After a lifetime dedicated to fighting for a free East Timor, Jacinto Alves will finally see his country move to full independence Monday, when the United Nations' transitional administration steps aside to make way for the country's first democratically elected government.
But the 45-year-old human rights activist's work is far from over. As one of seven national commissioners on East Timor's new Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, Alves now faces the formidable task of documenting a quarter-century of rights abuses and fostering reconciliation among his countrymen after 24 years of Indonesian occupation.
On a recent visit to Japan, Alves explained that the commission aims to help East Timorese overcome the hatred and divisions the occupation has created by providing local forums for those guilty of lesser violations, such as arson, theft and minor assault, to publicly confess their crimes and apologize to victims. Perpetrators would then be required to compensate victims in some way, he said, by paying a sum of money, for example, or working to repair the damage they had caused, thereby freeing them from further civil or criminal prosecution.