UN human rights commissioner begins Indonesia visit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): United Nations High Commissioner for Human
\nRights Jose Ayala Lasso arrived yesterday for a series of
\ndiscussions with Indonesian officials in Jakarta and East Timor.<\/p>\n
He will officially begin his visit today with a meeting with
\nMinister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas. He will fly to Dili,
\ncapital of East Timor on Monday for a two-day stay.<\/p>\n
On the eve of his departure from Geneva on Friday, Ayala Lasso
\ntold a media conference that he would use the visit to urge
\nIndonesia to ratify key international human rights treaties,
\nReuters reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
He also intends to urge Jakarta to take action on concerns
\nraised in February by the UN Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n
\"The principle objective of my trip to Indonesia and East
\nTimor is to raise the issues already analyzed by the different
\n(UN) mechanisms of human rights which have visited Indonesia,
\nincluding decisions adopted by the Commission of Human Rights,\"
\nAyala Lasso said.<\/p>\n
\"I will ask the Indonesian government to implement as soon as
\npossible these recommendations...I will ask the government to
\nratify human rights treaties.\"<\/p>\n
One of the commission's recommendations was that the
\ngovernment of Indonesia fully investigate a November 1991
\nincident in which soldiers clashed with protesters at a Dili
\ncemetery.<\/p>\n
An independent commission investigating the incident later
\nestablished that \"around 50 people\" were killed and that dozens
\nof others went missing.<\/p>\n
The government removed the top military commanders in charge
\nof East Timor at the time and a military tribunal tried and
\nconvicted a number of officers over the incident.<\/p>\n
Ayala Lasso, who will report to the 53-member commission upon
\ncompletion of his visit, said he intended to steer clear of
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
\"My mandate is limited to human rights issues. And I will be
\nvery careful only to act within the limits of my mandate.\"<\/p>\n
\"But I am certainly convinced that an improvement in the human
\nrights situation in East Timor could certainly play a very
\npositive role in the overall negotiations which are going on
\nregarding the question of East Timor.\"<\/p>\n
He was referring to the talks Indonesia has been holding with
\nPortugal, East Timor's former colonial master, over the status of
\nEast Timor. The talks involving their foreign ministers are held
\nunder the auspices the UN secretary-general. Their next meeting
\nis scheduled for next month.<\/p>\n
Ayala Lasso said he would also visit Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\"
\nGusmao, who is serving 20 years imprisonment in a Jakarta prison
\nfor his role in leading an armed rebellion for a separate East
\nTimor state.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Indonesia had granted permission to visit
\nXanana, he replied: \"Yes\".<\/p>\n
Among East Timorese figures he plans to see include Dili
\nBishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, he added.<\/p>\n
UN sources said in Geneva that Ayala Lasso had been forced to
\nshorten his visit to Indonesia because he has to attend the
\nLondon conference on former Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
He has also canceled a plan to visit Cambodia which was
\noriginally scheduled as part of his visit to Asia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/un-human-rights-commissioner-begins-indonesia-visit-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}