INDONESIA: Activists want Timor commission disbanded

Issue 

At an August 28 press conference in Jakarta, activists expressed disappointment over a recent decision by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor to extend the mission of the Truth and Friendship Commission (KKP). They also called for the KKP to be disbanded because its mandate is unclear. The press conference was attended by representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Human Rights Working Group, the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy, the Indonesian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association. Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said that as well as tarnishing Indonesia's commitment to upholding human rights, the decision goes against the spirit and substance of the UN secretary general's report to the UN Security Council, because it stipulates that amnesty will be guaranteed to those who admit their guilt, in contradiction of the basic principles of international law. He added that after one year of work the KKP has yet to explain who has been questioned or say who perpetrated the gross human rights violations in East Timor following the 1999 referendum, indicating "a lack of accountability and transparency within the KKP".


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