Message by Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta in support of CAVR and Chega!
November 2006
“The CAVR process was an extraordinary endeavour both in terms of workload, the
magnitude of the task undertaken by the Commissioners, but also in terms of it's
emotional impact on anyone who goes through that entire process that lasted several
years or who dared to read the report and the conclusions and recommendations.
It’s mind-boggling, heart-breaking, brings anger, tears to anyone who is familiar with the
history of the 24 years of occupation.
The recommendations are far-reaching. Some are do-able by the government, others
might not be within our possibilities to do it, but what I can say is that as Prime Minister
of this country I will do my best to cooperate, to assist, to support first in the
dissemination of the report so that it becomes a learning process for all of us so that we
learn from the past, so that we don’t repeat the same errors that in part contributed to this
tragedy, but also other more concrete recommendations contained in the report,
recommendations the government as a whole, with the Parliament and others, we will
endeavour to implement them.
We owe it to the people. We owe it to the victims. We owe it to the current generation
and the future generation so that Timor-Leste can live in peace and in harmony”.
This message was videotaped in three languages (English, Tetum and Portuguese) by
Casa de Producao Audio-Visual, Taibesse, Dili on behalf of STP-CAVR for use in the
international and domestic dissemination of Chega!