July 27, 2007 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
today praised the UN for publicly announcing its refusal to cooperate
with the joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF).

“The UN is right not to cooperate with the CTF,” said John M. Miller,
National Coordinator of ETAN. "The CTF not only violates
international human rights standards, we believe it can only offer a
watered-down ’truth’ about the horrific actions of the Indonesian military.“”We urge the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste to end this
farce and to work for genuine justice and accountability for crimes
committed in Timor during the Indonesian invasion and occupation,“Miller added,”Now that the UN has once again reiterated the serious nature of
crimes committed in Timor-Leste, the Secretary-General should
actively work with member states to establish an international tribunal,“In a statement yesterday [1], the UN said it”cannot endorse or condone
amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or gross
violations of human rights, nor should it do anything that might
foster them." The UN has refused to allow former officials to testify
before the commission for some time.

In May, a global coalition of three dozen human rights organizations
led by groups from Indonesia and Timor-Leste sent
 [2] an open letter to the
presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste urging them to close the CTF.
The groups wrote "It is obvious from its mandate and its performance
that the CTF is not a credible mechanism to seek justice or even
truth regarding events in Timor-Leste in 1999, let alone from 1975 to 1999."

The CTF began in 2005 as an effort to deflect a
UN commission report [3]
that called for Indonesia to be given six months to prosecute those
within its jurisdiction accused of serious human rights crimes during
the UN-organized 1999 independence referendum in Timor-Leste.

See the NGO letter at http://www.etan.org/news/2007/05ctfrel.htm (Onr ESSF: Human Rights Groups Call for End to Farcical Commission).

Contact: John M. Miller, +1/718-596-7668, 917-690-4391; etan igc.org

http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

John M. Miller Internet: fbp igc.org

National Coordinator

East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)

PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA

Phone: (718)596-7668

Fax: (718)222-4097

Mobile phone: (917)690-439

Skype: john.m.miller

Web site: http://www.etan.org