Indonesia Human Rights Committee,
Box 68-419,
Auckland 1125
Rt Hon Murray McCully,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
15 July, 2009
Dear Murray McCully,
Shortly the International Film Festival will screen the movie ‘Balibo’ which tells the story of the killing in 1975 of five young journalists in what was then Portuguese East Timor. One of the young men was a New Zealander, Gary Cunningham. It is interesting that the families of the victims as well as academics and activists who have followed this story closely all agree that the film is a very accurate and sensitive portrayal of the events. The movie is sure to raise further discussion about the ongoing call for those responsible for this war crime to be brought to account.
At the end of 2007 Dorelle Pinch, New South Wales Coroner, concluded her inquest into the death of journalist Brian Peters. In the course of this Sydney hearing all the evidence from earlier enquiries was reviewed and weighed against the sworn evidence of Timorese eye-witnesses including crucial evidence from some who fought on the pro-Indonesian side. Ms Pinch also heard evidence from the top echelons of the Australian foreign affairs and intelligence bureaucracies, and from Prime Minister of the day Gough Whitlam. She viewed confidential government records including Signals Intelligence.
The Coroner’s findings included a clear determination about the deaths of all five ‘Balibo’ journalists on October 16 1975, including Gary Cunningham. Coroner Pinch concluded that the men were killed deliberately, despite making it clear that they were non-combatants- calling out ‘Australian, Australian’ and raising their arms in a gesture of surrender. They were killed by ‘members of the Indonesian Special Forces, including Christoforus da Silva and Captain Yunus Yosfiah on the orders of Captain Yosfiah…’ The Coroner also said that there is strong circumstantial evidence that links the killings to the highest levels of the Indonesian command.
As you will be aware the Coroner’s finding was referred to the Australian Attorney General to consider a war crimes prosecution under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Although this was over twenty months ago I understand that there has been no decision made about the next step. Under international law, there is no statute of limitations for prosecution of war crimes, but we believe it is important that the Coroner’s clear recommendations must now be acted on. In correspondence with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the previous Government we were advised that New Zealand does endorse the need for justice to be done. We were told that the Government was taking note of the responses made by Australia and the United Kingdom to the Coroner’s report. We are also aware that the New Zealand Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials have kept contact with the family of Gary Cunningham and that this is appreciated by the family.
We maintain that New Zealand owes a particular moral debt to the family of Gary Cunningham and to the people of Timor Leste because our diplomats and politicians of the time shamefully chose to sweep the matter under the carpet. It is widely accepted that western silence after the deaths of the journalists was interpreted by Indonesia as a green light for overt military intervention. The terrible price of this inaction was paid for by the people of Timor Leste. The UN backed Timor Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in its comprehensive recommendations makes a clear call for all the Governments involved, including New Zealand to resolve the Balibo five case.
We therefore urge that New Zealand now consider taking independent steps to bring about an international prosecution under the terms of the Geneva Convention to which New Zealand is a signatory. We would be grateful to have your response to this recommendation.
Yours sincerely,
Maire Leadbeater
(for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee)
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pmand is filed under News, Timor Leste. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
August 7th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
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