Situation of human rights in East Timor

Distr.
GENERAL
A/54/660
10 December 1999
Original: ENGLISH
Fifty-fourth session
Agenda item 116 (c)
Human rights questions: human rights situations and reports of
special rapporteurs and representatives
Situation of human rights in East Timor
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General
Assembly the report on the joint mission to East Timor undertaken by the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on the question of torture and the
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, in accordance with Commission resolution 1999/S-4/1 of 27 September
1999.
Contents
Paragraphs
I. Introduction
1–15
II. Overall human rights developments and general
16–58
background
A. Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
23–40
B. Torture and violence against women
41–58
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III. State responsibility
59–65
IV. International Force, East Timor
66–67
V. Conclusions and recommendations
68–74
I. Introduction
1. On 4 to 10 November 1999, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human
Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Asma Jahangir, the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on the question of torture, Sir Nigel Rodley, and the
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, conducted a joint mission to East Timor.
The visit was undertaken pursuant to resolution 1999/S-4/1 of 27 September 1999,
entitled "Situation of human rights in East Timor", adopted by the Commission on
Human Rights at its special session on the situation in East Timor, held from 24 to 27
September 1999. The special session had been convened because of increasing reports of
widespread violence and serious human rights violations in East Timor, following the
popular consultation on the future status of East Timor held on 30 August 1999. This was
the fourth special session of the Commission: special sessions had been held, in 1992 and
1993, on the situation in the former Yugoslavia and in 1994 on the situation in Rwanda.
2. In the resolution, the Commission condemned the widespread, systematic and gross
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in East Timor, including
widespread violations and abuses of the right to life, personal security, physical integrity
and the right to property. The Commission further expressed its deep concern at the
widespread forced removal and displacement of persons to West Timor and other nearby
areas, the serious humanitarian situation of the displaced East Timorese, the violence and
intimidation directed against international agencies as well as most of the independent
media, and the lack of effective measures to deter or prevent militia violence and the
reported collusion between the militias and members of the Indonesian armed forces and
police in East Timor.
3. The Commission furthermore affirmed that all persons who committed or authorized
violations of human rights or international humanitarian law were individually
responsible and accountable for those violations and that the international community
would exert every effort to ensure that those responsible were brought to justice. The
Commission further affirmed that the primary responsibility for bringing perpetrators to
justice rested with national judicial systems.
4. The Commission called upon the Government of Indonesia to ensure, in cooperation
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with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, that the persons responsible
for acts of violence and flagrant and systematic violations of human rights were brought
to justice and to ensure that human rights and international humanitarian law were fully
respected in regard to all persons within its own jurisdiction or under its control. It also
called upon the Government to continue to implement its obligations under the
Agreement of 5 May 1999 and to guarantee the voluntary return of all refugees and
displaced persons, including those who had been forcibly displaced to camps in West
Timor. The Government was also called upon to ensure immediate access by
humanitarian agencies to displaced persons, both in East Timor and West Timor as well
as other parts of the Indonesian territory, to guarantee the security and free movement of
international personnel and to continue to allow the deployment of emergency
humanitarian assistance.
5. The Commission called upon the Secretary-General to establish an international
commission of inquiry in order to gather and compile systematically information on
possible violations of human rights and acts which might constitute breaches of
international humanitarian law committed in East Timor since the announcement in
January 1999 of the vote. The commission of inquiry is to provide the Secretary-General
with its conclusions with a view to enabling him to make recommendations on future
actions and to make the commission's report available to the Security Council, the
General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session.
6. Lastly, in the same resolution, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Representative of the
Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur on the question
of torture, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to
carry out missions to East Timor and report on their findings to the Commission at its
fifty-sixth session and, on an interim basis, to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth
session.
7. Following the request by the Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Asma Jahangir, the Special
Rapporteur on the question of torture, Sir Nigel Rodley, and the Special Rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy,
agreed to conduct a joint mission to East Timor in early November. By a letter dated 26
October 1999 to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights informed the Government of Indonesia of the planned
mission and requested that the Government meet with the Special Rapporteurs in Jakarta.
