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While there have been numerous violent events in Timor Leste the one act that holds significant political and social meaning for the local population is a massacre that occurred in Dili on the 12 November 1991 at the Santa Cruz cemetery. Following a brief summary of the mechanisms in place to investigate human rights abuses in Timor Leste, this paper focuses on efforts to investigate the Santa Cruz massacre. While the number of people killed in or directly following the massacre is unconfirmed, there were numerous rumours about burial sites which, until recently, had not been substantiated. In 2008 a proactive investigation into the Santa Cruz massacre was undertaken by the International Forensic Team (IFT). Details about the consultation process with government authorities and families of victims are provided, followed by information about the archaeological investigations undertaken at Tibar and Hera. The laboratory analyses including results of the anthropological, property, DNA, ballistic and hair analyses are summarised. The work of the IFT provides for the first time physical evidence, including 11 positively identified individuals, which confirms a link between individuals recovered from the cemetery at Hera and the 12 November 1991 Santa Cruz massacre. The paper concludes with a discussion about the meaning of this evidence in terms of future questions of truth and justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]