The right to food; the right to health. Images of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it gets ready to turn 70. Centro Nacional Chega, the Timor-Leste centre for truth & reconciliation, Dili, Timor-Leste. pic.twitter.com/sYhjUeKHBE
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) October 30, 2018
Instead of mega-monuments glorifying the past, a photo exhibit explains a complex event. In this image, activist Rosa Muki Bonaparte with Mari Alkatiri on proclsmation day. Rosa Muki was killed by Indonesian army. Alkatiri survived in exile & has been PM twice since 2002. 2/4 pic.twitter.com/OEHXMiuGdw
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Yet there are mega-monuments too. Nicolau Lobato, one of the heroes of the Dem. Rep. of Timor-Leste, now stands heroically at the entry to Dili's airport, named after him. Much larger than life and flying the flag of 1975 and of today. pic.twitter.com/QSzgJ8WueJ
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Rosa Muki's name is used for a garden, with an abstract statue & a clock that doesn't work. You can walk there from Proclamation Plaza, if you are willing to dodge traffic to cross to the garden. The quieter & more complex Timorese histories are insisting they be told too. 4/4 pic.twitter.com/vkft9EwCTJ
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
The Centro Nacional Chega!, Timor-Leste's centre for truth and reconciliation, is housed in a former prison, a site of torture, to show that "flowers can grow in a prison." pic.twitter.com/czxO9fP6vC
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
This chair was used by the Indonesian security forces in the Comarca prison during the period of Indonesian military occupation and Timorese struggle for liberation. Electric current was passed through it during interrogations to extract information from clandestine activists. pic.twitter.com/lPzTE6NzNy
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
This chair was used by the Indonesian security forces in the Comarca prison during the period of Indonesian military occupation and Timorese struggle for liberation. Electric current was passed through it during interrogations to extract information from clandestine activists. pic.twitter.com/lPzTE6NzNy
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Detention and torture could happen in the Comarca prison's "dark cells," tiny rooms with almost no light. Today a survivor might move through, walking into a cell that once housed her husband and others. pic.twitter.com/GZo0FOONWf
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
From these dark cells, too, researchers for Timor-Leste's truth commission unearthed hidden stories of suffering, mapped torture sites now hidden again under signs of commerce in Dili, the nation's capital. A site of torture transformed into a site of truth-seeking. pic.twitter.com/kemRv5KcRd
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Across the country, survivors told stories once repressed. Comunity reconcjation hearings unfolded the "big mat," letting survivors and those who had harmed them speak, but not demanding that reconciliation meant a survivor had to forgive. And certainly not forget. pic.twitter.com/TRkug3Pmlm
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
13 years after the Timor-Leste truth commission reported, much remains to be done. But one of the flowers that has grown is Centro Chega, still based in the former Comarca prison, now marking the 13th anniversary of an impressive and powerful report. pic.twitter.com/4yNvhXNy9E
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Flowers bloom, well past the prison walls. Timor-Leste's experience with truth and reconciliation has lessons to share. pic.twitter.com/x1wJPgFrga
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Post-script: the Timor trith commission made 14 recommendations to the international community. Most were ignored. It's time for that to change and to end #impunity. https://t.co/sFn04S7iY9
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 1, 2018
Women warriors of #TimorLeste 1 pic.twitter.com/vvwtvojFLv
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 4, 2018
Women warriors of #TimorLeste 2 pic.twitter.com/sXtNY8jIy2
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 4, 2018
Women warriors of #TimorLeste 3 pic.twitter.com/ciT5yf0f6C
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 4, 2018
Women warriors of #TimorLeste 4: "Record our stories because the time will come when everyone will ask about us." pic.twitter.com/M8gfDXS6Ql
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 4, 2018
What does a monument become when its plaque vanishes? pic.twitter.com/XKfJVyTtjW
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 6, 2018
This Portuguese colonial monument in Timor-Leste is repainted but no longer explained in text pic.twitter.com/Dy25DUmkEu
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 6, 2018
An Indonesian colonial monument in a Timor-Leste park that has born many names evoking the past and human rights struggles pic.twitter.com/mpnHNY9UXS
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 6, 2018
What is its meaning when its latest plaque lies shattered on the ground? pic.twitter.com/0Mh09urbjA
— David Webster (@dwebsterbu) November 6, 2018