On 3 November 1999, the Government replied that it had deferred consideration of the
proposed visit by the Special Rapporteurs and that a decision would be taken on the
matter after a period of internal consolidation of the newly appointed Government. In the
light of the urgent request by the Commission on Human Rights for an immediate
investigation into and report on the human rights situation in East Timor, it was finally
decided that the Special Rapporteurs and their supporting staff would carry out a joint
fact-finding mission to East Timor from 4 to 10 November 1999. The Special
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Rapporteurs regret that they were unable to visit Jakarta to meet with government
representatives and the National Commission of Inquiry, and that they did not have the
opportunity to visit West Timor and other locations relevant to their investigations.
8. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions was established by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1982/35
of 7 May 1982. Asma Jahangir was appointed Special Rapporteur on 12 August 1998 and
her mandate was renewed for a period of three years by the Commission on Human
Rights in its annual resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
resolution 1998/68 of 21 April 1998.
9. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture was established in
1985 by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1985/33 of 13 March 1985.
Sir Nigel Rodley was appointed Special Rapporteur in 1993 and his mandate was
renewed by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/38 of 17 April 1998
for a period of three years.
10. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences was created by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1994/45
of 4 March 1994 and renewed by the Commission in its resolution 1997/44 of 11 April
1997 for a further period of three years. Radhika Coomaraswamy was appointed to the
position at that time and continues to serve as Special Rapporteur.
11. The present report is based largely on information gathered and observations made by
the Special Rapporteurs during their mission to East Timor and focuses on human rights
abuses committed since January 1999. Many of the observations presented are not
conclusive and are mainly aimed at highlighting areas and issues requiring further
attention, including criminal and forensic investigation. While information about alleged
extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence and other human rights abuses is now
gradually emerging as on-site investigations are getting under way, the reports received
so far remain incomplete. Further investigations are urgently needed in order to establish
the full scope and nature of the atrocities committed in East Timor.
Programme of the visit
12. Upon arrival in East Timor, the Special Rapporteurs met with the Acting Special
Representative of the Secretary-General and other staff of the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), who briefed them on the overall
political, humanitarian and human rights situation in East Timor. In Dili the Special
Rapporteurs further had the opportunity to meet with Bishop Carlos Belo. Discussions
were also held with representatives of the National Council of Timorese Resistance
(CNRT).
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13. The visit included several field trips outside Dili. Ms. Jahangir visited the towns of
Suai, Maliana and Oekusi, some of the places from which she had received allegations of
killings allegedly committed jointly by the militia and the military, and which had had a
strong pro-integration militia presence before and after the ballot. In Suai, the Special
Rapporteur also inspected the local church grounds, where a large number of persons are
feared to have been killed in a militia assault on the town's two churches. Ms. Jahangir
and Sir Nigel Rodley visited Aileu, where they met the Deputy Commander of the
Falintil movement, Taur Matan Ruak. In Aileu, the Special Rapporteurs also had the
opportunity to speak to five former militiamen held in custody by the Falintil forces. The
three Special Rapporteurs further visited Tibar and Liquica, where they heard individual
testimonies of alleged human rights violations. Further interviews with victims and
witnesses were conducted at UNTAET headquarters in Dili.
14. The Special Rapporteurs met with the Force Commander of the International Force,
East Timor (INTERFET), Major General Cosgrove, and the delegation was briefed at
INTERFET headquarters on the investigative work carried out by the INTERFET
military police and the United Nations civilian police into reported cases of extrajudicial
killings. After the briefings Ms. Jahangir, accompanied by INTERFET and United
Nations civilian police and forensic staff, attended the exhumation of remains from a
grave site believed to be those of a person allegedly extrajudicially killed by militia
elements. Ms. Jahangir and Sir Nigel also visited the INTERFET Force Detention Centre
where they spoke with persons detained on suspicion of involvement in extrajudicial
killings and other grave human rights violations.
15. In Dili the Special Rapporteurs held discussions with representatives of United
Nations agencies and other international organizations active in East Timor, including the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World
Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Médecins sans Frontières and Timor
Aid. Discussions were also held with representatives of Amnesty International carrying
out investigative work in East Timor. In Dili the Special Rapporteurs met with local non-
governmental organizations, including Yayasan Hak, Fokupers and the East Timor
Human Rights Commission.
II. Overall human rights developments and general
background
16. The recent crisis in East Timor should be considered against the background of a long
history of serious human rights abuses and political tensions which have taken place
since the annexation of the Territory by Indonesia in 1975. The Special Rapporteurs of
the Commission on Human Rights have for the last several years reported on and
expressed their deepening concern over the human rights situation in East Timor. There
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have been continuing allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture, disappearances and acts
of sexual violence attributed to members of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and pro-
Government militias and paramilitary groups.
