetrated in the lead-up to the polls included rape, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and unlawful killings.

Tiny East Timor, a former Portuguese colony which achieved full independence from Indonesia in 2002, has opted for a conciliatory rather than a confrontational approach towards its much larger neighbour since independence.

An ad hoc Human Rights Court set up by Indonesia and the UN Special Panels in East Timor tried 18 people for crimes committed during the 1999 violence but all were acquitted, Amnesty said.

A 2005 joint Indonesia-East Timor Truth and Friendship Commission did not have the power to prosecute.

Indonesia's former armed forces chief, Wiranto, was indicted by the UN Serious Crimes Unit for crimes against humanity committed by troops under his command in East Timor. ...

(2) Ramos-Horta: There will be no international tribunal

Pandaya and Yemris Fointuna ,  Dili ,  Timor Leste   |  Mon, 08/31/2009 11:56 AM  |  Headlines

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/08/31/ramoshorta-there-will-be-no-international-tribunal.html

Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has rejected a demand for an international tribunal to try violators of human rights during Indonesia's occupation of the then East Timor from 1975 to 1999.

"My stated preference, as a human being, victim and head of state, is that we, once and for all, close the 1975-1999 chapters of our tragic experience, forgive those who did us harm," Ramos-Horta said in his speech to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN-sponsored independence referendum.

The president's call provoked strong protests from human rights campaigners enraged at Dili's long silence on the thorny issue that also involves the United Nations, which in 1999 made it clear that "perpetrators must be held responsible for actions".

In Indonesia, however, Ramos-Horta's statements will likely be well received by former military top brass such as retired generals and failed vice presidential candidates Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto, who were linked to the 1999 orgy of killings and destruction perpetrated by pro-Indonesia militia ahead of, during and after the referendum.

"Ten years after the Popular Consultation, we must put the past behind us," said Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo.

"There are some voices at home, but primarily abroad in the West, calling for an international tribunal for Timor Leste." He dismissed the demand as a "simplistic assertion" that the absence of prosecutorial justice fostered impunity and violence, and that historical evidence challenged this "academic jargon".

"May I respectfully ask, was there an international tribunal on the Vietnam War, and were those who carpet-bombed Vietnam and Cambodia brought to trial?" he said.

"Is there a culture of impunity in the US or Vietnam as a result? Is there an international tribunal on apartheid? No major apartheid leader was ever brought to trial. Is there a culture of impunity in South Africa as a result? Is the violence in South Africa a consequence of South Africa's truth and reconciliation process?"

East Timor's official position did not come as surprise to the Indonesian government, which has worked hand-in-hand with leaders of the country's former 27th province on the CTF (Commission for Truth and Friendship), which focuses on out-of-court settlements. The CTF process was meant to research the truth, establish responsibilities and finally provide closure.

"The two countries have agreed not to reopen the cases on past human rights violations that occurred between 1975 and 1999, including those that occurred after the referendum," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said at the ceremony at the Dili Presidential Palace.

In the past, Hassan went on, Indonesia and Timor Leste had two options on the table: court settlements or the CTF.

"President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao opted for the CTF," he said.

However, Lita Sarmento, a Timor Leste human rights activist, said the agreement would not hinder activists' push for an international tribunal.

"The people of Timor Leste have every right to seek justice for the serious crimes against humanity," she told The Jakarta Post.

(3) East Timor 10 years on — still waiting for justice

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/809/41615

Vannessa Hearman
7 September 2009

I was angry that Timorese president and peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta used the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations-supervised ballot in East Timor on August 30 to declare: “There will be no international tribunal.”

On this same day in 1999, the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia — their brutal occupier for 24 years.

The Timorese Truth, Reception and Reconciliation Commission estimated that about 1500 people were killed by the Indonesian military and its militias in the period leading up to and immediately after the September 4 announcement of the ballot's results in 1999. The vote revealed that 78.5% wanted independence.

But as Indonesia protested that the ballot had been rigged, its military and their militia friends damaged and destroyed 70% of public buildings, houses and infrastructure.

After a global outcry, including mass protests by Australians, the Australian led-Interfet forces entered Dili on September 20. Many Timorese were forcibly deported on trucks and ships to West Timor. Some Timorese hid in the mountains and countryside, as well as in UN offices, to avoid being relocated.

Back then, a UN investigation team recommended an international tribunal to deal with the crimes against humanity committed in 1999.

Because the scars of this collective trauma remain, on top of the long occupation, supported by governments including Australia, it is hard to understand Horta’s stand.

It is even harder to understand in the context of the various exemptions being made by the Timorese government.

For instance, even as Horta delivered his speech, Martenus Bere, an Indonesian man held in Becora Prison in connection with the Suai Church massacre in 1999, was released — reportedly at East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s request.

