International tribunal needed in wake of commission of Truth and Friendship report

Stephanie March, Dili – East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta is pushing for new laws to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the violence that wracked the tiny nation in 2006.

The Australian media (Sydney Morning Herald July 11, 2008) has obtained leaked copies of the report of the joint Indonesia and Timor-Leste Commission for Truth and Reconciliation. Surprisingly, the Commission has come up with a report that lays the major blame for the 1999 bloodshed in Timor-Leste at the feet of Indonesian military, police and government officials.

Alexander Downer – Even in 1999 it was widely known that elements of the Indonesian military were behind the violent militia activity in East Timor.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – An Australian investigator has named Indonesian military officers responsible for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor in 1999, including acts of torture where victims were forced to eat their own ears.

Hamish McDonald, Asia-Pacific editor – The emails still keep coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, several times a day, attached with transcripts of what the minister said at this or that "doorstep" and notifying where the minister might be ambushed for the next one.

Tom Hyland – The report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship is a bitter pill for the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a slap in the face to the Indonesian military, and a challenge to the UN to act on the crimes of 1999, for which no one in authority has been held to account. So many crimes, so few criminals.

Tom Hyland – Indonesian soldiers, police and civilian officials were involved in an "organised campaign of violence" that prompted Australian military intervention in East Timor in 1999, says a leaked report by a government inquiry.

Indonesia says it will completely accept a long-awaited report which blames it for murders, rapes and torture in East Timor in 1999.

Lindsay Murdoch – The massacre in the East Timor enclave of Oecussi was supposed to have been kept secret forever.

But Marcus Baquin pretended to be dead when a militiaman, under the command of an Indonesian soldier identified as Anton Sabraka and a militia commander known Gabriel Kolo, slashed the right side of his face and ear with a machete.

The long-awaited report by the Indonesia-East Timor 'Commission on Truth and Friendship' (CTF) has been handed down, confirming what we already knew about the events in East Timor in 1999; that the crimes against humanity committed by the military and their proxy militias were an all of state affair.

Rachael Brown reporting

Emma Alberici: A leaked report into the handling of East Timor's 1999 independence referendum is being celebrated as a crucial step on the road to reconciliation.

The ABC has obtained a copy of the report to be released in a special ceremony by the presidents of both nations next week.

Natasha Robinson – As Anthony La Paglia sits on a Darwin balcony overlooking over the Timor Sea, he insists that his latest project, Balibo, is much more than a ripping Australian political thriller.

Lindsay Murdoch – The Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia has called on the Northern Territory Government to hold a coronial inquiry into the assassination of Roger East, a largely forgotten Australian journalist he is portraying in the movie Balibo.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is deeply disturbed by heavy-handed police actions – including the use of tear gas and large numbers of arrests – against nonviolent student demonstrators in Dili this week.

Police and security forces in East Timor are braced for a further day of protests outside the National University in Dili.

Since Monday, dozens of the students have been arrested as part of a continuing demonstration against what they say is government waste in the mid year budget review and a proposed new law that would allow civilians to carry guns.

Philip Dorling – The Australian Defence Force has begun a series of controversial exercises in East Timor involving Black Hawk helicopters firing live machine-gun rounds.

Dili – Police in East Timor's capital fired tear gas Monday to disperse students protesting a plan by lawmakers to buy themselves new cars with state funds, authorities said.

Officers detained 21 students during the rally in Dili for "investigation purposes," said National Police Chief Inspector Afonso de Jesus. He did not elaborate.

Mark Dodd – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has signed a $US14.4 million ($14.9 million) food security contract giving sole import rights to the vice-president of his political party – a deal that is ringing alarm bells at the UN and among the impoverished country's main donors, including Australia.

Dili – East Timorese and UN anti-riot police arrested at least 16 students Tuesday during a second day of protests at the national university against a plan to import cars for lawmakers.

Around 500 students rallied outside the National University of Timor Leste to condemn the procurement plan, after 21 were arrested in a similar protest there on Monday.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The rebel named as having shot East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta was apparently not the shooter after all, deepening the mystery that still surrounds the February attacks in Dili.

The Age can reveal that Mr Ramos Horta realised that Marcelo Caetano was not the gunman when he met him in Dili after he surrendered in April.

Lucy Williamson, Dili – "That's him," our guide told me. The man in the sagging brown vest was sitting at the entrance to his home, enjoying the morning sun. A mundane moment of freedom for a man convicted of the most serious crimes.

Dili – The East Timor Students Forum is threatening hunger strikes because its members feel deceived by the National Parliament about the agreement to purchase luxury motor vehicles being reduced from 65 to 26 vehicles.

Questions are being asked about a proposal to massively increase government spending in East Timor. A mid-year review has recommended that parliament approve a doubling of the state budget for this year. Dili says it needs to set up an Economic Stabilisation Fund to manage public anger over rising food and fuel prices. Critics say the extra spending is irresponsible.

Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta yesterday unveiled his legislative plan for an ambitious reconciliation process covering the events of the 2006 crisis. The draft law, authored by his office, sets out a scheme whereby those charged, or even sentenced, for their role in the crisis could be excused from criminal responsibility.