17. On 27 January 1999, the Government of Indonesia announced its readiness to rescind
its annexation of East Timor and grant it independence, in the event that the
Government's offer of autonomy was rejected. To begin this process, on 11 March 1999,
Portugal and Indonesia agreed to a United Nations-supervised ballot to consult the East
Timorese people on whether they accepted or rejected the Indonesian Government's
proposal for autonomy. On 21 April, an agreement was reached which committed all
parties in East Timor, including the armed forces and pro-integration and pro-
independence groups, to end violence in the Territory. The agreement also created a
Commission on Peace and Stability for East Timor, composed of representatives of pro-
independence and pro-integration groups, the local authorities, local police commanders
and TNI.
18. On 5 May, Indonesia, Portugal and the Secretary-General signed an Agreement in
New York laying a constitutional framework for the future status of East Timor and
establishing the modalities for the popular consultation. The Agreement emphasized the
responsibility of the Indonesian authorities in securing an environment free from violence
and intimidation and conducive to the conduct of the popular consultation. The
Agreement also stressed that the absolute neutrality and impartiality of TNI and the
Indonesian police would be essential in that regard.
19. On 11 June 1999, the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was
established to organize and conduct the popular consultation. The preparations and the
conduct of the voting proceeded despite several incidents of violence, threats and
intimidation, mainly by pro-Government militia elements. After having been postponed
several times, the popular consultation was finally held on 30 August, with some 98 per
cent of the registered electorate turning out to vote. On 4 September, the Secretary-
General announced the results of the popular consultation, in which more than 78 per
cent of the voters had rejected the Indonesian Government's autonomy proposal and
called upon all parties to bring an end to the violence and to begin in earnest a process of
dialogue and reconciliation.
20. However, after this announcement militia groups and elements of the Indonesian
security forces unleashed a wave of violence in which pro-independence supporters were
terrorized and killed. Private homes, public buildings and infrastructure were
systematically burned and destroyed. More than 400,000 people were forced to leave
their homes and flee to the hills, or were forcibly displaced by TNI and militia units to
areas outside East Timor, mostly in West Timor and other neighbouring islands in
Indonesia.
21. Owing to the escalation of the violence, the UNAMET mission was forced to
evacuate its staff from East Timor on 14 September. Some 1,400 East Timorese civilians
who had fled the terror in Dili and other locations and found refuge in the United Nations
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compound were also airlifted to safety in connection with the United Nations evacuation.
The violence and destruction continued unabated after the departure of the mission,
despite repeated calls on the Government to control the situation and respect its
obligation to ensure order and security.
22. On 12 September, the Government of Indonesia formally agreed to the presence of an
international intervention force in East Timor. This force, known as the International
Force, East Timor (INTERFET), began deploying on 20 September and is now engaged
in providing security, facilitating distribution of humanitarian aid and re-establishing law
and order in East Timor. On 25 October, the Security Council decided to establish a
United Nations Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET), with a broad
three-year mandate to support the Territory's transition to independence. Its mission is to
provide security and maintain law and order, establish an administration and help develop
civil and social services. It will also coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid and
support capacity-building for self-government.
A. Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
23. In her last report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1999/39/Add.1), the
Special Rapporteur noted that she had continued to receive reports of human rights
abuses in East Timor and other parts of Indonesia attributed to the police and the military.
The reports indicated that political protesters and members of ethnic minorities had been
deliberately targeted and subjected to ill-treatment in detention, which at times had led to
their death. The Special Rapporteur had sent urgent appeals and allegations to the
Government of Indonesia regarding cases in which demonstrators had been shot dead by
Indonesian security forces or been killed as a result of indiscriminate use of force by
Indonesian army units. The Special Rapporteur noted that investigations into such
incidents were rarely carried out and the perpetrators almost never held accountable for
their actions. In response to increasing reports of violence and human rights abuses
attributed to Indonesian government forces since the beginning of the year, the Special
Rapporteur had repeatedly sent urgent appeals to the Government urging the authorities
to protect the safety and integrity of the civilian population in East Timor and to ensure
that the police and military were conducting their operations in strict compliance with
international human rights and humanitarian law standards.
24. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the report of
her predecessor, Bacre Waly Ndiaye (E/CN.4/1995/61/Add.1), submitted following his
mission to East Timor from 3 to 13 July 1994, in which he concluded that members of the
security forces responsible for human rights violations enjoyed virtual impunity for their
actions. He noted a sense of terror among many Timorese he had the opportunity to meet
and reported on the contemptuous manner with which the authorities were dealing with
violations of human rights by the armed forces.
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25. Since the annexation of the Territory in 1975, there have been repeated allegations of
extrajudicial killings in East Timor. To the Special Rapporteur's knowledge, these
allegations have never been properly investigated by the Government of Indonesia. The
perpetrators have only exceptionally been brought to justice, and in the cases where they
have been punished, the sentences have been disproportionately mild for the crime
committed. In other cases, the perpetrators have been convicted for crimes of a less
serious nature than the original accusation. Local non-governmental organizations assert
that it was the long-standing virtual impunity enjoyed by the Indonesian army and police
which emboldened militias and government forces to carry out widespread killings in
such a brazen manner following the announcement of the results of the popular
consultation held on 30 August 1999.
26. It is reported that, following the announcement of an offer for autonomy or
independence by the Government of Indonesia in January 1999, pro-integration groups
launched a campaign of intimidation and violence directed against persons and
communities known for their pro-independence sympathies. Reportedly, on 6 April 1999,
at least 25 people who had been sheltered in the church in Liquica were killed by pro-
integration militias believed to belong to the Besi Merha Putih group. On 7 April, the
Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations issued a press release stating that
five people had been killed in Liquica, including a local police officer, following the
escalation of a heated exchange between pro-integrationists and pro-independence
supporters. It is further reported that on 17 April, pro-Government militias killed at least
13 people in Dili in a series of armed attacks on civilians.
27. Acts of violence and intimidation by pro-independence groups were also reported in
the same period. The Minister of Defence of Indonesia is reported to have stated that until
the signing of the ceasefire agreement on 21 April, pro-independence groups had
committed 30 violent acts, including 14 armed terrorist attacks, the burning of a village, 2
violent demonstrations, 6 armed attacks against pro-integration groups, 2 armed attacks
against the security apparatus, 3 murders and 2 acts of torture against members of pro-
integration groups.
28. The violence which had marked the months preceding the popular consultation on 30
August intensified after the ballot and became increasingly systematic and widespread,
particularly following the announcement of the results on 4 September. Killings are
mostly attributed to militia groups supported or assisted by TNI and the police. While
many of these acts appear to have been selective and targeted against specific individuals
or families, some atrocities were of a more indiscriminate nature and were apparently
aimed at terrorizing and intimidating entire villages or communities perceived as hostile
to the pro-integration cause. This campaign of terror and violence, as reported by several
witnesses, including UNAMET staff, appears to have been well planned and executed in
reprisal for the vote in favour of independence for East Timor. Pro-independence
Timorese, church leaders, teachers and CNRT activists were deliberately identified,
hunted down and extrajudicially killed. While most of the reported killings appear to
have been concentrated in the western and central parts of East Timor, particularly the
areas in and around Suai, Maliana and Liquica, recent reports emerging from other
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provinces suggest that few areas in East Timor were spared these atrocities.
29. While in East Timor, the Special Rapporteur heard testimonies describing the attack
on Bishop Belo's compound in Dili on 6 September, where more than 2,000 civilians had
reportedly taken refuge from the escalating violence in the city. Eyewitnesses told the
Special Rapporteur that around 9.30 a.m. Aitarak militia elements together with units of
the Indonesian Kostrad special forces surrounded the compound and ordered everyone
out. Shortly afterwards, militiamen entered the diocese building and opened fire on the
civilians. Witnesses told the Special Rapporteur that they had identified a number of
army and Kopassus military intelligence personnel among the assailants dressed in militia
uniform, and that TNI Kostrad officers appeared to have been in command of the
operation. Reportedly, some 100 militia and army personnel participated in the operation.
After the attack, which left an unknown number of persons dead, the bodies of the
victims were reportedly loaded onto army trucks parked outside the compound and
transported to an unknown location.
