[Kabar-indonesia] UN Right Not to Cooperate with Joint Indonesia-Timor "Truth" Commission Farce

[ETAN]

The UN Right Not to Cooperate with Joint Indonesia-Timor "Truth" 
Commission Farce

Contact: John M. Miller, +1/718-596-7668, 917-690-4391; etan at igc.org

July 27, 2007 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) 
today praised the UN for publicly announcing its refusal to cooperate 
with the joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF).

"The UN is right not to cooperate with the CTF," said John M. Miller, 
National Coordinator of ETAN. "The CTF not only violates 
international human rights standards, we believe it can only offer a 
watered-down 'truth' about the horrific actions of the Indonesian military."

"We urge the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste to end this 
farce and to work for genuine justice and accountability for crimes 
committed in Timor during the Indonesian invasion and occupation," 
Miller added. "Now that the UN has once again reiterated the serious 
nature of crimes committed in Timor-Leste, the Secretary-General 
should actively work with member states to establish an international 
tribunal."

<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11101.doc.htm>In a 
statement yesterday, the UN said it "cannot endorse or condone 
amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or gross 
violations of human rights, nor should it do anything that might 
foster them." The UN has refused to allow former officials to testify 
before the commission for some time.

In May, a global coalition of three dozen human rights organizations 
led by groups from Indonesia and Timor-Leste sent 
<http://www.etan.org/news/2007/05ctfrel.htm>an open letter to the 
presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste urging them to close the CTF. 
The groups wrote "It is obvious from its mandate and its performance 
that the CTF is not a credible mechanism to seek justice or even 
truth regarding events in Timor-Leste in 1999, let alone from 1975 to 1999."

The CTF began in 2005 as an effort to deflect a 
<http://www.etan.org/etanpdf/pdf3/N0542617.pdf>UN commission report 
that called for Indonesia to be given six months to prosecute those 
within its jurisdiction accused of serious human rights crimes during 
the UN-organized 1999 independence referendum in Timor-Leste.

See the NGO letter at http://www.etan.org/news/2007/05ctfrel.htm.

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John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org
National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391  Skype: john.m.miller
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
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