Victor Sambuaga, an Indonesian embassy official in Dili, said Jakarta had lobbied for Bere’s release.

Marie Okabe, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Commissioner of Human Rights, condemned the release and rejected the Timorese government’s amnesties.

In another exemption Johny Marques, the leader of militia group Tim Alfa, who was serving a 33-year jail sentence for killing nine clergymen and nuns in Los Palos in 1999, was released in January.

Horta and Gusmao have consistently rejected a tribunal, citing such reasons as “getting on” with the future and building a good relationship with Indonesia. Former PM Mari Alkatiri, from Fretilin, issued a brief call for an international tribunal before also retracting his statement.

The small size of the Timorese elite means there are strong family ties between political and business leaders. They say talking about justice is bad for business with Indonesia.

Trade with Indonesia is booming, but as cheap Indonesian imports flood the market Timorese small business traders have their backs to the wall.

Indonesian soldiers and military officers have never been extradited to East Timor to answer warrants issued by the UN Serious Crimes Unit. Instead, to appease critics, they came before the 2002 Indonesian Ad Hoc Tribunal on East Timor in Jakarta. All were acquitted.

In his August 30 speech, Horta called on the United Nations to disband its Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, which has so far completed investigations into only 86 of 396 cases.

Horta’s stand certainly helps some, including the disgraced former general Wiranto. In 1999, Wiranto was the Indonesian armed forces chief. Prabowo Subianto was the Army Strategic Reserve Commander.

Both ran as vice-presidential candidates in Indonesian’s July presidential elections and they now lead two parliamentary parties — underscoring the ongoing influence of the military in Indonesian politics.

A September 2 Jakarta Post editorial praised Horta’s “statesmanship” and argued, unconvincingly, that it was now up to Indonesia to prosecute human rights abuses.

Indonesian human rights activists continue to push for justice for those abused by the Indonesian military and the Suharto dictatorship from 1965 until 1998, but they lack the necessary political support.

The abuse cases include killings in Aceh, West Papua, Lampung, the massacre of half a million leftists in 1965-66, the disappearance of 12 activists in 1998, and the crimes in East Timor.

Each Thursday afternoon, protesters with black umbrellas, marked with the names of places and incidents, stand silently outside the Presidential Palace in Jakarta demanding justice.

The 2004 murder of human rights campaigner Munir, who was poisoned, with the involvement of the intelligence agencies, aboard a Garuda flight to Amsterdam, is also a focus of the Black Thursday protests.

Horta’s stand against an international crimes tribunal sanctions impunity for gross violations of human rights in the clearest terms. Both the Indonesian and Timorese people have a stake in the prosecution of the Indonesian military for past human rights abuses.

[Vannessa Hearman worked in East Timor from 2000 to 2002 as an aid worker and United Nations interpreter. She is now writing her doctoral thesis about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-66 and the question of accountability for human rights abuses.]

(4) Australia Hopes New East Timor Inquiry Won't Hurt Jakarta Ties

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: September 10, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/world/asia/11iht-timor.html

CANBERRA — Australia hopes its relations with Indonesia will not be damaged by its opening of a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing of five Australia-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian forces in East Timor, the Australian foreign minister said Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Australian federal police reopened the investigation, which was recommended two years ago by an Australian coroner who found that the deaths were deliberate and probably ordered by senior Indonesian officers.

The coroner’s 2007 findings contradicted the Indonesian and Australian governments’ official version of events: that the journalists were killed accidentally in crossfire between Indonesian troops and East Timorese defenders.

Indonesia was surprised by the investigation, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said, while noting the decision to start an investigation was not made by his government but by independent police chiefs.

“We don’t regard these as issues that will disturb the fundamentals of the relationship,” Mr. Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The findings by a New South Wales State coroner in 2007 strained Australia-Indonesia diplomatic ties because it named three former senior officers of Indonesia’s special military forces suspected of ordering the killings.

An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, warned that the new investigation could obstruct bilateral relations.

Jakarta tore up its defense treaty with Canberra in 1999 when Australia led an international peacekeeping force into East Timor during the bloody aftermath of its separation from Indonesia following a 24-year occupation.

But since terrorists bombed the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002, killing 202 people including 88 Australians, police, defense forces and intelligence agencies from both countries have cooperated closely on counterterrorism, and a new security treaty was signed in 2006.

Indonesia invaded East Timor after the small half-island descended into civil war following the end of Portuguese colonial rule. Indonesia’s invasion plans were secret at the time, and direct involvement of Indonesian troops in operations in East Timor was highly sensitive.

The bodies of the five journalists — two Australians, two Britons and a New Zealander — were found burned in the East Timorese town of Balibo. Indonesian special forces and their East Timorese proxies attacked the town on Oct. 16, 1975.

