NZ minister calls for int'l tribunal for E. Timor<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nDili<\/p>\n
New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff on Tuesday called for the
\nestablishment of an international war crimes tribunal to
\ninvestigate Indonesian officers for alleged human rights abuses
\nin East Timor, The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
Goff, on a three-day visit to the world's newest nation, met
\nwith Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and President Xanana Gusmao.<\/p>\n
He also visited the isolated Oecusse enclave and the town of
\nBalibo, where five journalists - one New Zealander and four
\nAustralians - were killed during the 1975 Indonesian invasion of
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
\"We want to see justice done for those who died in Balibo but
\nequally we want to see justice done for all of the people of East
\nTimor in 1975 and in the period since then,\" Goff said.<\/p>\n
Goff appeared to be the highest-ranking foreign official to
\ndemand that Indonesians involved in the bloodshed be held
\naccountable before a UN tribunal akin to those for the former
\nYugoslavia and Rwanda.<\/p>\n
\"New Zealand supports the establishment of an international
\ntribunal for the abuses in East Timor ... to seek the truth about
\nwhat has happened since 1975 and to expose those responsible for
\nthese wrongdoings,\" Goff told reporters including the reporter
\nfrom The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Top Indonesian officials believed responsible for the deaths
\nof about 150,000 people during the 24-year occupation are beyond
\nthe reach of the East Timor's courts because Jakarta has refused
\nto extradite any of them.<\/p>\n
However, the Indonesian government established its own ad hoc
\nhuman rights tribunals to try suspected human rights violators in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
Goff's visit was scheduled to focus on helping East Timor -
\nwhich gained independence in 2002 after a three-year period of UN
\ntransitional rule - after the UN assistance mission ends its work
\nin May.<\/p>\n
Goff said New Zealand favors the creation of a successor
\nmission with a scaled-down peacekeeping force and an advisory
\nbody.<\/p>\n
Goff confirmed that New Zealand will continue to provide aid
\nto East Timor - Asia's poorest nation - including additional
\nfunding for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has
\nbeen hearing hundreds of cases involving human rights violations
\nunder Indonesian rule.<\/p>\n
New Zealand has donated 200,000 New Zealand dollars
\n(US$133,618) to East Timor's truth commission to help it hear
\nmore cases of human rights violations, AFP reported on Tuesday
\nquoting an East Timor official as saying.<\/p>\n
Goff announced the grant at the end of his three-day visit,
\nsaid Olimpio Branco, acting foreign minister.<\/p>\n
New Zealand would also continue to support East Timor in
\neducation, combating serious crime and training, Branco said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
Branco said New Zealand also donated half a million New
\nZealand dollars to support his government's budget.<\/p>\n
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and ruled it for 24
\nyears.<\/p>",
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