Rights body to probe E. Timor violence<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the National Commission on Human
\nRights will visit strife-plagued East Timor next week to
\ninvestigate reports of an attack on a proindependence group in
\nLiquica on Monday, which was allegedly perpetrated by the
\nmilitary-backed militia.<\/p>\n
Secretary-general of the rights body Clementino dos Reis
\nAmaral told The Jakarta Post on Friday the fact-finding mission
\nwould leave for East Timor on Wednesday or Thursday.<\/p>\n
Amaral will be accompanied by Djoko Soegianto, B.N. Marbun and
\nKoesparmono Irsan. He did not state the duration of the visit.<\/p>\n
"We will try to establish what really happened in Liquica
\nearlier this week as there are two different reports on the
\nincident," Amaral said.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces (ABRI) insists only five people were killed
\nin Liquica, about 40 kilometers west of the provincial capital of
\nDili, but Nobel Peace co-laureate Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes
\nBelo said there were at least 25 fatalities.<\/p>\n
Belo said the Church stood by its earlier statement about the
\nnumber of those killed. He pointed out as well that the bodies of
\nthose five that the Armed Forces claimed were killed had not been
\nrecovered by their families.<\/p>\n
He therefore appealed to the Udayana Regional Military
\nCommander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, who oversees Bali, Nusa Tenggara
\nand East Timor, to return the bodies to their families.<\/p>\n
"If ABRI wants to (win people's trust), it should have been
\nmore honest in its statements," Amaral said.<\/p>\n
He cited the November 1991 shooting in the Santa Cruz cemetery
\nin Dili, when the military claimed 19 people were killed and 91
\nothers were injured.<\/p>\n
Later investigations by a government-backed commission found
\nthat at least 50 people died after troops opened fire on a
\ndemonstration by proindependence supporters.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Friday, about 25 East Timorese youths rallied at
\nthe rights body's office in Central Jakarta in support of a call
\nby rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao for
\nproindependence supporters to fight back against pro-Indonesian
\nforces.<\/p>\n
"We East Timorese youth totally support Xanana's statement,"
\nthe protesters said in a media release.<\/p>\n
Participants included members of the National Council of East
\nTimorese Resistance (CNRT) and Union of East Timor Muslim
\nStudents.<\/p>\n
The Solidarity Forum for the People of Timor Lorosae
\n(Fortilos) also visited the commission to submit a report
\nalleging rights violations by military-backed militia.<\/p>\n
The protesters accused the military of engineering a situation
\nin the former Portuguese colony in which people "kill each
\nother". They also accused the United Nations of foot-dragging in
\nfinding a solution.<\/p>\n
"Its (the military's) barbarous acts show the cowardly
\nattitude of the Indonesian government, mainly its military, (in
\nits campaign) to maintain its illegal occupation of East Timor,"
\nsaid a statement issued by CNRT youths.<\/p>\n
Protesters demanded the military's withdrawal from East Timor
\nand disarmament of the paramilitary militia under international
\nsupervision.<\/p>\n
They also called for an immediate deployment of the UN
\npeacekeeping force in East Timor.<\/p>\n
The request, also aired by Xanana on Tuesday, was rejected by
\nABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto on Wednesday on the grounds that
\nproblems in East Timor were internal concerns of Indonesia. He
\nreiterated the stance on Friday, terming the call unreasonable
\nbecause East Timor is part of Indonesia's sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice Muladi on Friday threatened to remove
\nXanana from his designated special detention house and send him
\nback to jail unless he retracted the reported call to arms.<\/p>\n
He said he was verifying if Xanana actually made the
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
"If it is true that he has declared war, it clearly violates
\n(the terms of his) placement in the current place. If he really
\nhas such intentions, we will review his position there, we will
\nreturn him to Cipinang," Muladi said.<\/p>\n
The government moved Xanana in February from Cipinang Prison
\nto the special detention house, following calls by the UN
\nsecretary-general for him to play a greater role in the East
\nTimor peace process.<\/p>\n
The rebel leader was caught in 1992 and jailed for life for
\nplotting against the state and the illegal possession of weapons.
\nHis term was commuted to 20 years in jail.<\/p>\n
Xanana made his statement late Monday following reports of a
\nmassacre in the territory.<\/p>\n
He subsequently said he did not order a war but urged
\nfollowers to defend themselves, including against pro-Indonesian
\nmilitia.<\/p>\n
Muladi, speaking to journalists at the presidential palace,
\nsaid Xanana would be given a week to provide a written retraction
\nif he issued the call in writing.<\/p>\n
"He has to make a written statement within one week and make
\nit public, reading it himself on television, not through his
\nlawyers, so that his (earlier) statement could be corrected."<\/p>\n
He said Xanana might have violated the terms of his move from
\njail and risked a hostile reaction from pro-Indonesian East
\nTimorese.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Information Center confirmed in a statement
\non Friday talks between Indonesia and Portugal on East Timor,
\nwhich were originally scheduled for April 13 and April 14, have
\nbeen postponed to April 21.<\/p>\n
"The postponement was at the request of the Indonesian
\ngovernment which is finalizing the text of the autonomy-
\nproposal," read the statement, a copy of which was made available
\nto the Post.<\/p>\n
The scheduled April 22 meeting of the UN secretary-general and
\nthe foreign ministers of the two countries remains unchanged, it
\nsaid. (byg\/prb\/33)<\/p>",
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