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East Timor human rights report to be launched in AustraliaDate: 8 November 2006 The groundbreaking 2500-page report of East Timor’s Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR), which documents the nation’s human rights abuses under Indonesian occupation, will be launched this month in capital cities around Australia. According to organiser Dr Mark Byrne, convenor of the Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor (ACTJET), the launches provide an opportunity for Australians to understand some of the underlying causes of the recent violence in East Timor. “The crisis in Dili this year is a reminder that without justice and reconciliation, the past will continue to haunt the people of a new post-conflict nation such as East Timor,” said Dr Byrne. “The reactions of the people of Dili this year were those of a people still suffering the effects of unresolved mass trauma. “With the justice system not yet strong enough to prevent the creation of a culture of impunity from prosecution, powerful ingredients remain for long-term instability,” Dr Byrne says. A nearly completed version of Chega! (“Enough!”), the final report of the Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR), was handed to President Xanana Gusmao late last year. But because of the violence this year, it has only been disseminated around East Timor in the last few months. According to Sr Susan Connelly, Assistant Director of Mary MacKillop East Timor, the Australian launches are also a timely opportunity to reflect on our role in the past and future of East Timor. “With the announcement today of a new security treaty with Indonesia, we are concerned that accountability for past human rights violations in East Timor will once again take a back seat to securing our relationship with Indonesia. Events in Dili this year have proven this would be a mistake.” Launch details over. Media enquiries, including requests for interviews with former CAVR Commissioners and senior staff, to Dr Mark Byrne, Senior Researcher, Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre, on (02) 9356 3888.
Speakers include former CAVR Chair Aniceto Guterres Lopes, Commissioner Isabel Guterres and Special Advisor Pat Walsh and representatives of the Timor-Leste Government. Australian respondents include John Dowd QC (Sydney), Bishop Hilton Deakin (Melbourne), Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja (Adelaide) and Peter Garrett MP (Canberra). Sydney Sunday 12 November Melbourne Tuesday 14 November Ballarat Wednesday 15 November Adelaide Thursday 16 November Canberra Tuesday 28 November ###
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