Dili, Timor-Leste / Jakarta, Indonesia /Sydney, Australia (19 May 2026) – Today in Dili, Patrick Burgess and Galuh Wandita received the Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste, in recognition of their long-standing contributions to the people of Timor-Leste.
The Order of Timor-Leste is among the nation’s highest honours, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the people and nation of Timor-Leste. In official letters from the President of Timor Leste, the award was described as recognition of “remarkable contribution” and a decoration of “exceptional importance and historical significance.”
For nearly three decades, both Galuh and Patrick have accompanied the people of Timor-Leste through periods of conflict, transition, truth-seeking, justice, and rebuilding.
Galuh Wandita began working alongside East Timorese activists in the 1990s during the dark days of the Indonesian occupation. In 1997, together with East Timorese activists, she was a founding member of Fokupers, Timor-Leste’s first organizations dedicated to addressing violence against women. During the 1999 referendum violence, she worked on with civil society groups to respond to the humanitarian crisis. She later joined the United Nations human rights mission in Timor-Leste. From 2002 to 2005, Galuh served as Deputy Director of Timor-Leste’s truth commission, the Comissão de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliação (CAVR), helping lead district-based truth-seeking and victim support processes, and contributing to the landmark Chega! report. Through AJAR and other initiatives, she later continued working with survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, families of the disappeared, and Timorese children separated during the occupation. As part of the Working Group on the Stolen Children, she contributed to efforts to find more than 200 survivors, and have so far reunited more than 100 with their Timorese families. She co-founded Associacaon Chega Ba Ita (ACbit) with Manuela Leong Pereira and others, and is an advisor with Centro Nacional Chega (CNC.)
Patrick Burgess, an Australian barrister, led large humanitarian programs following the genocide in Rwanda, Yemen, the DR Congo and other crises before being recruited by the United Nations. In 1999 he joined UNAMET for the UN mission responsible for administering the ballot in which Timorese where asked to choose independence or to be part of Indonesia. He was directly attacked by armed militia and narrowly escaped whilst delivering food and medicine to displaced Timorese during the ballot period. When the entire territory erupted into violence Patrick was given responsibility for organizing the evacuation of almost 2,000 Timorese who faced extreme risk for their lives, to Australia, a first for the UN. When international peacekeepers arrived Patrick was appointed as the District Administrator responsible for building all aspects of governance for conflict affected Liquisa district. Following this he was appointed as Director of Human Rights for the UN, responsible for the early war crimes investigations. He was a Commissioner in the interim Judicial Commission and then was asked to take the lead role for the UN in establishing Timor’s truth and reconciliation commission (the CAVR) where he spent the next three years as Principal Legal Counsel. Since that time he has continued to lead ‘transitional justice’ initiatives in more than 20 countries seeking solutions from cycles of conflict and mass human rights violations.
In 2012 Galuh and Patrick co-founded Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR,) a regional organization working alongside survivors and communities affected by mass human rights violations in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and other countries across Asia-Pacific. With Jose Luis de Oliveira, they established AJAR Timor-Leste, a national NGO working to advocate for peace and justice, intergenerational learning, and community-based approaches to healing and accountability. In recent years, this has included the establishment of annual Youth Human Rights School, close collaboration with survivor networks such as Pirilampu and initiatives such as the Bukae program, empowering survivors of conflict-related sexual violence pushing for recognition and reparations. Galuh and Patrick also take leading roles in AJAR’s collaboration with international mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court, working in the largest refugee camp in the world for the Rohingya in Bangladesh and with the Burmese (Myanmar) who continue to face mass crimes committed by the military junta.
Reflecting on the award, Galuh Wandita stated:
This recognition belongs first and foremost to the survivors and people of Timor-Leste. Over many years, they trusted us with their stories, their grief, their courage, and their hopes for justice. We have learned from their resilience, humour, and extraordinary humanity. This honour is deeply moving because Timor-Leste has shaped so much of our lives and understanding of justice.
Patrick Burgess added:
It has been one of the great joys and inspiration of my life to be able to spend those years standing beside the courageous Timorese people, who refused to accept domination by force and violence, standing firm in their belief that freedom and democracy is their right. Timor offers many lessons to other contexts, such as Myanmar, where people today stand before those dragons of military might. Timor gives us hope, a clear example that entrenched conflict can be overcome and a democracy based on truth, justice and human rights is possible.
AJAR also acknowledges and thanks our many Timorese friends, colleagues, activists, interpreters, researchers, commissioners, community organizers, and partner organizations with whom we worked, side by side, over many years—often under difficult and dangerous conditions. Many of these efforts were collective, built across generations and across borders.
At a time when democratic space and human rights protections are under pressure globally, AJAR hopes this recognition also affirms the importance of survivor-centred approaches for reparations, historical memory, and long-term solidarity in building peace and justice.
AJAR extends its sincere gratitude to the President and people of Timor-Leste for this profound honour and their friendship and generosity over the past 30 years.
For more information, please contact:
Galuh Wandita (gwandita@asia-ajar.org)
Jose Luis de Oliveira (joliveira@asia-ajar.org)