An International Tribunal for East Timor?

The La'o Hamutuk Bulletin Vol 2 No 6 & 7 October 2001 (Pt 1) By Jon Cina During the recent campaign for the election of the Constituent Assembly, there were renewed appeals for the United Nations to establish an international criminal tribunal to investigate and try perpetrators of crimes committed during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Such calls reflect acute and widespread disillusionment with efforts to date by UNTAET and Indonesia to bring the guilty to justice. As a result, momentum is building within various sectors of East Timorese civil society to ensure the establishment of such an institution.

Although these demands are not new, there has been little discussion of whether and how an international criminal court could actually advance the cause of justice in East Timor. This article therefore examines some of the arguments for and against such a tribunal. Full original text.