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EAST-WEST CENTER
AC K N O W L E D G M E N T S
This Special Report owes much to the fine work that has been done in the form of reports
and articles by many Timorese and international organizations and individuals. During
numerous visits to Dili, I conducted in-depth interviews with as many participants as I
could, meeting with most of them several times. Among those I interviewed I was fortunate
to find a number of key individuals who, despite the demands of their jobs, generously
allowed me to consult them repeatedly and who steered me towards relevant documents and
sources of information. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to them. I have also benefited
enormously from the database of the Serious Crimes Unit and the CD/ROMs of the
Judgments, interlocutory motions, trial transcripts, and Indictments in the cases before the
Special Panels and Court of Appeal that were made available to me by Judge Coordinator
Phillip Rapoza and Deputy Prosecutor General for Serious Crimes Carl DeFaria. The
Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) and its director, Tiago Sarmento,
generously provided me with CD/ROMS of all of their reports and other publications on
the Serious Crimes process. I am also grateful to Special Representative of the Secretary-
General Sukehiro Hasegawa, and to his staff, for their kindness and hospitality and for
furnishing me with a number of important documents.
One of my goals in this report is to convey, as much as I am able, the views and
experiences of the individuals I interviewed. It is they who know the process most intimately
and their perspective, while by no means the whole story, is an essential part of it. In many
cases, because of fear of reprisal from the organizations they work for, they are unable to
express their views publicly. In such cases, and where they have requested I do so, I have
kept their identities confidential. In an organization genuinely devoted to transparency, such
fear of retaliation would not be a serious problem, but unfortunately it is very real. It is