Justice

Violence in East Timor after the ballot has been interpreted as crimes against humanity. Thus, justice was imperative. Below are the indictments and judgments made by Indonesian authorities on the people who were identified as the main organizers and perpetrators of the violence. The documents were retrieved from The Indonesian Ad Hoc Court Tribunal for East Timor section of the U.C. Berkley War Crimes Studies Center. Some of the documents are missing; they will be uploaded as they are found.

As with the conflict, some international NGO’s followed closely the process of providing justice to East Timor. The common denominator of their analyses is found on doubts of the commitment of Indonesian authorities to adequately offer justice to the people of East Timor, with serious concerns that the perpetrators could be left unpunished. Reports by Amnesty InternationalHuman Rights Watch, and the International Crisis Group are included here. Additionally, there is an evaluation conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of its own repatriation and reintegration program in East Timor after the post-electoral violence. Click on each link to go to the corresponding sub-headings below. 


Indictments and Judgments

Adam Damiri: IndictmentJudgment

Eurico Guterres: Indictment (unavailable), Judgment

Asep Kuswani: Indictment (unavailable), Judgment

Abilio Jose Osorio Soares: IndictmentJudgment

Endar Priyanto: Indictment (unavailable), Judgment

Herman Sedyono et al.: IndictmentJudgment

Timbul Silaen: IndictmentJudgment

Letkol Inf. Soedjarwo: IndictmentJudgment

Yayat Sudrajat: Indictment (unavailable), Judgment

Tono Suratman: IndictmentJudgment

Return to the top


United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Evaluation of UNHCR’s Repatriation and Reintegration Program in East Timor, 1999-2003 (February 2004)

Return to top 


Amnesty International

Justice for victims in East Timor. UN must act at once on Commission of Inquiry’s report (January 31, 2000)

UNTAET, justice, and refugees one year after the ballot (August 29, 2000)

Struggle against impunity: one step forward, two steps back (April 25, 2001)

Justice past, present, and future (July 26, 2001)

Return to top


Human Rights Watch

Accountability for crimes against humanity in East Timor (September 20, 1999)

Strong independent commission of inquiry urged for East Timor (September 27, 1999)

Justice for East Timor, press backgrounder (March 15, 2000)

Lawmakers let perpetrators off the hook (August 19, 2000)

Unfinished business: Justice for East Timor (August 30, 2000)

Serious obstacles to justice remain (September 2, 2000)

East Timor justice at a crossroads (February 1, 2001)

Justice for East Timor still elusive (February 21, 2002)

Draft Amnesty Law, letter to President José Alexandre Gusmao (July 16, 2002)

East Timor Amnesty Bill flawed (July 17, 2002)

Special panels for serious crimes (August 6, 2002)

Veredict confirms justice elusive for East Timor (August 15, 2002)

Indonesia’s court for East Timor a “whitewash” (December 20, 2002)

Justice denied for East Timor, report (December 20, 2002)

Indonesia should hand over the “East Timor 8” (February 26, 2003)

Justice denied in East Timor church massacre (March 11, 2003)

Reject pardon for most serious crimes (May 8, 2004)

Courts sanction impunity for East Timor abuses (August 7, 2004)

Return to top 


International Conflict Group

The implications of East Timor trials (May 8, 2002)

Return to top