East Timor recently decided to grant U.S. troops stationed in the new nation immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, which can hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity committed after July 1, 2002. The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) voiced its disapproval of the decision. Said ETAN spokesperson John M. Miller, “We are deeply disturbed and angered that the U.S. government pressured East Timor to exempt U.S. troops from the ICC. The East Timorese suffered greatly during the U.S.-supported illegal occupation of their homeland when the Indonesian military committed the very crimes that the ICC is designed to discourage.”
