The United Nations Security Council should set up an international criminal tribunal to investigate abuses in Timor Leste both under Indonesian rule and in the vote for independence, a rights group said today.
Timor Leste, 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 Timor Leste, also known as East Timor, is a former Portuguese colony that achieved full independence from Indonesia in 2002. It 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 Timor Leste. But he never faced court, and has been free to pursue a political career, running as a vice presidential candidate in Indonesia's recent elections.
Timor Leste's president, Jose Ramos-Horta, has stressed the need to forge better relations with Indonesia, calling on his people to forgive the perpetrators of abuses, and pardoning militia members convicted of crimes. He has said he does not want a UN investigation.
However, Amnesty said that that approach would weaken the rule of law in both Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
Reuters