Precedence: bulk
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
SPECIAL SESSION ON EAST TIMOR, Geneva, 24 September 1999
Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates. My name is Rachlan Nashidik. I am
Vice-President of PBHI, the Indonesian Association for Legal Aid and Human
Rights, based in Jakarta. PBHI serves as legal counsel for Xanana Gusmao,
President of the National Council for Timorese Resistance. I would like to
thank our partner organisation, Lutheran World Federation, for allowing me
to speak to you today.
On 14 September, my organisation called for the establishment of an
nternational tribunal to judge crimes against humanity and genocide carried
out in East Timor since it was annexed by Indonesia in 1976. PBHI also calls
for UN Rapporteurs to be sent to East Timor and endorses the call by the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, for the establishment
of a commission of enquiry to gather and analyse evidence on East Timor.
PBHI is not the only Indonesian organisation to call for the establishment
of an ad hoc international tribunal on East Timor. Last week, over 60
Indonesian NGOs comprising the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
Development (INFID) also called for the creation of an international tribunal.
Along with others in the Indonesian human rights community, I therefore
welcome the initiative to hold this historic Special Session of the
Commission on Human Rights. In the past, this Commission has often called
the Government of Indonesia to account for violations in East Timor, only to
receive limited cooperation and to see violations continue unchecked. This
Special Session is a unique opportunity to finally set in train a process
which will establish the facts and hold those responsible to account. It is
also an historic opportunity to break the cycle of State and military
impunity in Indonesia and to contribute to the full flowering of democracy
and a regime of human rights in Indonesia. I urge the Commission to fulfil
its clear obligations to the victims of the gravest human rights violations
both in East Timor and in Indonesia and not
to allow itself to be diverted from this heavy responsibility.
Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates.
On 30 August, the people of East Timor finally exercised their
internationally recognised right to self-determination through a Popular
Consultation. This process was brokered by the United Nations
Secretary-General, agreed to by
the two colonial powers Indonesia and Portugal, and endorsed by the UN
Security Council. It was also declared free and fair by independent
observers from across the world, including over 600 Indonesian observers -
the largest observer group - who came, not to take sides, but in support of
the East Timorese people's right of self-determination. I wish to make three
comments about this process.
First, one has to ask why the outcome was an overwhelming vote for
independence. Difficult though it is for Indonesia to accept, the fact is
that the violation of their human rights over 24 years was a major factor in
the East Timorese people's rejection of Indonesia on 30 August. In other
words, the outcome of the ballot is itself testimony to the magnitude of
human rights violations suffered in East Timor.
Second, it has to be emphasised that the Indonesian military and its militia
proxies made every attempt to frustrate the exercise of this fundamental
human right and to pre-determine its outcome by force. Strategies employed
included killings, the use of sustained and systematic naked terror and the
displacement of tens of thousands of people. What should have been a happy
experience similar to the democratic national elections in Indonesia in June
was turned into
a life and death ordeal.
Third, the magnitude of the Indonesian military's defiance of its President
and the international community should be emphasised. What was witnessed in
East Timor in the run-up to the ballot was no longer the assault on the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of the East Timorese people with which
we are familiar over many years. The violations perpetrated were also a
concerted slap in the face of the UN, its central principles and processes
and its principal organs,
including the Secretary General and the Security Council. In the interests of
its dignity and authority, as well as its responsibilities to the East
Timorese people, the UN must respond.
The blatant violations since the ballot are well documented. They include
wanton killings, the displacement of almost half the population, the
destruction of East Timor's embryonic civil society, the forced withdrawal
of much of the UNAMET presence and international agencies including the
ICRC, murder of religious personnel, arson and the sacking of Dili and other
centres. PBHI is particularly concerned about the fate of some 200,000 East
Timorese displaced to West Timor, many of whom face the imminent prospect of
permanent transmigration
to other parts of Indonesia. The UN must act immediately to provide for
their security and freedom of choice to return to East Timor, as stated in
UN Security Council Resolution 1264 (1999).
Efforts will be made to convince the international community that the
conflict in East Timor amounted to civil war and that Indonesia did its best
in difficult circumstances to maintain law and order. The facts are,
however, that the East Timorese people have been subjected to systematically
planned and executed State sponsored violence of the most extreme form. This
is the outcome of a political system devoid of democratic checks and
balances in which the military enjoy
excessive power and immunity from prosecution.
Indonesia will also argue that the international community should not
conduct its own investigations but leave this task to the Indonesian
Commission on Human Rights or a specially appointed Indonesian enquiry. PBHI
rejects this as a strategy primarily designed to protect Indonesia's
military interests and perpetuate impunity. Indonesia should not be
entrusted with this task. In the current political circumstances, Indonesia
does not have any mechanism with sufficient capacity or authority to bring
those responsible, not least the Indonesian military, to account. This is a
task for the UN alone. Since 30 August, East Timor and everything associated
with East Timor is now more than ever before the responsibility of the
international community and the United Nations.
Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates.
This Special Session on East Timor also has important implications for human
rights more generally in Indonesia. I urge the UN to view the tragedy of the
East Timorese people in the context of the abuse of military power in other
parts of Indonesia.
The Indonesian democracy movement, opposition groups and the people of Aceh,
Ambon, West Papua and other regions have experienced thousands of killings
and abuses at the hands of the same military. The crimes against humanity
committed in East Timor must be understood as a warning by the military to
other communities not to claim rights to self-determination and as a
re-assertion of power by a military humiliated by its failure in East Timor
and the exposure of its human rights record since the fall of President
Suharto.
This week, the New Order Parliament of ex-President Suharto, in one of its
last acts and in the face of strong public protest, has passed a new
Security Law which will give the military even stronger powers and roll back
many of the hard-won democratic reforms of the past year.
Strong and rapid action by this Commission will assist Indonesian civil
society in its struggle to end military impunity in Indonesia and reduce the
domination of the military. This is essential if Indonesians are to enjoy
the full range of human rights the international system says they are
entitled to and to build a democratic, inclusive and tolerant society.
In gathering evidence, the UN must provide appropriate witness protection
mechanisms. In dealing with both witnesses and alleged perpetrators, care
should also be taken by the UN to assist in the healing and reconciliation
process, including the human development of those guilty of inhuman crimes.
At the beginning of my comments, I made reference to the East Timorese
independence leader Xanana Gusmao. I will close by acknowledging the
strength and dignity of the East Timorese people, epitomised in Xanana
Gusmao. The East Timorese have not been provoked into taking up arms against
the Indonesian military in recent months and have therefore avoided the trap
set for them. This trap was set to make the situation look like civil war
and to therefore justify the violence. The people of East Timor have turned
the other cheek and maintained a stand for integrity and truth. They
continue to pay a huge price for this. They deserve the support of the
international community in this struggle.
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