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The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS)

Comité International du Bouclier Bleu (CIBB)

East Timor

Statement on the records looted in East Timor

The ICBS is deeply concerned with the recent events in East Timor.

On Tuesday, May 30, 2006 looters entered the Attorney General's office, stealing computers containing important evidence of the crimes committed in 1999 by militias during the independence struggle. Some of the office's records compiled for prosecuting these serious crimes were stolen, while others were strewn about the office, according to a press interview with the Attorney General.

On Monday night, June 5, looters entered the office compound of the former Truth Commission and motorbikes and other equipment were stolen. The records of the Truth Commission, including the 8,000 submissions on human rights violations, are stored on the same site, and were not harmed in the June 5 raid. These records tell an in-depth story of Timor-Leste from 1974 to 1999 and document human rights violations, forced displacements, famine, etc and contain much private and sensitive material.

No one has information about the fate of the National Archives, which is also located in the centre of Dili where the rioting continues. These records provide the most important evidence of the history of Timor and are an irreplaceable documentary heritage for the new nation.

Given the situation in Dili, there is a strong possibility that more crucially important records will be looted. Security for the records offices is inadequate, with national and international forces not recognizing the significance of the records.

Therefore, ICBS calls on the relevant authorities of the United Nations and of the Australian Defence Forces currently in East Timor to ensure the protection of the records of the Truth Commission, the National Archives, and other records offices such as those of the Attorney General and the courts, to pre-empt the very real possibility that these unique and vital records will be looted.

ICBS Calls for protection: