大象传媒

Jos茅 Ramos-Horta, the president of Asia鈥檚 youngest country Timor-Leste, has told 大象传媒 HARDtalk that 鈥渢he greatest act of justice is not revenge鈥� but reconciliation. He said that justice came about not through 鈥減rosecuting people鈥�, but because 鈥渢he whole international community, including Indonesia, corrected the wrongs of the past by recognising Timor-Leste鈥檚 independence鈥� in 2002.

Speaking to Stephen Sackur, the co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize said he had forgiven every 鈥渃ountry in the world that collaborated with the Suharto regime.鈥� Indonesia鈥檚 occupation of East Timor lasted from 1975 to 1999 and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, including four of Ramos-Horta鈥檚 own siblings. He explained that accountability was not a priority for him, saying 鈥渢hose who didn't commit any crime may cast the first stone鈥�.

President Ramos-Horta, who has travelled around the world trying to broker peace, believes that his approach to conflict resolution has relevance to current wars. He asserted that 鈥渢he tragic situation in the Middle East鈥� is because 鈥渘either side has had a Mahatma Gandhi, or a Mandela鈥�. He added that 鈥渇or peace to prevail over hatred, over violence, you have to have courageous leaders鈥�. He noted that there had been some in the past, such as Egypt鈥檚 Anwar Sadat and Israel鈥檚 Yitzhak Rabin, but that 鈥渢hey paid a price鈥�. He went on to cite other victims of assassination such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, noting that 鈥減eacemakers pay a price鈥�.

Now serving as Timor-Leste鈥檚 president for the second time, Ramos-Horta was a key figure in the country鈥檚 liberation struggle. He said that, in choosing reconciliation, the Timorese had opted 鈥渇or the difficult path鈥�. But he credited the lessons which his movement learned from Nelson Mandela and his push for national reconciliation. For Ramos-Horta, 鈥渢he key to wars are leaders鈥�, who have the ability to both start and end them.

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