East Timor's Prime Minister is supporting a new law that would allow civilians to own guns, less than five months after illegally armed rebel soldiers tried to kill him and the president

The proposal has sparked heated scenes in parliament, with MPs almost coming to blows over what some say is a dangerous development that could threaten the nation's fragile security.

East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta has been accused of ignoring victims by granting clemency to militia members who killed nuns and priests during a bout of unrest in 1999.

The producer of a new political thriller about five Australia-based newsmen killed in East Timor in 1975 says the film will tell the truth about their deaths.

Cameras started rolling in Darwin today on the film Balibo, written by David Williamson (Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously) and directed by Robert Connolly (The Bank).

Karon Snowdon for Radio Australia – The woman accused by the President of East Timor of fostering rebel resistance in the country says she fears for her life.

Paul Toohey, Dili – East Timor doesn't need any more confusion, but it got in doses yesterday.

Jose Ramos Horta announced he would no longer chase a job as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and would stay on as President – at the same time refusing to guarantee serving out his term.

Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Friday he would not pursue the job of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, confirming earlier media reports.

Paul Toohey – Jose Ramos Horta had his country on tenterhooks last night as he asked for another 24 hours to decide whether he would stay on as East Timor's President or pursue a job in Geneva as the UN Human Rights Commissioner.

Regarding the decision of President of the Republic, Jose Ramos-Horta's, to grant executive clemency to 94 prisoners, today, Friday, 27 June 2008, eleven Timorese citizens delivered a petition to the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ) asking him to use his powers according to Section 150 of the Constitution to request that the Court of Appeals examine the constitutionality

East Timor's president is considering taking the UN's top human rights job but must consider whether his early departure would disrupt his country's fragile peace.

Jose Ramos Horta told reporters he had a strong sense of duty to the young nation and was torn between that responsibility and taking the job of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

East Timor's president Jose Ramos Horta has called on Australia to be much more generous in providing access for East Timorese to work and study in Australia, describing Canberra's current stand as "embarrassing". He says he is disappointed with Australia's efforts, which are lagging far behind that of Portugal, the United States and even Cuba.

Dili (Asia News/Agencies) - The government of East Timor has come under fire over its decision to turn over 100,000 hectares or a sixth of the country's arable land to a US$ 100 million ethanol project by an Indonesian company, GTLeste Biotech.

Jesse Wright, Dili – While East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is on a shortlist of candidates to become the United Nations' next high commissioner for human rights, critics at home are fuming over his recent decision to grant early release from prison to 94 inmates, some of whom were convicted for crimes against humanity for their roles in the violent ransacking the country on it

The mother of the woman linked to an East Timorese rebel leader says the country's President refused to meet her in Darwin today.

Former Darwin resident Angelita Pires, who was born in East Timor but grew up in Darwin, was in a relationship with rebel leader Alfredo Reinado.

Dili – Joni Marques, former leader of East Timor's notorious Team Alfa militia, was released on parole earlier this month after controversially having a 33-year prison term commuted. He gave a long interview to Lusa Monday in a Dili refugee camp where he now lives with his family.

Dili – Former East Timor militia chief Joni Marques, pardoned and released on parole this month after serving part of a long prison sentence for leading a massacre of nuns and priests in 1999, said Monday he was "repentant" for his crimes.

Jessie Wright, Dili – Buried deep in a neighbourhood of tin-roofed shacks, between a Christian church and an English-language school, sits one of the few mosques in East Timor.

Philip Dorling – The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has declassified hundreds of secret intelligence reports relating to the President of East Timor and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta.

Dili – East Timor's recent decision to pardon and release a former militia leader responsible for several murders has undermined the country's human rights commitment, a local watchdog said on Friday.

Philip Dorling – Declassified ASIO files on East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta shed new light on the complex diplomatic and intelligence games before and after Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in December 1975. The files also provide a rare insight into ASIO's highly sensitive foreign intelligence collection role.

This last week has seen the release of convicted militia leader Joni Marques, and others, from Dili's Becora prison.

Following Timor-Leste's first trial for crimes against humanity, in 2001, Marques was sentenced to 33 years 4 months jail. Marques led the Team Alpha militia who, in 1999, conducted attacks on civilians in the Lospalos area.

Tara Ravens – Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado would still be alive today if his Australian lover had not stopped him from surrendering, says East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta.

Angelita Pires, 33, was the first person to be arrested over the February 11 attacks which left the president critically wounded. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped a separate ambush unharmed.

Angus Grigg, Jakarta – As soaring oil prices hit consumers and rattle global financial markets, one of the world's poorest nations, East Timor, is cashing in.

Thanks to the near-record cost of oil, East Timor has been transformed into a middle-income economy in just three years.

Lisa Macdonald, Sydney – Tim Anderson's new documentary on the East Timor-Cuba health cooperation program is an inspiration. The Doctors of Tomorrow, which was launched at a screening on June 12 hosted by NSW Greens MLC John Kaye, was filmed in both countries, and documents the human face of Cuba's profound international solidarity.

Jesse Wright – The United Nations, called in two years ago in the wake of a breakdown of East Timor's security forces that led to dozens of deaths, appears set to end its training of local police, many of whom are still unfit to be in uniform, leading to fears that carnage will begin again in a country ill-prepared for it.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A coalition of civil society groups is pressing the governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste to accept the final report from the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) on human rights violations during the 1999 referendum in East Timor.