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From 1975 until 2002, Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor. Throughout this period, a number of pro-independence groups formed in order to fight for Timorese independence and combat the abuses perpetrated by members of the Indonesian armed forces and the pro-autonomy militia groups with whom they allied themselves.

One such pro-independence group was the Forcas Armadas de Libertacao Nacional de Timor Leste (FALINTIL). In September 1999, three members of the group, imcluding Carlos Soares, were travelling under orders to a village when they were joined by a fourth individual. Seemingly randomly and without reason, Soares stabbed the fourth member of the group through the back using his spear. The victim died. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted Soares of premeditated murder contrary to the Indonesian Penal Code. His sentence was reduced to 4 year 6 months’ impirosnment, however, on account of his diminished mental capacity at the time of the act. The Court took into consideration his sense of grief, loneliness and sadness as a result of the deaths of 6 of his relatives one or two days prior to the murder. 

East Timor was occupied by Indonesia from 1975 until it achieved independence in 2002. Throughout this time, the Indonesian Armed Force (TNI) and numerous militia groups perpetrated a nationwide campaign to terrorise the civilian population, particularly independence supporters.

Soares was a village-level commander in the TNI, in command of Timorese members of the TNI. In April 1999, he and other TNI members encountered a group of anti-resistance supporters. The three that did not manage to escape were taken away on the orders of Soares and repeatedly beaten with iron bars, machetes and knives and burned with hot belt buckles. One victim died, a second succeeded in escaping, and a third was released following the intervention of a family member. Soares was convicted of the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and persecution and sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment. His was the first trial of a TNI member by the Special Panels for Serious Crimes. 

Indonesia’s illegal occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002 was characterised by the perpetration of a number of attacks against the civilian population, particularly those suspected of being pro-independence supporters.

One such attack occurred on the village of Lourbs in September 1999 when members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and various militias burnt down homes, and wounded and killed a number of persons. In the course of this attack, a young girl was abducted by TNI soldiers and stabbed through the back; her mother was shot through leg as she attempted to save her. The Prosecution alleged that the Accused, Paulino de Jesus, was responsible for the murder of the little girl and indirectly for the wounding of her mother although he is not alleged to have fired the shot.

The Special Panels for Serious Crimes acquitted De Jesus on the grounds that the witness evidence did not establish with sufficient certainty either that he was present in the village at the time of the attack, or that he was the author of the charged crimes. 

In the morning of 27 August 1999, pro-independence members attacked pro-autonomy militia members at a market in Home, East Timor. In retaliation for the attack, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and local militia groups attacked the home of Verissimo Dias Quintas, the local figurehead for the pro-independence group Conselho Nacional da Resistencia Timorense (CNRT). Inacio Olivera, Gilberto Fernandes and Jose Da Costa (the Accused) were present at the attack and contributed to the destruction of the building by shooting rifles, directing the action and bringing in weapons.

Although the Prosecution had charged the Accused with crimes against humanity, the Special Panels for Serious Crimes found that the conduct of the Accused could not be qualified as such. Importantly, there was no link between the attack on the CNRT compound and a widespread or systametic attack against the Timorese population, which is a requisite for crimes against humanity. Instead, the Court requalified the offense as the domestic offense of violence against persons or property, contrary to the Indonesian Penal Code. They were acquitted of the crime of murder as the Court found that they did not contribute to the murder in any way. The Accused were sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment each.

During Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor from 1975 until East Timorese independence in 2002, the Indonesian Armed Forces along with a number of militia groups promoted Indonesian autonomy through violent means.

The Accused was forced to join the Laksaur militia group in 1999 and, in the course of his membership, perpetrated a number of crimes against supporters of East Timorese independence. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted and sentenced the Accused to 9 years’ imprisonment for the stabbing to death by machete of three victims, the beating of numerous villagers, and the enforced disappearance of another victim who was wounded, taken out to a forest and left there. At sentencing, the Court took into consideration the frailty and sickness of the Accused who was by now 55 years old, his expression of regret at the crimes, and his having pleaded guilty. It also took into consideration the brutality of the crimes and the Accused’s apparent lack of humanity when committing them.