[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] said Thursday that UN officials will not testify [press release] before the East Timorese-Indonesian Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) [official website] because the CTF's terms of reference [text] allow for the possibility of amnesty for the perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Ban, who reiterated the recommendations in the Report of the Secretary-General on justice and reconciliation for Timor-Leste [S/2006/580 text], said that the UN will not participate in any steps that "would support the work of the CTF and thereby further the possible grant of amnesties," and urged East Timor and Indonesia to revise the CTF's terms of reference.

The CTF, established in 2005 by the governments of East Timor and Indonesia, is tasked with reviewing alleged human rights abuses committed in 1999 following a UN-sponsored referendum in which East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. East Timor became independent in May 2002. Kyodo News has more.