(5) Indonesia's President Yudhoyono upset over Australian Federal Police inquiry

SBY warns against Balibo probe

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/11/2682699.htm?section=justin

By Geoff Thompson in Jakarta for AM

Posted September 11, 2009 07:40:00

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned that relations with Australia may be harmed by the Australian Federal Police's fresh investigation into the 1975 deaths of the Balibo Five.

Five Australia-based journalists were killed in East Timor, allegedly as part of a cover-up of Indonesia's invasion of the former Portuguese colony.

But Mr Yudhoyono has questioned the need to rake over the past, asking whether it could potentially extend back to the injustices of the colonial era.

Last night on the 7.30 Report, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd argued that while it was clearly a sensitive issue, the AFP probe would not derail Australia's good relationship with Indonesia.

"Obviously our friends in Jakarta have been surprised by this because it's been quite a long time," he said.

"I know the Foreign Minister has been dealing with Indonesian officials on this, and I believe we can see our way through this effectively."

But Mr Yudhoyono made it clear last night that he thought the AFP investigation was a backward step in his country's relationship with Australia.

"Frankly, this of course goes against our desire to look to the future, the desire of Indonesia and East Timor to end all those things that harm our relationship, through our decision together to form the Commission of Truth and Friendship," he said.

"This is important, so the good or even great relationship between Indonesia and Australia is not harmed by problems that have arisen because of a mindset or way of thinking that, in our opinion, is inaccurate."

Mr Yudhoyono also questioned when investigations of the past would stop.

By way of comparison, he referred to Raymond Westerling, a Dutch colonial-era commander who Indonesia unsuccessfully attempted to pursue for alleged war crimes abuses.

But, unlike Australia, the President inferred Indonesia was a "clever and wise country", which did not dwell on abuses it suffered as a colony of the Netherlands.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia would not reopen the case.

"Anyone outside East Timor can say anything they want but it won't make it possible that Indonesia would reopen the Balibo case," he said.

Indonesia's Defence Minister, Juwono Sudarsono, also rejected the relevance of the new AFP investigation, saying that the case was closed and only being pursued as part of Australia's local political agenda to pacify "some elements".

East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, agreed that the probe was unlikely to be successful.

He said he did not believe the Australian Government would go ahead with it even though he'd like to see them try.

(6) INDONESIAN President Yudhoyono warns Australia over AFP probe

http://www.theage.com.au/national/jakarta-military-seeks-balibo-ban-20090910-fjdm.html

Jakarta military seeks Balibo ban

TOM ALLARDSeptember 11, 2009

INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned Australia that ties between the countries could be harmed by a fresh probe into the killing of the Balibo five journalists during Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor.

A day after the Australian Federal Police announced its war crimes investigation, Dr Yudhoyono condemned the move, saying it went against ''our desire to look to the future''.

''The desire of Indonesia and East Timor is to end all those things that harm our relationship,'' he said.

''This is important, so the good or even great relationship between Indonesia and Australia isn't harmed by problems that have arisen because of a mindset or way of thinking that, in our opinion, is inaccurate.''

Indonesia, as a ''clever and wise country'', did not dwell on abuses it suffered as a colony of the Netherlands, he said.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda added: ''Anyone outside East Timor can say anything they want but it won't make it possible that (we) will reopen the Balibo case.''

The comments came as the Indonesian military yesterday urged the country's censors to ban Balibo, the film depicting the murders of the newsmen.

Indonesia insists the men - Greg Shackleton, Malcolm Rennie, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham and Brian Peters - were caught in crossfire.

Balibo has been entered in November's Jakarta International Film Festival, but must be approved by censors to be shown. ''I think we should reject that,'' said the spokesman for the Indonesian Defence Forces, Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen, when asked if the film should be shown. ''Anything about Indonesia and Timor Leste should be about something that is based on future co-operation and not about looking back.''

Rear Marshal Tamboen also described the AFP investigation as ''Australia's internal affairs'', suggesting the military had no intention of co-operating.

In Canberra, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said: ''There's no point beating about the bush: Indonesia is somewhat surprised by this decision.''

Mr Smith said Indonesians were surprised because the events took place nearly 35 years ago.

He said the view that Indonesian soldiers killed the newsmen and that a war crimes investigation should proceed was reached independently by a coroner and now the AFP.

An AFP spokeswoman said the decision to investigate was reached on August 20 by the new Commissioner, Tony Negus, then a deputy commissioner.

The decision was criticised yesterday by Labor senator Stephen Hutchins, who said: ''The resources of the AFP would be best served by looking after its own people in this country.'' Several other Labor MPs had also expressed disquiet, he said.

''We feel sorry for the families who are still grieving after so many decades, but we have crimes in this country which require the constant resources of the law enforcement agencies,'' Senator Hutchins said.

Mr Smith said that because of the strength of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, he was confident the issue could be dealt with ''in a calm and sensible way, given that we are primarily dealing here with the independent decision of the Australian Federal Police''.

