Biased article<\/p>\n
Your article on Aug. 20, 2003 by Aboeprijadi Santoso
\n(Radio Netherlands Amsterdam) titled Jakarta rights tribunal
\nburies E. Timor atrocities disgusted me. The article is full of
\nhatred, is extremely biased, and the writer clearly misunderstood
\nthe legal aspects of the Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The Tribunal in Jakarta was conducted fairly in accordance
\nwith due process of law under the legal system of Indonesia as a
\nsovereign country. During the proceedings, all the witnesses gave
\ntheir evidence freely without any intervention. One key witness
\nwas former president B.J. Habibie, who personally testified
\nbefore the Tribunal.<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly, Bishop Carlos Belo and other persons from East
\nTimor refused to testify as witnesses or to provide the Tribunal
\nwith written testimony. I think they were afraid because the
\ncases were heavily blown-up by certain elements of the press (as
\nSantoso did to disgrace and slander Indonesia), in a way that had
\nnothing to do with the legal aspects. Evidently, these East
\nTimorese witnesses felt they would find themselves in a very
\ndifficult situation if they testified.<\/p>\n
Santoso said the European Union (EU) in its declaration
\ndeplored the conduct of the Tribunal. The EU says it cares about
\njustice in East Timor. But, what did the EU say about the
\ndevastation of Iraq by the U.S. and some members of the EU, which
\nwas flagrantly contravened international law. The killing of
\ninnocent Iraqi people, including women and children, is
\ntragically still occurring.<\/p>\n
The fighting between the pro-independence and the pro-
\nintegration groups started because the United Nations Mission in
\nEast Timor (UNAMET) sided with the pro-independence group (see
\nFlorence Dos Santo's letter in the Post, Aug. 5, 1999). The
\nmilitary were proved during the Tribunal's proceedings not to
\nhave been involved in the fighting.<\/p>\n
On July 8, 2003, Santosa wrote an article in this paper titled
\nUnspoken protest amid prolonged war in Aceh. This article was
\ncriticized by Hilda May from Jakarta as \"unfair and one-sided\".
\nA certain gentleman (I am sorry but I forget his name), fully
\nagreed with Hilda May and concluded his letter with the comment
\n\"What a shame\".<\/p>\n
MUHD. RAMZY HASIBUAN
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/biased-article-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }