Hie struggle to find justice and a future for East Timor

Since Pacific Island nations gained independence their people have found the task of building an harmonious and economically-viable nation, a struggle.

Spare a thought, then, for East Timor.

The bloody rampage unleashed by the pro-Indonesia militias after the announcement on September 6 last year, of the overwhelming vote for independence, has left the country a bumed-out shell.

Six months after the tragedy, the capital, Dili, is,still rubble. So are all the major towns to the west. The people of East Timor live in these ruins. All their institutions - schools, hospitals, police and civil service - have been swept away leaving only what the United Nations or aid agencies can supply in their place.

There is almost no work, unless you are lucky enough to have secured one of the relatively few jobs with the UN, and bored young men are starting to form gangs which are creating a crime problem.

On top of that, people are still coping with the emotional scars left by the murder, mutilation and rape of friends and relatives, and the destruction of their homes.

Fear is a daily fact of life for East Timorese still stuck in militia controlled camps in Indonesian West-Timor or in the enclave of Oecussi, which is separated from the rest of East Timor by more than 60 kilometres of Indonesian territory.

Justice, reconciliation and nation building are urgent tasks.

In Dili, more than 30 alleged militia-members are in custody of the UN awaiting trial on crimes ranging from rape to mass murder.

But these are low-level offenders.

The real culprits are in Indonesia, which under President, Abdurrahman Wahid, is showing a new willingness to confront the facts of its role in East Timor.

In Jakarta, last month, a special 8-member panel of the National Human Rights Commission brought down the findings of its enquiry into the carnage.

It found, then, Chief of the Armed Forces, General Wiranto, responsible for ‘crimes against humanity’ adding that he had ‘full knowledge’ of the orchestrated campaign of murder and destruction (something General Wiranto has vociferously denied).

The commission has asked the Attorney-General, Marzuki Darusman, to prepare a case against Wiranto, and around forty others, to go before a special Human Rights Court.

There is no doubt the Attorney-General is keen to see justice done but with the state of Indonesia’s legal system that will be no mean feat.

The current legal system, left over from Suharto days, is discredited and the human rights court is yet to be constituted and needs approval from what is still a fairly conservative parliament.

The military personnel are to go before a separate five member ad hoc court which, like any Indonesian court, will face enormous difficulties in persuading crucial, but frightened, East Timorese witnesses that it is safe to travel to Jakarta to testify.

Proposals for a UN War Crimes Tribunal along the lines of those established for Bosnia and Rwanda have bitten the dust because they would be unlikely to gain the necessary support in the Security Council from Russia and China (because they fear similar investigations into their own actions in Chechnya and Tibet).

Other suggestions have been made for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission along the lines of that in South Africa.

In the meantime, East Timorese are looking to UNTAET, the UN’s Transitional Authority in East Timor (which last month took over from the more security-oriented INTEREST).

UNTAET is charged with responsibility for the reconstruction of East Timor (for which the international community has pledged U 552.65 billion) and for overseeing elections which will pave the way for the people of East Timor to take control their own destiny.

Six months after the bloodshed, things are not moving fast enough for the East Timorese.

At the time of going to press some villages had still not received any food aid. As yet, very little aid money has made it to East Timor and each day of delay adds to a sense of dependence and saps the energy which people want to put into reconstructing their lives - in itself one of the most valuable healing processes.

Similarly, many Timorese are concerned that UN processes are not allowing enough input from Timorese themselves or from The Council for National Reconciliation in East Timor (CNRT), a body representing both conservative and leftist forces in society and which is effectively a govemment-in-waiting.

The visit by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to East Timor in mid-February obviously struck an emotional chord with the UN chief and it prompted him to suggest that the time-frame for the transition to East Timorese control could brought forward.

In the meantime, East Timor will continue to need support from the outside world - otherwise both justice and true independence may prove elusive.

Jemima Garret

Sydney