Victims of occupation and 1999 violence still waiting for justice
In recent days there has been some sembelance of justice for the five journalists slain at Balibo in 1975 with a coroner’s inquest finding that they were not killed in a crossfire but deliberately targeted by the Indonesian army in an effort to cover up evidence of violations in East Timorese territory. However there is no such justice for victims of the Indonesian army’s occupation of east Timor and the widespread bloodshed surrounding the 1999 independence referendum which has gone largely unpunished. In an effort to appease the International community, The Commision of Truth and Friendship was set up by the Indonesian and East Timorese government. However the commission has been labelled a whitewash three dozen non government organizations who have called on both governments to scrap the futile initiative.