Introduction: Restorative custom: Ethnographic perspectives on conflict and local justice in Timor.

Source: (2007) The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology. 8(1): 1-8.

The remarkable emergence of East Timor as a sovereign nation has focused public
attention on the historical legacy of injustice and human rights abuses that shadowed
the achievement of independence; the euphoria of victory tempered by memories of
suffering and loss. One considered governmental response to these concerns was the
establishment of the Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
(CAVR) in 2001. Modelled on contemporary concepts of restorative justice, the
Commission’s procedures encouraged a process of public confession and acceptance
of criminal acts perpetrated between 1974 and 1999. This period covered the
atrocities committed in the name of the nationalist Timorese political factions of
Fretilin and UDT, as well as those of the Indonesian army and its indigenous
militias.
CAVR processes also promoted forms of locally based justice and reconciliation
where those accused of minor crimes could offer public apologies to their
communities and be punished accordingly through community reconciliation acts
(JSMP 2006). These mediated and informal agreements around acts of wrongdoing
formed part of state-sponsored processes of restitution and post-conflict recovery in
Timor Leste. They highlighted the possibilities and potentials for local and customary
systems of dispute resolution in the delivery of justice. (Excerpt)