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‘Impunity’ reigns in East Timor: Amnesty report

A culture of impunity is denying justice to victims of violence and rights abuses in East Timor 10 years after its historic independence referendum, Amnesty International said yesterday.

Most of those responsible for violence by Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militia that killed 1,400 people in the wake of the Aug. 30, 1990, vote remain untouched by the law, the rights group said in a report.

The governments of East Timor and Indonesia have refused to prosecute crimes including “unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, threats and intimidation,” it said.

“Today, despite various national and internationally-sponsored justice initiatives over the last decade, most of those who were suspected of committing the 1999 crimes are still at large in Indonesia, and are yet to be brought before an independent court,” Amnesty said.

“Of those who have been prosecuted in Indonesia, all have been acquitted in proceedings which have been severely criticized as fundamentally flawed. Only one remains imprisoned in Timor-Leste,” the report said, referring to East Timor by its official name.

Amnesty called on the UN Security Council to set up an international criminal tribunal to “end impunity” over abuses committed throughout Indonesia’s 1975 to 1999 occupation.

Around 100,000 people were estimated to have been killed, mainly by Indonesian forces and their proxies, or died of starvation and illness during the period, East Timorese figures show.

Amnesty’s report was released as East Timor prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the vote on Sunday.
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