Dear Attorney-General,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists and media executives in over 120 countries, is writing to urge your office to bring those responsible for the 16 October 1975 murder in East Timor of five journalists, known collectively as the “Balibo Five”, to justice.

In November 2007, a Coronial Inquiry into the death of Brian Peters, one of the Balibo Five, was completed at the Coroner’s Court of New South Wales. Dorelle Pinch, the Coroner conducting the inquiry, found not only that Peters died from gun and/or stab wounds carried out “deliberately, and not in the heat of battle, by members of the Indonesian Special Forces,” but also that the orders to carry out the murder were given by an officer in the Indonesian Special Forces, and may have originated from near the top of the chain-of-command. According to Coroner Pinch, the same finding would likely apply to all five of the murdered journalists.

IPI has campaigned for justice in the case of the Balibo Five for over 30 years. In June 1976, a resolution adopted at the IPI annual General Assembly in Philadelphia expressed deep concern at the “lack of positive action by the Indonesian and Australian governments to determine the facts surrounding the fate of the five Australian television journalists (…).”

Thirty years later, at our annual General Assembly in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2006, IPI reiterated its concern at the inaction surrounding the case, and adopted a second resolution calling for “the governments of Australia, East Timor, Indonesia and the United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations, to undertake all necessary measures to bring to justice the murderers of (…) the Balibo Five.”

Until now, the governments involved have been reluctant to resolve this matter, and, as such, those responsible for the killings have enjoyed impunity. However, calls for justice continue, as evidenced in the adjournment debate speech delivered yesterday by Don Foster, Member of Parliament for Bath and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in the United Kingdom’s Houses of Parliament. We share the concerns of MP

Foster who, referring to the UK’s stance towards the murder of the Balibo Five, questioned the kind of signal such a stance sends out to “those who consider murdering other journalists.”

IPI understands that the matter has now been passed onto the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Canberra for review. We again urge that appropriate action is taken, and that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to account for their actions.

Mr. Attorney General, the murder of journalists represents not only an infringement of freedom of the press, a freedom which is the cornerstone of any functioning democracy, but it also displays a disregard for the sanctity of human life. Coroner Pinch’s inquest found that Brian Peters’ killing was perpetrated in order to prevent him from revealing the role of Indonesian Special Forces in the attack on the town of Balibo. As such, Peters was censored in the most barbaric manner possible, through an act of premeditated murder.

Coroner Dorelle Pinch’s finding represents a breakthrough in the long search for justice in the murder of the Balibo Five. We urge that it is acted upon, and that every effort is made to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

We thank you for your attention.

Your sincerely,

David Dadge
Director

Also sent to:

H.E. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, NV 10017
USA
Fax: +1-212-963-4879

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
PO Box 6500
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Australia
Fax: +61-2-6271-5414

Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister
PO Box 18888
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Fax: +64-4-473-3579

H.E. President Susilo Bambang Yudhonoyo
Office of the President
Istana Merdeka, Jakarta
INDONESIA
Fax: +62-21-345-77-82

H. E Prime Minister Gordon Brown
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
Fax: +44-207-925-0918

H. E. Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao
Government Palace
President Nicolau Lobato Avenue
Dili, Timor-Leste