Dr Geoffrey Robinson,
UCLA
2005 award – major research project
£40,303 for 23 months.
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This project will preserve and make accessible to researchers a rare and vulnerable body of materials related to the history of East Timor (Timor Leste). These materials comprise the complete records of eight public hearings, each on a different theme, conducted by East Timor’s Commission on Return, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) in 2002-2004, and currently held by the successor to CAVR, known as the Post-CAVR Technical Secretariat (STP-CAVR). The material includes written and oral testimonies by the victims and witnesses of crimes against humanity committed during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975-1999); official statements by the perpetrators of some of those crimes; research interviews and consultations conducted prior to the public hearings and multi-media coverage of the hearings themsleves.
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There can be no doubt about the significance of these materials for research. They represent the most complete available collection of documents about a vital period of East Timor’s history. They also form an invaluable body of knowledge for the study, and the legal prosecution, of crimes against humanity, including genocide. There is likewise no doubt about the urgent need for their preservation. Some of the materials are in immediate danger of physical destruction because of the conditions in which they are currently stored, while others are in danger of being lost or concealed as a result of political indifference or interference. The current political turmoil in East Timor serves as an important reminder of the continued vulnerability of these materials.
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The project seeks to preserve these endangered archives by digitally copying and, where feasible, relocating the materials in question to a suitable local archive. It needs to be stressed, however, that there is currently no facility in East Timor ideally suited for housing the rescued materials. In all likelihood, therefore, the project will focus on the identification and copying of materials, and not on their relocation.
Article from UCLA's International Institute
Article from the Daily Bruin, UCLA's daily paper
