People like Jelia, Antonio, Floriana and Jose need justice © Progressio/ Marcus Perkins

The people of East Timor are struggling to rebuild their nation after a 25 year occupation by Indonesia and need your help.  The occupation left a lasting legacy: violence is still common and criminals often go unpunished. The people of Timor need lasting peace and reconcillliation if they are to escape from widespread poverty.
 
You can help by writing to your MP calling on the British government to fund a justice institute that will enable individuals and communities in East Timor to finally obtain reparation for the past.
 
Only once there is justice will East Timor be able to into a prosperous and peaceful future. 

Background

Nine days after declaring independence from Portugal in 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. It was the start of a bloody, repressive and violent occupation that would last for the next 25 years.

Throughout this time the UK profited from a lucrative arms trade with Indonesia. Today East Timor is still struggling to overcome the legacy of its violent past. It's time for the UK to help the forgotten people of East Timor.

Too many years of hurt

For a quarter of a century, the Indonesian military forcibly displaced thousands of East Timorese from their homes. They were banned from leaving resettlement camps, despite a lack of food or adequate hygiene facilities. All human and civil rights were suspended.

During this time, the world community, including the UK, turned a blind eye to the atrocities occurring in East Timor. The UK also sold arms to Indonesia. Between 1997 and 1999 alone those sales are estimated to be worth £287.75 million pounds.

Now Progressio is supporting leading East Timorese politician, Fernanda Borges*, in calling on the British government to make some kind of redress. She is calling on the UK government to help the East Timorese authorities take concrete steps to create justice in this poverty-stricken nation.

And we'd like you to help her by writing to your MP calling on the British government to redress the past. How can it do that? By funding a centre for justice that will enable individuals and communities in East Timor to finally obtain reparation for the past.

Why is justice important?

Creating an effective justice system in East Timor matters for people like Gloria Felisidio Acasio, a head teacher in a school in the capital, Dili.

Like hundreds of thousands of other East Timorese people, Gloria's life was scarred by the occupation. Her husband Acasio da Costa Carvalho was shot and injured during a violent incident with a militia gang. Her son, Heré, then aged only five, was shot and injured while playing inside the family home. He lay in hospital in a coma for a day before regaining consciousness.

Then last year, a motorbike rider killed Gloria's husband in what she believes was a targeted attack. Gloria claims that the whole neighbourhood knows who murdered her husband. Yet no-one has been brought to trial.

Gloria, who is now raising her five children alone, wants justice. 'The man who killed my husband has not been taken into custody,' she says.

Her plight highlights the wider need for justice, not just for Gloria, but for all of East Timor's people.

Without justice there is no hope

'Justice is important for the future of East Timor because it can be considered as a principle, a base to regulate the people to live according to rules,' says Gloria. 'If we don't have justice then people will do whatever they want, there are no rules.'

A British Government-funded centre for justice in East Timor could help support Gloria. It could help heal the past and enable her to face the future.

Take Action Now: Please help Gloria and thousands like her, by writing to your MP asking them to bring peace, justice and development to East Timor.

* Fernanda Borges MP previously worked as East Timor's Minister of Finance during the country's UN transitional administration. Currently, as Chairperson of the Timorese parliament's 'Committee A', which works on human rights and justice issues, Fernanda Borges has been instrumental in leading the implementation of recommendations set out in a pivotal independent report into human rights atrocities committed between 1975 and 1999.