[asia-apec 1842] Attorneys and Legal Scholars Call for International Tribunal for East Timor

[John M. Miller]

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Anthony DiCaprio, (212)614-6456, apdicap at aol.com
John M. Miller (718)596-7668, fbp at igc.org

Attorneys and Legal Scholars Call for International Tribunal for East Timor

January 31, 2002 - In a statement issued today, attorneys and legal 
scholars urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to prosecute 
crimes against the people of East Timor.

"The time to prosecute the crimes inflicted upon the East Timorese through 
the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal is now. Each step 
by the international community to prosecute the acts perpetrated against 
the East Timorese advances the rule of law, and signals that neither 
state-condoned nor state-perpetrated terror, wherever it occurs, will be 
tolerated," said the statement signed by nearly four dozen legal experts 
from around the world.

"We intend to keep pressing for justice for the people of East Timor, and 
will continue to collect signatures in support of a tribunal," said Anthony 
DiCaprio, the statement's organizer. "A tribunal is necessary to hold those 
high ranking officials who organized and implemented the destruction of 
East Timor accountable. The international community cannot countenance 
impunity." DiCaprio of the Center for Constitutional Rights was lead 
attorney, in a civil action in U.S. court, which resulted in a $66 million 
judgment against General Johny Lumintang, deputy chief of staff of the 
Indonesian Army in 1999.

The statement was released on the second anniversary of the publication of 
the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. This 
comprehensive investigation found that the Indonesian governmental and 
military personnel at all levels participated in and were complicit in 
organizing and committing the violence in 1999. On August 30 of that year, 
the East Timorese people voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN 
organized referendum.

The Commission's January 31, 2000 report also recommended that the UN 
Security Council establish an International Criminal Tribunal for East 
Timor to try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the 
territory which will become independent on May 20. The Security Council has 
yet to create a tribunal, citing promises by Indonesia that it would 
prosecute high-level Indonesian military perpetrators. The statement says 
that Indonesian actions to date do not "justify confidence in the 
[Indonesian] process." UN prosecution of serious crimes in East Timor is 
limited to mostly lower-level militia physically present in the territory.

East Timor was invaded by Indonesia on December 7, 1975. During Indonesia's 
24-year occupation, more than 200,000 East Timorese, approximately one 
third of the population, were killed or disappeared. Following the August 
30, 1999 vote, the Indonesian military and militia killed several thousand 
East Timorese, destroyed nearly all infrastructure, and forced some 250,000 
East Timorese into Indonesian West Timor.

The full statement and signatures to date can be found on-line at 
http://www.etan.org/news/2002a/01law.htm.


- 30 -

LAWYERS AND LAW PROFESSORS CALL FOR EAST TIMOR JUSTICE

Justice for the people of East Timor can no longer be delayed or denied; 
the time has come to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for East 
Timor.

Thousands of East Timorese have been raped and otherwise tortured, 
arbitrarily detained, summarily executed, disappeared, and have had other 
atrocities inflicted upon them by the Indonesian military and its militia 
since Indonesia's invasion of the country in 1975. During Indonesia's 
twenty-four year occupation, more than 200,000 East Timorese, approximately 
one third of the population, were killed or disappeared.

When the East Timorese, relying on assurances from the United Nations, 
Indonesia, and the international community, voted for independence from 
Indonesia in the August 30, 1999 Popular Consultation, the Indonesian 
military and militia responded by killing and torturing thousands of East 
Timorese, destroying nearly all infrastructure, and forcing some 250,000 
East Timorese into Indonesian West Timor. Most East Timorese lost their 
loved ones, their homes, or their property.

East Timor's destruction was so complete and its economy so devastated, 
that the vast majority of its people remain unemployed with little hope of 
employment in the near future. Medical care is limited to a small 
percentage of the population who are lucky enough to be treated in one of 
the country's few under-staffed and under-funded medical clinics. Mental 
health care, desperately needed by the East Timorese as a result of their 
horrific suffering, is non-existent.

In response to the post-Popular Consultation violence, the United Nations 
convened an International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. On January 
31, 2000, the Commission determined that Indonesian governmental and 
military personnel at all levels participated in and were complicit in 
organizing and committing the violence. Indonesia's "Commission of Inquiry 
into Human Rights Violations in East Timor" (KPP-HAM) issued a report in 
January of 2001 making similar findings. On September 10, 2001, Judge Alan 
Kay of the United States District Court rendered a judgment in the sum of 
$66 million against the second highest-ranking officer in the Indonesian 
Army, Major General Johny Lumintang, for his role in the referendum-related 
violence in 1999.

The UN International Commission's January 31, 2000 report also recommended 
that the UN Security Council establish an International Criminal Tribunal 
for East Timor. However, the Security Council has declined to establish a 
tribunal, in large part due to promises by Indonesia that perpetrators in 
that country would be prosecuted, and because of the work of the Serious 
Crimes Unit in East Timor in pursuing prosecutions there. To date, both 
systems have proven inadequate to hold high-level Indonesian military 
perpetrators accountable.  The Serious Crimes Unit does not have 
jurisdiction to prosecute individuals who are not present in East Timor, 
and given the current political climate in Indonesia, convictions of 
high-level military personnel seem unlikely.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's mid-January appointment of ad hoc judges 
to the Indonesian Tribunal on East Timor, after months of delay, does not 
justify confidence in the process. President Megawati has not provided any 
measures to protect the safety of judges or witnesses despite the fact that 
an Indonesian Supreme Court judge was assassinated last year after 
investigating corruption and human rights abuses.  The judges receive low 
pay and are unknown academics from provincial law schools with little human 
rights background. Moreover, the Attorney General has declined to include 
General Wiranto among the list of suspects to be investigated, despite 
substantial evidence of his direct involvement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United 
Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 without dissent, begins with 
the recognition of the "inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable 
rights of all members of the human family" as the foundation of freedom, 
justice and peace in the world. To effectuate these principles by creating 
fully enforceable obligations under international law, in 1998, one hundred 
and thirty nine countries signed the Rome Statute to create the 
International Criminal Court (ICC).  Sixty countries have ratified the 
treaty, moving closer to the sixty ratifications necessary to bring the ICC 
into being. But the jurisdiction of the ICC will be prospective only, so 
that forum is not available to the people of East Timor.

The world community recognizes that all victims of gross human rights 
violations and violations of international humanitarian law have an 
inherent right to seek justice and to demand that the international 
community bring perpetrators to justice. Indeed, international law imposes 
a duty to prosecute such transgressions.  As UN Secretary General Kofi 
Annan said in his January 31, 2000 letter to the UN Security Council and 
the UN General Assembly, the International Commission of Inquiry "found 
that the United Nations and the international community had a particular 
responsibility to the people of East Timor in connection with investigating 
the violations, establishing responsibilities, punishing those responsible 
and promoting reconciliation."

The time to prosecute the crimes inflicted upon the East Timorese through 
the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal is now. Each step 
by the international community to prosecute the acts perpetrated against 
the East Timorese advances the rule of law, and signals that neither 
state-condoned nor state-perpetrated terror, wherever it occurs, will be 
tolerated.

-end-


etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan
John M. Miller         Internet: john at etan.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Support ETAN, to contribute go to http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan