'We cry for justice': Impunity persists 10 years on in Timor-Leste

A decade after Timor-Leste voted for independence, a culture of impunity continues to haunt the country\u27s people.The U. N. Security Council should establish an International Criminal tribunal with jurisdiction over all grave human rights violations surrounding Timor-Leste\u27s 1999 independence referendum and in the previous 24 years of Indonesian occupation, says Amnesty International in this  report published to mark the 10th anniversary of independence. A decade after Timor-Leste voted for independence, a culture of impunity continues to haunt the country\u27s people. Based on a mission to Timor-Leste in June 2009, the report outlines how most perpetrators of crimes committed between 1975 and 1999, including those in command at the time, have yet to be prosecuted before a credible, independent and impartial tribunal, either in Indonesia or Timor-Leste. While a number of low-level perpetrators have been convicted, most of those suspected of crimes against humanity are still at large in Indonesia. The Timorese and Indonesian governments have chosen to avoid justice for the victims of the grave human rights violations in Timor-Leste by pursuing initiatives such as the joint Indonesia - Timor-Leste Truth and Friendship Commission in 2005, which does not provide for prosecutions of perpetrators. Background (from Amnesty International media release) On August 30, 1999, the Timorese people voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence. At least 1,200 people died in the lead-up to the polls and its aftermath, which were marred by crimes against humanity, and other serious human rights violations at the hands of pro-Indonesian militias backed by the Indonesian military. They included unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, threats and intimidation of Timorese people. These abuses have been well documented by human rights organizations and expert bodies, in particular the 2,800 page ‘Chega!\u27 report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR). Among the justice initiatives put in place since 1999 are the ad hoc Human Rights Court established by Indonesia and the U.N. Special Panels in Timor- Leste. All 18 defendants originally tried for crimes committed in Timor-Leste during 1999 by the ad hoc Human Rights Court have been acquitted in proceedings criticized as being fundamentally flawed. In Timor-Leste, only one person convicted by the U.N. Special Panels is still serving a prison sentence. &nbsp