JOSE RAMOS-HORTA PREVIEWS CTF REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L DILI 000183 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL TT SUBJECT: JOSE RAMOS-HORTA PREVIEWS CTF REPORT CLASSIFIED BY: Hans Klemm, Ambassador, EXEC, State. REASON: 1.4 (b) ¶1. (C) President Jose Ramos-Horta called the Ambassador into his office July 14 to preview his government's reaction to the Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF) report to be released on July 15. President Ramos Horta described the report as "quite good," while acknowledging that senior officers in the Indonesian military have not accepted personal responsibility for their actions in 1999. Nevertheless, the commission concluded that the Indonesian military as an institution bears overall responsibility for the breakdown of security in Timor-Leste in 1999 and the violence that followed. The report should also be welcomed as it will represent the first expression of remorse by the Indonesians, said President Ramos Horta. ¶2. (C) The President noted that Timor-Leste will accept collective responsibility for actions committed by East Timorese in 1999. The President stressed that there is no talk of financial compensation for Indonesia's actions. For Timor-Leste, the President said, the commission report represents the "end of the process for 1999." He summarized that the combination of the domestic CAVR Report released in 2006 that documented violence that occurred between 1974 and 1999, and the bi-national CTF report will enable Timor-Leste to "close the chapter" on the 1974-1999 period. ¶3. (C) President Ramos-Horta stated that he has no expectation that the report will lead to trials of senior officials in Indonesia. For him personally he sees that the injustice that occurred during the Indonesian occupation was resolved in 1999 with the departure of Indonesia. The President said it is now important to honor the victims of that era by building a free, democratic and prosperous Timor-Leste. Hopes for anything more would be unrealistic. ¶4. (C) The President told the Ambassador that he will insist that the report be made publicly available right away. The report will include follow-up recommendations and he expects a bilateral task force to be established. The President said he hopes the U.S. will receive the report with understanding, and that the U.S. will praise it for the progress it makes toward accountability and reconciliation. In more practical terms, the President said he now seeks quick progress on normalizing the movement of people and goods across Timor's borders with Indonesia. In particular, he hopes for the early establishment of document-free passage between the enclave of Oecusse and the Timorese mainland. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador, while noting that the U.S. has not seen or read the CTF report outlined our likely reaction based on the Department's contingency guidance. Noting that we are the very first to see it, the President provided the Ambassador a copy of the speech he will deliver in Denpasar on July 15 when the report is delivered to him and the Indonesian president. We will send a copy to EAP/MTS and Embassy Jakarta by email. KLEMM