23 September 2008

Serious Crimes and Amnesty in East Timor

ETLJ 23/09/2008 The second in the series of research reports on social problems in East Timor using the legislative drafting for democratic social transformation methodology has been published on East Timor Law Journal.

This research report analyses the problem of serious crimes and amnesty in East Timor. This issue continues to be contentious in East Timor.

On 20 May 2008, President Jose Ramos-Horta pardoned several East Timorese prisoners convicted of serious crimes committed in 1999. The Indonesian courts have acquitted or released all Indonesian citizens accused of serious crimes committed in East Timor during the 1999 autonomy referendum. The post-independence political leadership has abandoned the pursuit of justice for these crimes in favour of good relations with Indonesia. Civil society continues to demand an international criminal tribunal to prosecute all those accused of serious crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses. This demand is reflected in this report.

This research report identifies and describes some of the central issues arising from the issue of serious crimes and amnesty in East Timor.

The reports in the 3 languages can be read by following the links below which will open a word file on East Timor Law Journal.

Serious Crimes and Amnesty in Timor-Leste English

Kejahatan Berat dan Amnesti di Timor-Leste Indonesian

Crimes Graves e Amnestia em Timor-Leste Portuguese




East Timor Law Journal - Towards the rule of law in Timor-Leste!

Image: A serious crime: 25 May 2006 massacre of police officers (PNTL) by East Timor Defence Force (F-FDTL) personnel. To read an analysis of this massacre see 25th of May 2006 Massacre & War Crimes in Timor-Leste by Andrew Harrington.

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