In September 1999, Sander Thoenes, the Financial Times correspondent in Jakarta, travelled to East Timor to report on the turmoil engulfing the territory. Three weeks before his arrival, the people of East Timor had voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, seeking to end 24 years of brutal occupation.

Thoenes, a 30-year-old Dutch journalist, sought to report on how the Indonesian military was sabotaging independence by a murderous rampage against civilians. On September 21, a motorcycle taxi driver took Thoenes into the Becora district on the outskirts of the East Timorese capital, Dili. There, the two men were shot at by Indonesian soldiers, causing their vehicle to crash.

The next day, Thoenes's body was found near where the motorcycle had fallen.

In November 2002, East Timor's prosecutor, citing work carried out by a United Nations-led serious crimes unit, indicted two members of the Indonesian military – Maj Jacob Sarosa and Lt Camilo dos Santos – over the killing.

But to this day, the Indonesian authorities have taken no action to bring these men to justice. Neither has been formally investigated or prosecuted. Retired general Wiranto, the Indonesian military chief who led the military at the time of the 1999 operation, has also been indicted but not tried.

Thoenes was not the only victim of violence in the course of East Timor's independence campaign. The Indonesian military killed up to 1,500 East Timorese in 1999. But if Indonesia is to attain lasting respect, its leaders must face up to past wrongdoing.