Indonesia and East Timor have agreed to set up a commission to deal with atrocities surrounding East Timor's 1999 vote for independence, despite criticism led by the United Nations.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao and East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri inked the creation of the Commission of Truth and Friendship at the presidential palace here.
Yudhoyono said the body, which will start its two-year mission in August, was the best medium for the two countries to come to terms with and move on from the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's breakaway from Indonesia.
"Indonesia puts forward, focuses on and chooses the Commission of Truth and Friendship as the best and the most feasible means to solve the problems between Indonesia and Timor Leste [East Timor]," Yudhoyono told reporters.
"We made our decision obviously after we considered all related aspects. We would like to build better friendship and cooperation with Timor Leste and we adhere firmly to that," he said.
Gusmao said the commission's "mammoth" task was to uncover truth, not seek retribution. "I'm not a judge, I'm not a human rights advocate or lawyer. We are not looking for defendants. We are looking for truth," he said.
Gusmao later told a press conference that the commission would be made up of 10 members with each country appointing five representatives. Members include human rights experts, lawyers, politicians and religious leaders.
The United Nations has refused to endorse the deal, proposing instead a commission of experts to assess why a 1999 Security Council resolution to try those accused of war crimes has failed.
East Timor's influential Catholic bishop, Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, has also expressed reservations, saying the commission lacks public support.
Prime Minister Alkatiri said that East Timor welcomed the UN's plan for a commission of experts although Indonesia has described the move as "redundant." "For Indonesia and Timor Leste it's for us to get together and try to search for the truth. It's time for to move forward. Truth will be the basis for real friendship between our two countries," Alkatiri said.
Pro-Indonesian militia gangs directed by army officers went on the rampage before and after the independence vote, killing about 1,400 independence supporters. They also laid waste to much of the infrastructure and forcibly deported 250,000 people after the UN-supervised poll resulted in an overwhelming vote for separation.
In the aftermath of the violence a a UN Security Council resolution called for justice for the war crimes, prompting Indonesia to form an ad hoc court to try citizens accused of atrocities.
A UN-backed Special Crimes Unit was also set up in Dili to try Indonesian soldiers and Timorese militiamen alike for crimes against humanity. The Indonesian court wound up last year after acquitting all but one of the 18 alleged perpetrators who appeared before it.
The Special Crimes Unit jailed 74 Timorese culprits, but was powerless to extradite Indonesian commanders: more than 300 people wanted for trial have sanctuary in Indonesia.
It is scheduled to close down when the current UN mission leaves East Timor in May.