UNSC stalls E. Timor tribunal plan<\/p>\n
Irwin Arieff, Reuters\/United Nations<\/p>\n
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is sitting on a UN
\nexpert panel's recommendation for an international tribunal to
\ntry Indonesian and local militia leaders blamed for a deadly 1999
\nrampage in East Timor, diplomats and UN officials said on
\nWednesday (Thursday morning in Jakarta).<\/p>\n
The experts submitted their findings on May 26 to UN
\nSecretary-General Kofi Annan, who transmitted their report to the
\n15-nation council in late June. Normally such a document would be
\nofficially published at that time.<\/p>\n
But the council decided instead to delay its official release
\nat least until Indonesia and East Timor had added their views,
\ncouncil diplomats and UN officials said.<\/p>\n
Since Indonesia and East Timor's strong opposition to an
\ninternational court is already well known, human rights activists
\nsaid the council move raised fears it meant to suppress the
\nreport altogether.<\/p>\n
Twelve rights groups wrote Annan on Tuesday asking him to
\nensure the report was published "as soon as possible" and its
\nfindings discussed by the council.<\/p>\n
"I have given my report to the council," Annan said when asked
\nif the report was being killed off.<\/p>\n
Greek Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, the council president
\nfor July, denied the council wanted to suppress it.<\/p>\n
"We received a report from the secretary-general which the
\ncouncil will consider and will take appropriate action at some
\nstage," he said.<\/p>\n
Asked why there had been no official action to date, he said
\ncouncil members did not want to disturb the current good
\nrelations between East Timor and Indonesia, and wanted "to see
\nalso what the implementation of that report requires."<\/p>\n
Diplomats said many council members including the United
\nStates, China and Russia had been were wary of offending
\nIndonesia by putting out the report without first seeking
\nJakarta's comments.<\/p>\n
China and the United States flatly denied standing in the way
\nof its publication. Russia had no immediate comment.<\/p>\n
"This issue of justice in East Timor is incredibly
\nembarrassing for Indonesia. It is very worrying that the council
\nnow may be falling in line behind them," said Charmain Mohamed, a
\nresearcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
"The fear is that they may be secretly working on a face-
\nsaving way forward. At the very least, the report should be
\npublished and all the recommendations publicly aired before any
\ndeal is struck," Mohamed said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n
About 1,500 civilians were killed, 250,000 driven from their
\nhomes and others raped and tortured when the pro-Indonesian gangs
\nand militia razed much of East Timor in 1999.<\/p>\n
The violence was triggered by a referendum in which mainly
\nCatholic East Timor voted to break free from Indonesia, the
\nworld's most populous Muslim nation, after 24 years of brutal
\nmilitary rule.<\/p>\n
East Timor finally won independence in May 2002 after 2-1\/2
\nyears of UN administration and centuries of Portuguese colonial
\nrule and Indonesia occupation.<\/p>\n
Under international pressure, Indonesia set up a special court
\nto hear cases of crimes against humanity and its attorney general
\nindicted two government officials, 18 military and police
\nofficers and a gang leader but no high-level suspects.<\/p>\n
Over the ensuing years, of the 18 tried, only the gang leader
\nwas convicted.<\/p>\n
In February, Annan named a panel of three outside experts to
\ndetermine whether justice had been done, despite pleas from
\nIndonesia and East Timor to leave the matter to them.<\/p>\n
In their 149-page report, the experts said the Indonesian
\nofficials and gang leaders should be tried by an international
\ntribunal if Jakarta did not agree to prosecute them within six
\nmonths under international supervision.<\/p>\n
The prosecutions before the Indonesian special court had been
\n"manifestly deficient," they concluded, "due to a lack of
\ncommitment on the part of the prosecution" as well as a lack of
\nexpertise, experience and training.<\/p>",
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