Jakarta – The Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF) has had its mandate further extended due to internal disputes over its final report.
The commission's deputy chairman for Indonesia, Agus Widjojo, said Tuesday the joint commission had to come through "a tough process to seek consensus" to finalize its report, which is to be submitted to presidents of the neighboring countries by March 31.
"It has been difficult to deliberate some issues and reach agreement. We had to convince each other what we believe is the right thing," Agus told The Jakarta Post.
He declined to go into detail about the contentious issues, which he said had caused the commission to miss its original January 2008 deadline.
The commission has extended the deadline three times since August last year. Agus said both parties needed to consider various issues, especially when it came to reviewing documents.
"We want to make sure the final verdict is unbiased and fair for both Indonesia and Timor Leste, that's why firm agreements are needed despite the debates that we had," he said.
Agus, a former Army general, said the CTF members also had trouble interpreting the commission's framework and the way their investigation was conducted.
He played down the commission's failure to meet its own deadline, saying the timeframe was not absolute as the team was allowed to extend its investigation. "Besides, this commission works based on the spirit of peace and reconciliation for both countries, so that's all that matters," Agus said.
Timor Leste and Indonesia agreed to establish the commission in 2005 to probe alleged human rights violations involving the Indonesian Military (TNI) prior to and after a UN-administered referendum in the former Indonesian province in 1999.
TNI-backed militia groups were blamed for the deaths of hundreds of people and the destruction of infrastructure following East Timor's vote for independence.
Critics, however, have lashed out at the agreement which they say will preserve impunity as it does not aim to try those found guilty.
The commission, they say, is a political compromise that favors good relations between the two countries over justice for victims of the violence.
Agus said the commission would encourage the two governments to disclose the names of all the perpetrators of the violence for the sake of human rights and justice.
"The authority to announce the findings belongs only to the Indonesian president and the Timor Leste president and prime minister," Agus said.
He said the commission cross-checked all its findings with documents from the Indonesian National Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM), the Ad-hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor, the Special Panel for Serious Crimes and the Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor Leste.