Karen Michelmore and Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Almost 30 years on, Zulira and Adelino Coelho are still waiting desperately for news on their son.

Like thousands of East Timorese, whose family members were killed or disappeared during the nation's turbulent past, they are also still waiting for justice.

But as counting in East Timor's weekend parliamentary elections got underway today, the issue of justice and accountability remains as distant as it has always been. Analysts say justice was not an issue among the major parties during the election campaign.

It has been 27 years since 19-year-old Danino Paizao Coelho da Silva was taken away by Indonesian forces in Dili during Indonesia's rule over the tiny half island, never to be seen again.

Mrs Coelho says it is impossible for her family to move forward until he is found.

"We are still waiting for information whether our son is still alive or not," Mrs Coelho said. "If our son is dead, please tell us where his body is. If he's still alive, if they put him in jail, please tell us which jail. We are still waiting for that, we cannot stop thinking about this until there is a result."

In early counting in the parliamentary elections, East Timor's four major parties; the ruling party Fretilin, Xanana Gusmao's CNRT, the Democratic Party and a Social Democratic Party Coalition, were in the lead.

A new political party PUN (Partido Unidade Nacional) – the only one which actively campaigned on the issue of justice – was coming in about sixth place out of the 14 political groupings, although figures were sketchy and unreliable.

PUN President Fernanda Borges said justice was vital for East Timor's future stability but most political parties were fearful of raising the issue.

"People are waiting for a change in government to realise this dream of theirs," Mrs Borges said.

"It is really just a dream to get justice. We have so many orphans and so many widows. It is what the people want and it hasn't taken place. If we are going to be a state that is based on the rule of law, then we actually have to address this issue."

Justice, if it ever comes, is likely a long way off. Eighteen months after its release, there has been no response to the 204 recommendations made by the truth and reconciliation body, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR), which investigated the violence during Indonesia's 24-year rule and 1999 vote for independence.

East Timor and Indonesia's leaders have set up the Commission of Truth and Friendship to establish the "conclusive" truth of the violence surrounding the 1999 vote and to foster reconciliation instead of prosecution.

"I think it's a question of time," Mrs Borges said. "These things don't go away. It's embedded in people's hearts to have justice and this state will never function as a democratic state, as a state that respects human rights, preserves the rule of law and actually serves the interests of the people, if we don't have this justice take place because everything revolves around that."