Jakarta – Indonesian rights activists have condemned a recommendation by East Timor's president that a probe into past human rights violations in the world's youngest country be kept under wraps.
East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao suggested to legislators in Dili on Monday that a more than 2,000-page report and recommendations of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) should not be made public. The commission was set up as an independent authority in 2002 tasked with investigating rights violations from all sides during Indonesia's occupation of its smaller neighbour.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 but the country's people voted in favour of breaking away in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999 and it gained full independence in May 2002 after more than two years of United Nations stewardship.
Militia gangs, which the UN has said were recruited and directed by Indonesia's military, went on an arson and killing spree before and after the East Timorese referendum, killing about 1,400 independence supporters.
The commission was also supposed to facilitate community reconciliation with justice for those who committed less serious offences, its mandate says.
"What concerns me is not the revelation of the truth, which is already common knowledge," Gusmao said in the speech, a copy of which was obtained by AFP in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"What really concerns me is the recommendations made by the (commission), which could be used to manipulate our people's state of mind," he said.
Activists charged that Gusmao was more concerned about East Timor's relations with its powerful neighbour. "This is more of an elitist solution than a popular one," rights activist Hendardi, a member of the board of patrons of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Associations, told AFP.
Hendardi charged that Gusmao's decision was clearly made in the political context of maintaining good ties with Indonesia. "The public should be given the opportunity to assess it, because they were the victims," he said, adding that barring public access to the report "already goes against the very essence of truth. Xanana clearly made a mistake. The people of East Timor and some in Indonesia have been awaiting the results of the work of the Commission for a while," he said.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, of Solidamor, a pro-East Timor Indonesian rights group echoed Hendardi, saying that for Gusmao, good ties with Indonesia appeared to be more important than justice for his own people. "It is true that the relations between the two countries have improved immensely compared to a few years ago, but this should not ignore the need for truth and justice for the victims," he said.