August 2000 - July 2005

Mandate: Established by the Conselho Nacional da Resistencia Timorense (CNRT) government as an independent statutory authority that will inquire into human rights violations committed on all sides, between April 1974 and October 1999, and facilitate community reconciliation with justice for those who committed less serious offences. The Commission will not give amnesty. It is required to issue a final report including recommendations for prosecutions to the Office of the President, the Parliament and the UN.

Three functions, (1) Truth Seeking, (2) Community Reconciliation, and (3) Recommendations.

Staff: 7 Commissioners as well as 29 Regional Commissioners and additional support staff.

Structure: Also held public hearings on various issues such as forced displacement, massacres & executions.

Result: 8 national hearings, 7760 victim statements and 1048 research interviews.

Funding: At March 2005,  have raised $1 Million with contributions from USAID, Norway, EC, Ireland, and Canada. 

Chega! Final Report of the Commission for Reception , Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (October 2005)
[Click here for the report]

The report was handed to President Xanana Gusmao in October 2005, and was released to Parliament and the Prime Minister on November 28, 2005 . A broad campaign was launched by human rights groups to have the report released to the general public, which eventually happened in January 2006.

The report claimed that at around 102 800 Timorese deaths can be directly attributable to the Indonesian occupation, including both those who were killed and those who died from starvation or illness. The crimes were part of a systematic campaign instituted by those at the highest levels of government, including General Wiranto, Minister of Defence and Chief of the Armed Forces. A warrant for General Wiranto's arrest was issued by the Serious Crimes Unit in 2004, but he is still at large due to the Indonesian authorities refusal to co-operate.

The Report made various recommendations including a reparations programme to be set up by government, the availability of exhumations of those killed during the conflict, memorialisation, and an inquiry into the fate of the disappeared.

In a letter of the 14 March 2007, the UK Government expressed its concern that the National Parliament of Timor-Leste had yet to consider the report formally or put any mechanisms in place to ensure the implementation of the report's recommendations.

However the Prime Minister, José Ramos-Horta, has undertaken, on behalf of the government and parliament, to act on the recommendations wherever possible.