30. In Dili, the Special Rapporteur was also briefed by INTERFET and the United
Nations civilian police about the investigations into the killing of nine persons in
Lospalos on 25 September. It appears that on that date eight persons, including three
Catholic priests, two nuns and an Indonesian journalist, were travelling by car when they
were stopped by a group of militiamen belonging to the Team Alpha militia group. The
eight people in the car and a teenage boy who witnessed the incident were killed, and the
car dumped into a nearby river. Six former members of Team Alpha who are accused of
the nine murders are currently being held in the Force Detention Centre in Dili. The
Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to speak to the detainees in connection with her
visit to the Detention Centre. One of them told her that he had been trained, armed and
paid by Kopassus intelligence officers to carry out armed militia activities in the Lospalos
area. Another former militia member told the Special Rapporteur at the Force Detention
Centre that he had received money from his militia leader, in the presence of a TNI
officer, and been ordered to kill nine pro-independence sympathizers. The man is accused
of having killed one of these persons.
31. During her visit to Maliana on 5 November, the Special Rapporteur spoke to a
number of local residents who had witnessed killings and other grave abuses by pro-
integrationist militias after the ballot on 30 August. According to their accounts, in the
evening of 8 September a group of militias belonging to the Besi Merha Putih group and
TNI soldiers arrived in the village in two army trucks. (Witnesses said that weeks before
the assault, militia elements had been accommodated at the local TNI base, where they
allegedly had received military training.) The villagers said that from 50 to 100 people
were killed by the militiamen, reportedly dressed in ninja-like uniforms and armed with
machetes, who went from house to house searching for known independence supporters.
Many of the persons the Special Rapporteur spoke to said that they had gone to the local
police station to seek protection, but the police apparently had refused to intervene.
32. The Special Rapporteur was deeply distressed to hear the testimony of an 11-year-old
boy who had witnessed his father being hacked to death by militiamen with machetes. An
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unknown number of children were among the victims of the atrocities committed in East
Timor and many more have been left deeply traumatized from having witnessed acts of
unspeakable cruelty. These children now urgently need care and counselling to come to
terms with their sorrow and distress.
33. On 5 November, the Special Rapporteur visited the town of Suai, where a large but as
yet unconfirmed number of people are feared to have been extrajudicially killed in a
militia assault on the local church. It is reported that on 6 September, Maihidin militia
elements, backed by TNI soldiers and officers of the Indonesian mobile police, Brimob,
surrounded the church grounds and opened fire indiscriminately on the two churches
where a large number of local civilians had sought shelter. It is alleged that the bodies of
victims of the massacre were taken away on army trucks. Among the victims were Father
Hilario Modeira and at least two other priests. The Special Rapporteur visited the scene
of the alleged massacre and noted that while bloodstains could still be seen on floors and
walls, the grounds had been thoroughly cleaned of other material evidence. A pile of
spent cartridges apparently collected from the two churches lay in one of the burnt-down
houses. At the scene were also a number of human bones, confirmed by a forensic expert
as belonging to a man in his twenties. The origin of the remains is unclear, as the
INTERFET military police said that the bones had been brought to the scene after the
massacre had occurred. Investigations into the incident in Suai, and other cases of alleged
extrajudicial killings, are complicated by the fact that in most cases the bodies of the
victims have been taken away to an unknown location, and spent cartridges and other
traces of the incident have been removed from the scene.
34. On 25 November, the Indonesian Commission of Inquiry announced that it had found
three graves containing the bodies of 26 persons believed to have been killed in the
massacre in Suai. The graves were discovered on Oeluli beach, in the district of
Kobalima in West Timor, some 3 kilometres from the border with East Timor and about
20 kilometres from the town of Suai. Three of the bodies were identified as the three
priests killed in Suai. Among the bodies were reportedly the remains of at least three
children.
35. The Special Rapporteur heard testimonies from different parts of the country of
people who had seen dead bodies being transported in trucks. Two women gave
eyewitness testimony describing how women had been killed after having been raped by
Indonesian police and militia. Their bodies were reportedly taken away to an unknown
location in army vehicles. Other persons the Special Rapporteur spoke to claimed that
bodies had been dumped in a river, where rubber shoes and other items of clothing had
later been found floating. So far the bodies have not been recovered. A former militia
member in INTERFET custody whom the Special Rapporteur interviewed stated that he
had thrown the bodies of several victims of extrajudicial killings into the river after a
militia attack against independence supporters. Some civilians reported that TNI had used
boats and ships to transport and dump large numbers of dead bodies into the sea. Only
three bodies have so far been recovered from the shores of East Timor, and these reports
still remain to be investigated and confirmed.
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