Dili, 9 July 2001
PROSECUTOR OUTLINES CHARGES
IN LOS PALOS MASSACRE TRIAL


A Prosecutor for the Special Panel for Serious Crimes today outlined charges against 11 defendants in East Timor’s first Crimes Against Humanity trial. The charges relate to 13 murders carried out in four different incidents, and the attack and burning of a number of villages and subsequent deportation of their inhabitants. All of these incidents took place in Lautem district, in the eastern part of East Timor, between April and September 1999. The most notorious incident at the trial took place on 25 September 1999, when a group of clergy, church workers, a journalist, and a youth were ambushed and killed near the village of Verokoko. The majority of the 10 defendants present at today’s hearing were members of the militia group Team Alpha. The eleventh suspect indicted in the case, Indonesian Syaful Anwar, was the second-in-command of the Indonesian Kopassus special forces in Lautem district and is still at large.

In outlining the charges this morning, Prosecutor Stuart Alford said, “ Each of these charges is a Crime Against Humanity. Each of these charges was an offence committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack upon the civilian population of East Timor. The offences for which these accused are responsible were committed in the knowledge that their actions were part of a widespread or systematic attack.” In closing, the Prosecutor asked, “Could anyone have participated in the actions of a militia group like Team Alpha without knowing that such a group was committed to a campaign of violence against the population? These men knew, at the time, that the crimes they were committing were part of a wider campaign, not just by Team Alpha, not just in Lautem district, but in East Timor as a whole.” After the Prosecutor had laid out the charges, the Defense asked that the trial be adjourned until tomorrow, 10 July, so they could discuss the charges with the suspects. Judge Marcelo Dolzany da Costa, who heads the three-Judge Special Panel, concurred and adjourned the proceedings. Preliminary hearings into the case started in mid-February and over 600 pages of statements by the accused and 78 witnesses have been translated since then. The trial began last week at the newly renovated Court of Appeals in Dili.

THOUSANDS TURN OUT AND WITNESS SIGNING OF UNITY PACT

An estimated 15,000 people yesterday gathered at a festive “Peace, Tolerance and Democracy Celebration” in Dili for a Civil Education event at which 14 political parties signed a Pact of National Unity. The ceremony led by Bishop of Dili Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo was attended by SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, Cabinet Member for Foreign Affairs José Ramos-Horta, Xanana Gusmão, political party leaders and members of the National Council. “For the past 24 years there have been tears and suffering and we no longer want it,” Bishop Belo told the crowd. “We have experienced a long war with extreme suffering, and now that it is over, we have to promise ourselves never to resort to violence again.” The Pact of National Unity binds the signatories to a set of principles relating to the upcoming electoral process, and includes calls for the support, respect and dissemination of the principle of non-violence; the unconditional acceptance of the 30 August 1999 popular consultation results; and the respect of the results of the upcoming elections for the Constituent Assembly. The Partai Republik Nacional Timor Leste (Parentil) and the Partido Nasionalista Timorense (PNT) had both been involved in negotiating the draft but declined to sign the final pact.

INDONESIAN TEAM ARRIVES TO
INVESTIGATE MANNING MURDER


Six policemen and two prosecutors from Indonesia arrived in East Timor today to investigate last year’s murder of New Zealand Peacekeeper Private Leonard Manning in Suai district. The delegation, led by Deputy Police Chief of West Timor Gores Mere, spent their first day in the capital Dili being briefed by SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, Cabinet Member for Justice Gita Welch, and General Prosecutor Mohamed Othman. Describing the purpose of the delegation’s trip to Suai district this Wednesday, Mere said, “We want to see the crime scene and get statements from some witnesses.” The delegation is scheduled to meet tomorrow morning with UNTAET’s Human Rights Division and UN Civilian Police officials to be updated on the investigations carried out to date.

Private Manning was murdered on 24 July 2000, while tracking a group of armed militia in Suai district. SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello sent a letter on 28 July 2000 to then-Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman seeking his office’s cooperation in the investigation and calling for the arrest and transference to East Timor of any suspects found on Indonesian territory. The SRSG attached a list of the ten suspects in the case, together with the warrants issued for their arrest. The SRSG’s formal request was made under Section 11 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Legal, Judicial and Human Rights Related Matters, signed with Indonesia in April 2000, that sought to improve the ability of East Timor and Indonesia to work together in these areas.