UN inquiry to propose tribunal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): An inquiry set up by the United Nations
\ninto human rights abuses in East Timor has concluded that
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) personnel were directly involved in
\nlast year's violence, sources close to the inquiry said in New
\nYork on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The report was commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
\nand is due to be sent to the UN General Assembly and Security
\nCouncil on Monday, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
The sources quoted the report as saying "the intimidation,
\nterror, destruction of property, displacement and evacuation of
\npeople would not have been possible without the active
\ninvolvement of the Indonesian Army and the knowledge and approval
\nof top military commanders."<\/p>\n
"The United Nations should establish an international human
\nrights tribunal consisting of judges appointed by the United
\nNations, preferably with the participation of members from East
\nTimor and Indonesia," sources quoted the document as saying.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to make his official
\nresponse to the commission's report in New York on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government-sanctioned Inquiry into Human Rights
\nAbuses (KPP HAM) in East Timor is due to announce its findings
\nalso on Monday. Speculation was rife that it would recommend the
\ngovernment to prosecute several top military generals for the
\nmayhem in East Timor which erupted in September after a UN-
\nsponsored self-determination ballot.<\/p>\n
"We will first hand over the report to the National Commission
\non Human Rights at 10 a.m. and then to the Attorney General's
\nOffice at 3 p.m.," KPP HAM secretary Asmara Nababan told The
\nJakarta Post by phone on Sunday.<\/p>\n
KPP HAM chairman Albert Hasibuan said on Friday that former
\nTNI chief Gen. Wiranto and Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, former chief of
\nthe Udayana Military Command which oversaw East Timor, were
\n"morally responsible" for the post-ballot violence.<\/p>\n
Albert, however, refused to confirm whether Wiranto and Adam
\nwould be among the 20 to 30 names, mostly from the military, who
\nwould be submitted to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman for
\nfurther investigation.<\/p>\n
Wiranto is currently the coordinating minister for political
\naffairs and security.<\/p>\n
As commission members met behind closed doors at a hotel in
\nJakarta to finalize their report on Sunday, TNI Commander Adm.
\nWidodo A.S. called on KPP HAM to present a "credible" report.<\/p>\n
On a visit to East Timor last week, the chief defense lawyer
\nfor the TNI generals, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said his clients
\nwere ready to face a human rights or war crimes tribunal.<\/p>\n
But he said he found no evidence of military complicity in the
\nmass destruction and killings.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, former justice minister Muladi, who is
\ncoordinating the defense team for the senior military officers
\nquestioned by KPP HAM, threatened that the team would take legal
\naction if the inquiry mentions names in its report on Monday.<\/p>\n
Marzuki has said that if KKP HAM found evidence of human
\nrights violations in East Timor, an ad hoc committee would be set
\nup to prosecute those responsible in a national human rights
\ntribunal.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian commission was established in October shortly
\nafter Jakarta rejected the UN plan to launch an inquiry to look
\ninto the possibility of prosecuting those responsible for the
\nEast Timor violence on charges of crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
Sources close to the UN inquiry said that Indonesia has
\nrejected the call for an international tribunal, saying it was
\nunder no legal obligation to comply with the UN inquiry, a BBC
\nreport was quoted as saying by foreign news services.<\/p>\n
In a letter to Annan accompanying the report, Indonesian
\nforeign minister Alwi Shihab said the report was biased and he
\ndismissed the accusations as totally false and baseless.<\/p>\n
Alwi also warned that setting up an international human rights
\ntribunal would create obstacles in the promotion of friendly
\nrelations between Indonesia and East Timor.<\/p>\n
In his own accompanying letter, Annan said it would be up to
\nthe General Assembly, Security Council and the Geneva-based
\nCommission on Human Rights to decide what further action was
\nrequired, sources were quoted as saying. (44\/har)<\/p>",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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