Eko Waluyo, Sydney – At the handover of a report by the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) in Bali, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted the report and expressed deep regret for the role the Indonesian military played in systematic human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999. He did not, however, follow up his expression with the intention of making a formal apology to the victims.

He talked about "an unfortunate chapter of our shared past". As a consequence of his statement, he has created a new chapter in the culture of impunity, which has been a part of Indonesian history since Soeharto's rise to power in the 1960s. From the beginning, some human rights bodies thought the establishment of the CTF by both governments was suspicious. They thought it questionable that the human rights atrocities in Timor Leste could be settled by diplomatic means rather through legal processes. The role of the CTF is non-judicial.

However, the report found that Indonesian state institutions were directly behind the atrocities. This conclusion counters former Australian prime minister John Howard's argument, which he presented the Australian public at the time, that rough elements within the TNI were behind Timor Leste atrocities.

The report also sends a message to the Jakarta ruling political elites that their political view on East Timor, that Soeharto created political dogma by using the security approach, nationalism and chauvinism to create national unity, is already bankrupt.

Justice for Timor Leste must be parallel to eradicating the culture of impunity in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, there is a long list of impunities from the holocaust of 1965, conflict in Aceh, human rights abuses in West Papua and other abuses that needs to be address.

The report by the CTF is a critical step toward opening the Pandora's Box that contains these cases of impunity. The report, as a result, could create a strong foundation for democratic principles in Indonesia.

The genuine relationship between Indonesia and Timor Leste can only be based on that principle.

It is an opportune time for Jakarta to continue the judicial process to try the perpetrators on the basis of the evidence provided in the report.

In addition, recommendations enclosed in the report – to create a commission for people made to disappear, to rehabilitate and improve human dignity, to give amnesty with certain conditions and to establish a center of documentation and conflict resolution – are critical to create peace and stability.

Although Yudhoyono has accepted the recommendations from CTF, his statement can only be interpreted as empty words to please the world. The role of the international community, particularly the Labor government in Canberra, should be to encourage Yudhoyono's government to fully implement the recommendations and follow up the report.

Meanwhile, Canberra's reaction to the CTF report was cautious. In an interview with ABC Radio on July 12, Australia's Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said that his government wanted to look forward, not backward, toward peace and stability in Timor Leste and its long-term relationship with Indonesia.

Learning from history is critical to looking forward. Has Canberra examined their foreign policy to see whether to engage in security cooperation with Jakarta? Great mistakes have been made in Timor Leste. Repeating the same mistakes should be avoided.

The report also emphasized that to avoid such atrocities in the future, Indonesia needs to genuinely implement security sector reform according to democratic principles.

Reform toward a transparent and accountable security sector is only at the beginning rather than being finalized. Empowering security sector reform within Indonesian security institutions not only benefits the maturation of the Indonesian democracy, it can also create the maturation of international relationships with Indonesia.

The current Australian government's position to create a healthy relationship with Indonesians needs to be proven by addressing obstacles to the democratic process in Indonesia, including the legal impunity of high officials. The participation of Kevin Rudd's administration to address impunity in Indonesia through the justice principle will be accepted by many Indonesian as a great achievement to create a healthy relationship. By contrast, Canberra's unwillingness to participate in eradicating impunity in Indonesia is only creating a political soap-operatic relationship with Jakarta ruling elites.

Canberra's aid excludes the justice issue (truth and reconciliation) in Aceh. This has created great concern.

The removal of the Howard government from office in Canberra and the strong support behind Democrat presidential candidate Obama are signals that the political ideology about the benefit of global markets and the neglect of social justice, is not the solution to create peace and stability today.

This message is also echoed within Indonesian social and political life. The reports says former armed forces commander Wiranto and former Army Special Forces (Kopassus) and Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) chief Prabowo Subianto were perpetrators of the atrocities toward Timor Leste.

Wiranto and Subianto are currently running for presidential election. In the Indonesian media, they promote themselves as the saviors of the nation. But current polling shows their support is less than 5 percent, indicating Indonesians widely reject the old Soeharto ideology.

The cold war era is over, so too is the Indonesian occupation of Timor Leste under the West's blessing. The world should start a new chapter and support those in Indonesia and Timor Leste seeking justice for the millions of human rights victims in both countries.

After all, human rights, social justice and democracy have become the global standards worldwide today.

[The writer is the program coordinator for Indonesian Solidarity, a non-profit organization that supports human rights in Indonesia. Indonesian Solidarity is based in Sydney, Australia.]