IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 60

Condemning the violence in East Timor and urging the establishment of

an international war crimes tribunal for prosecuting crimes against humanity that occurred during that violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 12, 2001

Mr. EVANS (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. NORTON, Mr.

KUCINICH, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CAPUANO,

Mr. STARK, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. WOLF, Mr. KIRK, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

HOEFFEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. FRANK, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. LANTOS,

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, and Mr. WAXMAN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning the violence in East Timor and urging the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal for

prosecuting crimes against humanity that occurred during that violence.

Whereas the people of East Timor experienced an unprovoked

and violent attack in the aftermath of a peaceful referendum in which they cast an overwhelming vote for national independence;

Whereas in East Timor at least 1,000 people were killed,

thousands of people were injured, 500,000 people were

displaced, much of the infrastructure was destroyed, and
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scores of communities and villages were completely destroyed by roving bands of militias and paramilitary organizations;

Whereas some Indonesian military officers and personnel and

some Indonesian civilian police helped to train and arm

the militias and paramilitary organizations before setting

them loose to terrorize the people of East Timor and destroy their homes, businesses, and personal property;

Whereas the Indonesian ranking military officers and civilian

police officers not only failed to keep the peace in East

Timor after the referendum on national independence,

but in some cases actually incited violence and participated in widespread killing, rape, forced displacement,

mayhem, and wholesale property destruction;

Whereas numerous militia leaders who have been implicated

in various crimes against humanity in East Timor continue to operate with impunity in West Timor and

throughout Indonesia, and none have been formally

charged and brought to trial in Indonesia for the wave

of violence, murder, rape, and terror inflicted on the people of East Timor, particularly in preparation for, in the

conduct of, and in the aftermath of the 1999 referendum;

Whereas Indonesia is a party to the Universal Declaration on

Human Rights and other international human rights

agreements and is legally obligated to comply with those

agreements;

Whereas the continuing failure to investigate, indict, prosecute, and secure convictions and appropriate punishment

for those responsible for so much death, violence, and destruction among the people of East Timor continues to

fuel an environment of terror, fear, and crime in East
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and West Timor and along their common border, thus

trapping tens of thousands in squalid refugee camps and

preventing their safe return to their homes;

Whereas the Indonesian Government has failed to follow

through on its agreement to provide evidence and accused

criminals to the justice system of the United Nations

Transitional Administration in East Timor, creating circumstances whereby lower-level East Timorese militia

members are brought to justice in East Timor, while

East Timorese militia leaders and Indonesian military officers with command responsibility reside in Indonesia

without fear of prosecution;

Whereas the Indonesian Government has yet to take all necessary steps to create a court with authority to prosecute

past crimes under internationally-recognized human

rights and humanitarian law, and the authority of the

National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia to investigate such crimes is limited;

Whereas in August 2000, Indonesia’s upper house of parliament passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting

retroactivity in prosecutions;

Whereas repeated assurances to the international community

and to the Congress by the Indonesian Government of

impending action against the perpetrators of crimes

against humanity in East Timor have produced few noticeable or substantive results; and

Whereas gross violations of the human rights of the people

of East Timor and of United Nations personnel who

render basic humanitarian services in East and West

Timor, have gone unpunished since January 1, 1999, and
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the perpetrators of these violations have not been brought

to justice: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. VIOLENCE IN EAST TIMOR.

4 (a) DEPLORING VIOLENCE.—The Congress—

5 (1) deplores the widespread and systematic vio6 lence that—

7 (A) has occurred in East Timor and in the

8 refugee camps of West Timor since January 1,

9 1999; and

10 (B) has resulted in many murders and

11 rapes and the near-total destruction of numer12 ous villages on East Timor and of the infra13 structure of that troubled island;

14 (2) decries the continued existence of an envi15 ronment of intimidation, misinformation, instability,

16 terror, and fear in the refugee camps housing tens

17 of thousands of displaced people from East Timor,

18 many of whom wish to return to East Timor but are

19 too scared to repatriate freely and return safely to

20 their home communities;

21 (3) denounces the leaders of the militias and

22 paramilitary groups who are responsible for the vio23 lent attacks, pillaging, and mayhem that has caused

24 so much suffering and property destruction in East
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1 Timor, as well as their accomplices in Indonesia in2 side and outside of that sovereign country’s armed

3 forces; and

4 (4) continues to support the courageous efforts

5 of those in Indonesia working toward domestic pros6 ecutions of the individuals most responsible for the

7 violence following the 1999 referendum on national

8 independence, but recognizes that these efforts face

9 overwhelming obstacles.

10 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

11 the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State

12 should—

13 (1) endorse and support the establishment of an

14 international criminal tribunal for the purpose of

15 prosecuting culpable Indonesian military and police

16 officers and personnel, leaders of local militias and

17 paramilitary organizations, and other individuals

18 who are responsible for crimes—

19 (A) against humanity in East Timor, in20 cluding the unlawful use of force and system21 atic murder, rape, and terrorism; and

22 (B) against United Nations personnel de23 ployed in East Timor and in the refugee camps

24 of West Timor;
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1 (2) direct the pertinent agencies of the execu2 tive branch—

3 (A) to begin collecting and organizing such

4 information (including from intelligence

5 sources), and to provide such appropriate re6 sources, as will be necessary to assist in prepa7 ration of indictments and prosecution of such

8 crimes before an international criminal tribunal;

9 and

10 (B) to undertake any additional inquiries

11 and investigations that would further such ef12 forts; and

13 (3) work actively and urgently within the inter14 national community for the adoption of a United

15 Nations Security Council resolution establishing an

16 international criminal court for East Timor.

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