(7) Gusmao sceptical on Balibo probe

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/11/2682647.htm?section=world

By Sara Everingham

Posted September 11, 2009 07:00:00

East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says he doubts there will be justice for the deaths of the Balibo Five, because Australia's relationship with Indonesia will get in the way.

This week the Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced it would opened a fresh investigation into the deaths of the five Australian-based journalists in East Timor in 1975.

Mr Gusmao says he would be happy if those responsible for the deaths were brought to justice but he thinks that is unlikely.

"I don't that believe that the Australia Government will go ahead with this case," he said.

In 2007 a coroner found the journalists had been killed by Indonesian special forces to cover up the invasion of East Timor.

(8) Ramos-Horta changes tune on Balibo

LINDSAY MURDOCH IN DILISeptember 2, 2009

http://www.smh.com.au/world/ramoshorta-changes-tune-on-balibo-20090901-f6yx.html

THE President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, has called for the killers of five journalists at Balibo in 1975 to be brought to justice.

The stance is in sharp contrast to comments he made last Sunday on the 10th anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence, when he declared Timorese must bury the past and oppose an international tribunal to prosecute the killers of up to 1500 people before and after the 1999 vote.

''It is not that one human life is worth more or less,'' Mr Ramos-Horta told the Financial Times. ''It's that … we have hundreds, if not thousands of East Timorese who collaborated with Indonesians. Are we going to try everyone?''

Mr Ramos-Horta's support for pursuing those responsible for the deaths of the Australian-based newsmen known as the Balibo Five follows the screening of the new feature film Balibo across East Timor last week. The film stirred new interest in the killings of the five as well that of Roger East, an Australian journalist killed in Dili two months later.

Mr Ramos-Horta presented a medal of honour to the film's director, Robert Connolly, on Sunday.

In 2007 the NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch, found the five were killed to cover up Indonesia's impending invasion of East Timor.

Ms Pinch pointed the finger at a former Indonesian minister, Yunus Yosfiah, and another soldier, Cristoforus da Silva.

Mr Ramos-Horta told the Financial Times that those responsible for the death of its correspondent Sander Thoenes in Dili during the 1999 violence should be prosecuted.

Mr Ramos-Horta's rejection on Sunday of a tribunal and a call to the United Nations to abandon its investigations into hundreds of the Timorese killings provoked widespread criticism. Fretilin, the main opposition party in Dili, accused Mr Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate, of being out touch with the people.

Timorese activists have also criticised his opposition to prosecutions, calling at a solidarity conference in Dili for the UN to establish a tribunal to prosecute past crimes in the country.

The United Nations Mission in Dili issued a statement last night directly contradicting Mr Ramos-Horta's stand that East Timor bury the past and not pursue prosecutions for past crimes.

''Accountability is an essential foundation to consolidating the rule of law and with building lasting peace and prosperity,'' the mission said. ''Concrete steps need to be taken to ensure full accountability, to end impunity and to provide reparations to victims in accordance with international human rights standards.''

(9) Emotion makes it hard to focus on harsh realities

http://www.theage.com.au/national/emotion-makes-it-hard-to-focus-on-harsh-realities-20090909-fhm9.html

MICHELLE GRATTAN
September 10, 2009

BALIBO is an emotional touchstone. For many Australians, what happened there to five young men in 1975 has etched itself indelibly into their views about Indonesia. But the hard question for Australia as a nation is whether it's wise to continue to pick at this tragedy.

Of course a lot of the people who've seen the film Balibo would say that we should - that time should not dull the pain and outrage. They'd argue that if the journalists were executed, rather than killed in crossfire - as the Indonesians maintain - evidence should be sifted and justice sought.

One can fully understand families feeling that. But looked at from a wider perspective, there is another side. These events were decades ago. Today's Indonesia is a very different country from that of 1975, with another generation of leaders; its political system and (to some extent) its values have evolved. Our national interest won't be particularly served by going down a path that could put our two countries at odds.

Sometimes events spin out of control and it can be argued this has happened in these investigations. A NSW coronial inquiry in 2007 concluded the men were executed. The finding went to the Liberal government and then to the federal police.

Labor's Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, had pursued the issue in opposition; when he recently took over responsibility for the Australian Federal Police he wanted to know what was happening. Now the police are running hard.

But where will their investigation lead? It may be doomed to failure. The police point out that investigations of war crime allegations ''can be problematic'' when the events happened offshore and many years ago.

But if the police come up with a brief that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions believes holds water, what then? Two of the Indonesians named in the coronial report are dead. Trying to get action against others would be difficult and potentially damaging to relations with our near neighbour.

But can any politician say ''enough - time to close the book''? No, because they reckon that it is easier to try to manage the international politics than to lecture a domestic audience on some hard realities.