Nahe biti : The philosophy and process of grassroots reconciliation (and justice) in East Timor
2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 5; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/1444221042000201715
ISSN1740-9314
Autores Tópico(s)Cyprus History, Politics, Society
ResumoAbstract UNTAET and the East Timorese have pursued formal reconciliation processes as part of the nation-building effort in newly independent East Timor. These formal reconciliation processes aim for closure and operate in the realm of national politics. In the meantime local communities have been dealing with the issues of reintegrating refugees and rebuilding social relationships through an inventive adaptation of traditional practices of reconciliation. In contrast to the formal elite-level strategies, the grassroots strategies are more concerned with process than formal outcomes. Keywords: East TimorReconciliationRefugeesRestorative JusticeDualismUnited NationsPost-Conflict Notes The concept nahe biti (literally, stretching, lying or rolling the mat) can be found in almost all ethno a-linguist groups in East Timor. Definition and approaches in its application also vary from one place to another. Nevertheless, there are common ways of defining this institution when it comes to implementation particularly on the eve of contemporary grassroots reconciliation in East Timor. For reasons of simplification, I use the term nahe biti in Tetum, the lingua franca of East Timor, and it explains the way it is widely applied in reconciliations that have been taking place so far in the new country. This violence saw thousands of people flee—either evicted by the Indonesian military and its created militia or leaving voluntarily for safety reasons—to the Indonesian province of West Timor. See Dili and Jakarta agree to promote refugees repatriation, in Relief Web, original: UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), 25 March 2002. Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/9b02e2c57b2b1b8585256b87005d5868?OpenDocument (accessed 3 April 2002). According to the Indonesian newspaper Sinar Harapan dated 26 March 2002, the data provided by the military headquarters (Komando Resor Militer [Korem] 161/Wirasakti) in Kupang suggest that, until late January 2001, there were 70,000 people or 9 per cent of the approximately 800,000 population of East Timor. Kompas (26 November 2001). See also, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age (28–30 November 2001). This regulation came into force on 13 July 2001. By definition, grassroots in this paper refers to the ordinary people who live mostly in the villages and were not involved directly at the reconciliation between pro- and anti-Independence. This group also includes NGOs and voluntary organisations who were not part of the political decision-making process. Around February 2000, an old man from Viqueque who had just returned from West Timor was beaten and remained unconscious for several days before dying in Dili hospital. While conducting fieldwork, I had the opportunity to speak to him three days before the incident. CNRT was dissolved in June 2001. Most of its activists have now become members of Veterans of Resistance, a new organisation led by Jose Alexandre Xanana Gusmão. Families along the border between East and West Timor in the district of Bobonaro (East Timor) and Atambua (West Timor) took the initiative to begin such reconciliation meetings. They successfully brought back their countrymen from West Timor without having to go through the formal procedures at a high level (interview with Lâzaru of Yayasan HAK (a local NGO) in Dili, February 2000). Including the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). For further information visit http://www.jesref.org/alerts/tmp00/tp00907e.htm (accessed 3 April 2002). See the written judgment online at http://www.jsmp.minihub.org (accessed 15 April 2002). I was working as a translator throughout the Congress from 20 to 31 August 2000. Such remarks were made by various delegations from districts in East Timor expressing their discontent with the reconciliation process being undertaken at the elite level. Even until March 2002, when this paper was written, many people in East Timor still did not consider reconciliation among the political elite attractive because it was seen to reflect the operation of political interests. Suara Pembaruan, an Indonesian newspaper, quoted the words of two prominent East Timorese, Aniceto Guterres Lopes, the director of Yayasan HAK, a well-known East Timor human rights NGO, and head of East Timor Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and (while he was travelling to Kupang in West Timor) Ricardo da Costa Ribeiro, leader of East Timor Youth, saying that elite reconciliation had been in vain. Therefore, people at the grassroots level need to be involved and should sort out differences themselves (Suara Pembaruan, 25 February 2002) for it is less costly, more effective and yields concrete results. For an overview, see Gordon (). For a brief overview see also Gorjão (). See also Villa-Vicencio (). For this point, I am indebted to discussion with the late João Nunes (former teacher and son of the liurai (king) of Manu-Tasi, Ainaro) and António Aitahan Matak (a leader of CPD-RDTL (People's Defence Council –Democratic Republic of East Timor)). A good discussion on this topic can be found in João Martins (year unknown) 'Kunci pembangunan manusia Timorense' (Key to development of the Timorese), private library. This is a district in which reconciliation within its population at the grassroots level has taken place. Numbers of refugees have returned to this district since August 2001, thanks to the direct participation of the community leaders of both sides (Kupang Pos, September 2001). Pers. comm., Domingos Maia, March 2000. Among the Mambai, the process of ensuring good heda is known as boro. Literally, boro refers to the process of selection or compilation of good heda, all of which are plaited into a mat. Interestingly, there is a common perception that the destruction of East Timor following the August 1999 referendum should be blamed on refugees who are identified or associated with the armed militia in West Timor. The refugees are assumed to be morally 'guilty' for the September 1999 violence and are required to confess their wrongdoings, something that they are 'forced' to accept. Interview with Lazaru, February 2000. See Regulation 1/1999, 27 November 1999. Source: http://www.un.org/peace/etimor/untaetR/r-1999.htm (accessed 3 April 2002). Other laws affected include those on anti-subversion; social organisations; national security; national protection and defence; mobilisation and demobilisation; and defence and security. These include the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 10 December 1948; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 and its Protocols; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 16 December 1966; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 21 December 1965; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 17 December 1979; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 17 December 1984; the International Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989. It is interesting to see that the newly established Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in East Timor also limits itself to dealing only with 'crimes' in the past. Thus, it recommends community leaders deal with issues such as looting, burning and minor assaults: 'A panel comprised of a Regional commissioner and local community leaders will mediate between victims and perpetrators to reach agreement on an act of reconciliation to be carried out by the perpetrator'. Source: http://www.easttimor-reconciliation.org/ (accessed 15 April 2002). Examples of this can be found in many parts of East Timor. People are fed up with the fact that political leaders are reluctant to promote justice by bringing the perpetrators of violence in 1999 to the courts for the sake of stability. Various NGOs in East Timor, including most prominently the local Yayasan HAK, are working hard with victims of past violence to resolve some of these issues at the local level, through the medium of nahe biti. I have discussed elsewhere some of the confusion in the Transitional Administration (UNTAET) in East Timor in the early years of its mission. See Babo-Soares ().
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