Faith, Hope and Justice

November 19, 2009

By Steve Holland

A few months ago, Maternus Bere again crossed the border into Timor-Leste and headed to Suai. It’s not clear why he returned to the town where the massacre he is blamed for took place, but it’s thought he was visiting friends and family.

One local villager was incensed enough by Bere’s return to lead an attack on him. Police arrived, apprehended the former militia leader and took him to the local police station before transferring him to Becora Prison, in Dili, on the other side of the island, to await trial for crimes against humanity.

But Bere’s incarceration was short-lived. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao intervened after the Indonesian foreign minister threatened to boycott an Independence celebration in Dili unless Bere was freed.

‘I then turned to the minister of justice and told her to release Maternus from the Becora jail. The minister reminded me that she could only order such release with an authorisation by the court,’ Prime Minister Gusmao told parliament.

‘I ordered the minister of justice have Maternus Bere transferred from the Becora prison to the Indonesian Embassy…In view of her refusal, I said “if you don’t do it, I’ll go there and get him myself.”’

The Prime Minister’s role in Bere’s release appears to breach the country’s judicial process, violating the country’s separation of powers.

The circumstances surrounding Bere’s release are being investigated by Timor-Leste’s ombudsman and the country’s highest legal bodies, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Claudio de Jesus Ximenes has pointed to a breach of the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution, noting Bere’s release was not approved by the court.

‘In a democratic state under the rule of law we all have to obey the law,’ he has said.

The Superior Council of the Judiciary has the power to convict anyone found guilty of bypassing the judicial process–a crime that carries a penalty of between two and six years in prison.

Prime Minister Gusmao admitted to parliament he had a political motive for intervening in Bere’s release and said ‘I’m ready to be put in jail [if found guilty by a court]’.

When Bere was handed over to the Indonesian Embassy, many in Timor-Leste feared he would soon be allowed to return to his home in West Timor, concerns that proved well-founded. Less than two months after his arrest in Suai, Bere was back in Indonesia–a free man and wanted felon.

President Jose Ramos Horta stands united with Prime Minister Gusmao in favouring forgiveness over justice. He says the people of his country want to move on and forget the past. The president believes such a course will also ensure friendly relations with Indonesia.

‘A Great Evil Took Hold of Them…’

Sister Elsa Fernandes also favours forgiveness over retribution. She walks around the Suai Church compound. Beneath her feet, under the dry sandy ground, are the bones of the women and children killed a decade ago by the Laksaur Militia.

In the days before the killings, as word spread of brewing retribution by pro-Indonesian supporters, East Timorese flocked from surrounding villages for protection in the House of God. Sister Elsa says both her and the priests told the villagers to go to the mountains–that they were not safe in the church. But the people’s faith and fear kept them there.

However, Sister Elsa was right. The militia showed no mercy. They arrived at the church in the early afternoon and Indonesian Jesuit Priest, Father Tarcisius Dewanto, ordained just weeks earlier, went outside to meet the militia. They sprayed the 34-year-old priest’s body with bullets. He was the first of three priests killed that day, one of whom was decapitated.