PRESS RELEASE - OCTOBER 12, 2001
A wide range of international donors have pledged or already committed
resources to fund the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, whose
Selection Panel is currently searching for Commissioners to help foster the
reconciliation process in East Timor.
Representatives of missions and donor agencies from Japan, Australia, Portugal,
the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others, yesterday met with
members of the Commission’s Interim Office in Dili to discuss a funding
proposal put to donors last week.
A total of US $3.8 million is sought for the Commission for the duration of its
life, which is expected to be 2-3 years. Yesterday’s discussion focused
on a request for start up funds of US $1.4 million which will be used for the
Interim Office’s immediate priorities, which include salaries for
Commissioners, the repair and equipping of offices, the employment and training
of senior staff, and community education.
A Selection Panel for the Commission is in the process of consulting with
communities throughout East Timor on who should be nominated to sit on the
Commission. The panel is soliciting nominations for 5-7 national
commission posts and 25-30 district commission posts, and is scheduled to visit
each of East Timor’s 13 districts before the October 31 nomination deadline.
The Commission will ultimately undertake two primary functions. It will
establish a truth-seeking function inquiring into the pattern of human rights
violations committed within the context of the political conflicts in East Timor
between 1974-1999. The Commission will also create a community
reconciliation body to facilitate agreements between local communities and the
perpetrators of non-serious crimes and non-criminal acts committed over the same
period.
Copyright © 2001 Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor