Written question asked by Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 17 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 July 2006. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Monday, 24 July 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

East Timor

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 863W, on East Timor, what assessment she has made of the role of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR); if she will encourage the Security Council to take CAVR’s findings into consideration; what assessment she has made of the competence of the Joint Indonesian and Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship to investigate acts of violence in Timor-Leste (a) in 1999 and (b) before 1999; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: We recognise the important work done by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation to promote reconciliation in East Timor, both through its Community Reconciliation Process—whereby those responsible for less serious crimes made amends for their actions outside the formal judicial system, supporting grassroots reconciliation—and through its attempts to determine the truth about human rights violations from 1974-1999. It is for the UN Secretary-General to decide whether to disseminate the Commission’s report within the UN, including in the Security Council. The Commission for Truth and Friendship was set up by the Governments of East Timor and Indonesia specifically to look at the events surrounding the 1999 referendum. It commenced work in August 2005, for a period of one year and an extension has recently been announced until at least May next year. The central element to the Commission’s work is truth and reconciliation rather than seeking to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to court.The members of the Commission are all well-respected in the field of human rights law and are widely considered to be competent for the work of the Commission.

Secondary information