CAT/C/TLS/CO/1
(h)
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families, on 30 January 2004;
(i)
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict, on 2 August 2004.
5.
The Committee also welcomes the following legislative measures taken by the State
party in areas of relevance to the Convention:
(a)
The adoption, on 26 May 2004, of Law No. 7 of 2004, providing for the
establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice;
(b)
(c)
violence.
The adoption, on 6 May 2009, of Law No. 2 of 2009 on witness protection;
The adoption, on 3 May 2010, of Law No. 7 of 2010 against domestic
6.
The Committee commends the State party’s initiatives to amend its policies and
procedures in order to afford greater protection of human rights and to apply the
Convention, in particular:
(a)
The adoption of the second National Action Plan on Gender-based Violence
(2017–2021);
(b)
The adoption of the national action plan for children’s rights (2016–2020),
which calls for the issue of corporal punishment to be addressed;
(c)
The establishment by the Ministry of Justice of a prison support service
network, a platform for information-sharing on prison monitoring that comprises
representatives of different ministries, the national human rights institution and civil society
organizations.
7.
The Committee welcomes the publication in 2005 of the final report of the
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, giving the results of its investigations
into the human rights violations suffered by the Timorese people during the period between
April 1974 and October 1999.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Gross human rights violations, including torture committed during the Indonesian
occupation and post-referendum period (1975–1999)
8.
While welcoming the creation in July 2017 of the memorial institution Chega!
National Centre, the Committee remains seriously concerned about the State party’s
continued failure to implement a number of key recommendations from the Commission
for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation and the Commission of Truth and Friendship
established by Indonesia and Timor-Leste. In this regard, it is concerned about the absence
of any concerted efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the killing or disappearance
of an estimated 18,600 people and the more than 11,000 allegations of torture and over
1,000 allegations of sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery, documented by the
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. Moreover, the Committee considers
that the State party’s decision in 2014 to expel judges, prosecutors and other foreign
judicial actors who were fulfilling line functions in the judicial system impedes the
effective investigation, prosecution and punishment of crimes against humanity and other
past gross human rights violations, hampers victims’ efforts to obtain redress and raises
concerns about judicial independence in the country. The Committee regrets that the State
party did not provide information on the status of the 396 completed investigation files
reportedly handed over by the Serious Crimes Investigation Team to the Prosecutor General
of Timor-Leste in June 2013. The Committee also regrets that Parliament has not adopted
legislation on reparations for past human rights violations (arts. 2 and 12–14).
9.
The Committee notes that the State party’s delegation expressed the view that
it was in the State party’s national interest to maintain good relations with Indonesia
and that the national approach to addressing past violations reflected that concern.
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