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Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor from 1975 until 2002. During this period, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and local militia groups perpetrated a number of attacks against the civilian population, particularly against those suspected of being independence supporters. In 1999, the crimes increased particularly in the wake of the referendum in which the majority of the Timorese people voted in favour of independence.

It was within this general climate of fear that the Accused, Francisco Soaeres, a member of the TNI, raped a woman on a beach. He had previously taken her away from the army base where she was being detained on the pretext of moving her to another town, but had instead taken her to the beach. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted Soaeres of rape and sentenced him to 4 years’ imprisonment. The case was the first conviction for rape by the Special Panels. 

Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor from 1975 until 2002. During this period, the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and numerous militia groups perpetrated a number of abuses against the civilian population of East Timor, particularly those believed to be independence supporters.

The Accused, Gaspard Leki, was a TNI member. In September 1999, Leki was under orders to attack a Timorese village, to burn down the houses and to shoot the civilians. In the course of carrying out these orders, he and five militia members under his command came across a group of persons hiding out in a nearby cave. These persons were forced by Leki to abandon the cave and follow him to another village. During this movement, Leki fired a shot at a target some 200 metres away, believing it to be a pig. In fact, the target was a human being who died as a result of the shot. The Special Panels for Serious Crimes considered that the mistake made by Leki as to the identity of the target he was shooting at acquits him of murder as he did not possess the necessary intention to kill another individual, as required by the applicable law. However, he was convicted for negligence as the Panel considered that Leki should have exercised greater caution in shooting. He was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment. 

During Indonesia’s illegal occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002, the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and various pro-autonomy militia groups perpetrated a widespread campaign against the civilian population in East Timor in order to repress pro-independence supporters.

The present case was the first before an international or hybrid international/domestic tribunal like the Special Panels for Serious Crimes to indict a minor for their involvement in the perpetration of international crimes. The Accused, X, was 14 years old in 1999 when, as a member of the Sakunar militia group, he killed by machete three young men who had been apprehended by the militia as part of a larger group. The Prosecution had initially charged the Accused with extermination as a crime against humanity, but later amended to murder in violation of the Indonesian Penal Code. The Accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment. Having already served 11 months 21 days in ore-trial detention, the Court ordered the remainder of the sentence to be suspended on the condition that the Accused does not commit any crimes for a period of one year. At sentencing, the youth of the Accused was a decisive mitigating factor as the Panel considered that he was used merely as a tool by those truly responsible.

The Indonesian occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002 gave rise to a number of attacks on the Timorese civilian population, particularly against those suspected of being independence supporters.

The Accused, Joao Franca da Silva, was the Commander of the Kaer Metin Merah Putih militia (KMP) in Lolotoe. In May 1999, he participated in a number of attacks directed at independence supporters including the detention of numerous individuals at the KORAMIL military centre who were kept in small rooms without proper sanitation, and many of whom were beaten and interrogated about their connections. He also ordered the beating of a number of independence supporters, and in one vicious incident, he forced the victim to eat his own ear.

The Lolotoe case was one of the major trials before the Special Panels for Serious Crimes. Da Silva was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to four counts of imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty as a crime against humanity and one count of torture as a crime against humanity. The remaining charges against him (persecution, other inhumane acts) were withdrawn by the Prosecutor. 

The Indonesian occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002 gave rise to a number of attacks on the Timorese civilian population, particularly against those suspected of being independence supporters.

The Accused, Jose Cardoso, was the Deputy Commander and subsequently the Commander of the pro-autonomy militia group Kaer Metin Merah Putih (KMMP). From May until September 1999, he issued a number of orders to attack both known and suspected independence supporters. These individuals were arrested, beaten and detained for months in cramped and extremely unhygienic conditions without regular access to food or water. One victim had his eat cut off and force fed to him on orders of the Accused. Two women were raped by the Accused. Two other individuals were murdered as a result of the Accused’s orders.

Cardoso was convicted for 9 counts of crimes against humanity by the Special Panels for Serious Crimes and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.