Dili – Amnesty should not be offered to those responsible for crimes against humanity during the violence that surrounded East Timor's 1999 bid for independence, said Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo of Dili.

In a pastoral statement released in late June, Bishop Belo said amnesty could be offered to those who committed less serious offenses because newly independent East Timor's fledgling justice system could not bear the cost of prosecuting all offenders.

"However, persons who committed the most serious crimes such as mass murder, even for political reasons, should not be eligible for an automatic amnesty," he said.

Amnesty has emerged as a controversial topic in East Timor as the country tries to move from its violent, bloody past toward a peaceful future. Many want the militias responsible for the wave of violence during the UN-sponsored independence vote in 1999 prosecuted.

More than 1,000 people were killed in the aftermath of the referendum. Rape and other human rights abuses also were used by the militias, who were financed and trained by the Indonesian military, as a tool to thwart independence supporters.

In addition, entire villages were reduced to rubble as the militias burned, looted and destroyed most of East Timor's infrastructure. Bishop Belo said amnesty should not release the perpetrators from their financial obligations to repay for property they destroyed.

President Xanana Gusmao, East Timor' independence hero, favors amnesty for those accused of the violence, saying it offers his country the best path to peace and stability.

But Bishop Belo said a general amnesty would deny justice to the victims and their families. "An automatic amnesty for all past offenders would be unjust to those victims and their families who have suffered most. It would also risk our new nation falling into denial and forgetting our past," he said.

Bishop Belo said the amnesty issue could undermine East Timor's progress if left unsettled. "It is true that there is a lack of skilled human resources in East Timor while there are many basic needs yet to be dealt with. But we must bear in mind that justice is one of these basic needs to be fulfilled; that justice was our main goal in our struggle for freedom," he said.

Bishop Belo, co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, said the East Timorese government had a responsibility to its people to investigate and prosecute those who committed crimes against humanity.

"Insufficient human and financial resources in our institutions of justice cannot be used as an excuse to forgo litigation of perpetrators of high crimes against humanity," he said.

"On the contrary, it is precisely for these reasons that we should strengthen our institutions of justice so that the rule of law may prevail in our land, rather than the rule of power of occupation times," he said.

In a formula for amnesty, Bishop Belo said those accused of the most serious crimes could be offered a "special amnesty" if the victims, their families and local community were agreeable and if the accused fulfills conditions selected by the community.

However, if the person commits a crime after being granted amnesty, that person should be prosecuted for all crimes retroactively to 1999, the bishop said.

The bishop said crimes committed prior to 1999 should be offered general amnesty because East Timor's judicial system would lack resources and the ability to obtain the evidence needed for a credible conviction.