E. Timor amnesty is injustice: NGO<\/p>\n
Agencies<\/p>\n
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch on Saturday urged East
\nTimor's parliament to exclude serious human rights crimes from a
\ngeneral amnesty bill that proposes to pardon culprits in the
\ncountry's 1999 bloodbath.<\/p>\n
\"The law could undermine the work of Timorese and
\ninternational bodies investigating and prosecuting the grave
\nabuses that took place in East Timor during the country's 1999
\nreferendum on independence from Indonesia,\" said the human rights
\nadvocate group in a press statement made available in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The bill, introduced in parliament last week, is part of the
\ngovernment's efforts to reconcile with the past and move forward
\nas the country prepares to celebrate the second anniversary of
\nits independence May 20.<\/p>\n
\"It is bitterly ironic to mark East Timor's second anniversary
\nof nationhood by undermining justice for the most serious crimes
\nthat accompanied the country's independence,\" said Charmain
\nMohamed, East Timor researcher for Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
\"There can't be reconciliation without judicial accountability
\nfor violations of basic international human rights,\" she added.<\/p>\n
In a United Nations-backed referendum in August 1999, the East
\nTimorese voted for separation from Indonesia, unleashing a wave
\nof murder and mayhem blamed on pro-Jakarta militias which the
\nIndonesian military did little to prevent.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 were killed and 500,000 were forced to flee in
\nthe anarchy, which had to be quelled by a UN peace-keeping force.<\/p>\n
A UN-created Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor
\nhas indicted among others four Indonesian generals, including
\nretired Gen. Wiranto who is now a presidential candidate, for
\ncommitting \"serious crimes\" in the 1999 incidents.<\/p>\n
He was then defense minister and military commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n
Also, the Dili-based Judicial System Monitoring Program -- an
\nindependent group working since 2001 to monitor the new nation's
\njustice system -- said that the law, if applied, \"will grant
\nimpunity to high-level economic crimes such as bribery and fraud
\ncommitted.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/e-timor-amnesty-is-injustice-ngo-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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