News focus: RI, Timor Leste express remorse over Dili atrocities

The two governments expressed their regret in a joint statement signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his Timor Leste counterpart Ramos Horta, and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Bali on Tuesday.

Both governments signed the 14-point joint statement after earlier on the day receiving a final report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) set up by both governments to collect facts on alleged human rights violations in East Timor and to help restore the relations between the two countries.

"We would like to express our deepest regret over the past violence that has claimed so many lives and material loss," President Yudhoyono said after receiving the final report from the CTF at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.

The Indonesian government will study and take follow-up steps with regard to the CTF recommendations and take initiatives to improve the friendship between the peoples of Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Meanwhile, Timor Leste President Ramos Horta said his government would study and discuss the report, and carry out the CTF recommendations. "We agree to carry out the recommendations as far as possible," Horta said.

In response to the recommendations and other initiatives suggested by the commission, a joint ministerial commission will formulate an action plan.

The report, leaked to several media organisations including AAP in Australia last week, said that Indonesia bore responsibility for the violations, which included mass murder, rape and torture.

It also said that ...