About the workshop

The last decade has seen a surge of activity aimed at addressing the legacies of past human rights abuse and mass violence in Indonesia and East Timor. Those efforts, stimulated by the fall of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998 and by a rising global trend of support for 'transitional justice,' have transformed the political and social terrain in both countries.

It remains an open question, however, just how effective these initiatives have been in remedying past violations, and how useful the model of 'transitional justice' has been as a guide. To date, for example, there has been no meaningful effort to bring to justice those responsible for the violence of the past, or to compensate its many victims.

Bringing together scholars and human rights activists from Indonesia, East Timor, and North America, this two-day Workshop at UCLA will explore these problems by mapping recent 'transitional justice' initiatives, assessing the obstacles they have encountered, and offering practical proposals for a path forward. It will also consider what lessons the experience of Indonesia and East Timor may offer for other societies emerging from long periods of human rights abuse and misrule.