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Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor from 1975 until 2002. During that time, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces and pro-autonomy militia groups perpetrated a number of attacks against the civilian population, particularly against those believed to be independence supporters.

In September 1999, the Accused, Manuel Goncalves Leto Bere, was a member of the Dadurus Merah Putih pro-autonomy militia group. Whilst in West Timor, he was ordered by the militia chief to arrest Joao Gonsalves, a known independence supporter. Gonsalves was arrested and then driven to a river by the Accused and other individuals, including members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) who often worked with the militia groups, to a river. Once there, the Accused stabbed Goncalves in the chest with his samurai sword immediately killing him. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. 

Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor from 1975 until 2002 during which time members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and a number of pro-autonomy militia groups perpetrated widespread crimes against the civilian population of East Timor, particularly those suspected of being independence supporters.

In September 1999, the Accused, Carlos Soares, was a member of the Darah Integrasi militia group. During an attack on a village in which the militia, alongside the TNI, burnt down civilian homes and killed the villagers who refused to run away, the Accused shot an elderly man through the neck, killing him. The Accused was convicted of murder as a domestic offence and sentenced to 15 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.

Indonesia illegally occupied East Timor from 1975 until 2002. In the course of this occupation, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) collaborated with local militia groups for the purposes of identifying, questioning and attacking alleged or known independence supporters.

In 1999, the Accused, Francisco dos Santos Laku, was a member of the TNI. He travelled in a convoy of cars to a militia checkpoint, with an individual in custody. The individual was then handed over to the militia members who were to question and then to kill him, on Laku’s orders.

The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted the Accused of murder, contrary to the criminal law applicable at the time. He was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment. Interestingly, although the Panel made findings as to the widespread and systematic nature of the crimes perpetrated by the militia, neither the indictment nor the final judgement charged the Accused with murder as a crime against humanity, a more serious offence.

In the first appeals judgment from a case before the Special Panels for Serious Crimes, the Court of Appeal of East Timor was seized by Joao Fernandez, a member of the Dadurus Merah militia group, which operated in East Timor during Indonesia’s occupation of the latter. Fernandez had been convicted by the Special Panels and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for murder after he pleaded guilty to stabbing a village chief twice in the back with his samurai sword until the chief died.

On appeal, he argued that the fact that he was acting on the orders of the militia chief and the Indonesian Armed Forces should have secured his acquittal before the Special Panels. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal finding that, on the basis of the proven facts, Fernandez did intentionally and with premeditation murder the village chief. The Indonesian Penal Code does not provide that superior orders may exclude criminal responsibility, unless those orders were given by a competent authority. Neither the militia chief nor the Indonesian Armed Forces had the legal competence to order the killing of individuals, nor was Fernandez under a legal obligation to follow those orders. The Court of Appeal also upheld his sentence. 

During Indonesia’s illegal occupation of East Timor from 1975 until 2002, a number of crimes were perpetrated against independence supporters by members of the Indonesian Armed forces and pro-autonomy militia groups.

The Accused, Mateus Tilman, was a member of the Ablai militia group. In September 1999, acting on the orders of the militia leader and joined by other individuals, the Accused proceeded to the home of a suspected independence supporter and that of his daughters. The homes were set alight using a petrol can, supplied by the Accused. As the residents started to flee, the unfortunate ones were attacked by the group with machetes and arrows, including a 12-year-old boy. Others escaped with burns.

The Special Panels for Serious Crimes convicted the Accused of attempted murder and sentenced him to 4 years’ imprisonment. His defence of duress was not accepted as the Panel found that he could have refused to join the militia or escaped thereafter.