TIMOR-LESTE: LEADERS RECEIVE REPORT OUTLINING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001351

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, EUR/WE, DRL/AWH
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ID TT
SUBJECT: TIMOR-LESTE: LEADERS RECEIVE REPORT OUTLINING
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

REF: A. DILI 183

B. JAKARTA 1328 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d).


1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Surabaya.


2. (C) SUMMARY: In a ceremony in Bali on July 15, President
Yudhoyono and President Ramos-Horta formally received copies
of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) report. The
official report has not been publicly released as of yet,
although contacts have already briefed Mission on its key
conclusions. In brief remarks at the event, both leaders
welcomed the report. They also signed a joint statement in
which they expressed "remorse" to victims. The Indonesian
media is just beginning to report on the CTF's conclusions,
which are highly critical of GOI security forces. As
expected, former militia leaders now based in Indonesia have
denounced the report. The presentation of the document wraps
up almost three years of work by the joint commission. END
SUMMARY.

HANDING OVER REPORT


3. (SBU) Indonesian President Yudhoyono and East Timor
President Ramos-Horta formally received copies of Commission
of Truth and Friendship (CTF) report on July 15. The
ceremony took place at a heavily guarded luxury hotel in Nusa
Dua, Bali. The official report has not been publicly
released as of yet. The Indonesian Department of Foreign
Affairs (DEPLU) will hold a press conference reviewing the
report for diplomats on July 16 in Jakarta. (Note: Mission
is trying to obtain a copy of the final report. We have
already been briefed on parts of it, including its main
conclusions. See ref B. Once Mission receives a copy of the
final report, we will do an analysis of it via septel.)

JOINT STATEMENT


4. (SBU) Events in Bali were closed to our Pol FSN, who was
at the site. Based on what she picked up, the two leaders
welcomed the report in their comments at the ceremony,
expressing the hope that both countries could now focus on
reconciliation and not the past. In a joint statement, which
they signed, the two leaders noted that they accepted the
findings of the report to the effect that gross violations of
human rights had occurred prior to and immediately after the
referendum in 1999. The two leaders--on behalf of their
governments--also expressed "remorse to all those who
suffered immeasurable pain and physical and psychological
wounds" during the period in question. (Note: Press reports
state that President Yudhoyono used the term "regret" in
discussing what had transpired.) They pledged to implement
the Commission's recommendations (such as human rights
training for military forces) and take other steps to
"promote friendship and reconciliation. (Note: Mission is
e-mailing the text of the joint statement to Embassy Dili and
EAP/MTS.) The foreign ministers of the two countries then
held a press conference.

EX-MILITIA RAGE


5. (SBU) As expected, former militia leaders now based in
Indonesia have denounced the report. In representative
comments, Eurico Guterres, a well-known ex-militia leader (a
controversial figure with a poor human rights record),called
the report "unfair and unbalanced." He asserted that the
report had failed to take fully into account violence by
pro-independence militants. Guterres was speaking from
Kupang in West Timor (eastern Indonesia).

MEDIA COVERAGE


6. (U) Based on leaks and other public information, the

JAKARTA 00001351 002 OF 002


Indonesian media is carrying straightforward wire-service
reports about the report and its conclusions, including the
assessment that Indonesian security forces committed gross
violations of human rights in East Timor. Some op-ed pieces
have come out in praise of the report. We expect that news
of the Bali event will, no doubt, increase the coverage.

A LONG HARD ROAD


7. (C) The presentation of the report wraps up years of work
by the joint commission, which was formed in 2005. The
commissioners, divided equally between Indonesians and East
Timorese, interviewed dozens of experts, witnesses and
participants in the events in East Timor and sifted through
piles of documents. The GOI has been supportive of the
report, which is a positive. So far, not much has been
heard from Indonesia's clique of retired military officers,
with nationalist views who are influential and are bound to
be critical of the report and its conclusions.


8. (U) Please see ref B points containing suggested USG
press guidance.

HUME