"East Timor is gaining its independence without gaining justice, and without seeing any hope that there ever will be justice. We have by now lost nearly all hope that there will be an international tribunal for the crimes against humanity committed in 1999. The UN Commission of Inquiry, in its report of January 31, 2000, recommended that an international tribunal be formed. The UN Security Council, however, has decided that the Indonesian government should be given the opportunity to put its own officials on trial. It is no secret that powerful governments on the Security Council, like the United States, are opposed to an international tribunal. Thus, the United Nations pretends as if Indonesia’s farcical ad hoc tribunals are serious efforts to reach justice. Now that we have little hope for an international tribunal covering only 1999, we have even less hope for one covering the entire 24 years of the occupation."

"East Timor was under Indonesian military occupation for 24 years. That occupation was a great wrong yet many powerful nation-states allowed it to continue. Some even helped Indonesia strengthen its grip over East Timor. Our closest neighbor, Australia, granted de jure recognition to Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor and was prepared to profit from our oil. An international tribunal is needed not just to prosecute certain Indonesian officials, but to set the historical record straight about the complicity of other nations in the crimes against humanity that took place here. Let us take the case of the most powerful nation-state in the world: The United States. The US government was consulted by President Suharto before launching the 1975 invasion. Suharto postponed the invasion until he obtained permission from President Ford and he launched the invasion within hours of receiving that permission."

"There are so many questions that need to be answered. Now that Richard Holbrooke is here in East Timor, perhaps he could explain to our new nation precisely why the United States financially, diplomatically, and militarily aided the Indonesian aggression and genocidal occupation. What geo-political interests of America did our suffering serve?"

"Will United States government ever admit that its policy was criminal?"

"Yayasan HAK believes national independence without justice for the heinous crimes committed upon our nation is a mutilated form of independence. That is why, on this day, we speak up once more to demand an international tribunal that would cover all crimes against humanity committed in East Timor, not just those in 1999."

"Some of our own leaders have dropped the demand for an international tribunal for fear of angering donor governments. Even our own leaders feed us nonsense about ‘forgetting the past and looking to the future."