U.S. sees political progress in Indonesia<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuters): The United States said on Friday the
\npolitical situation in Indonesia improved in 1999 but it listed a
\nslew of human rights violations in East Timor which was engulfed
\nin violence after it voted for independence.<\/p>\n
After President Abdurrahman Wahid took over the government
\nfrom B.J. Habibie in October 1999, the Indonesian political
\nsystem was \"revamped to provide for separation of powers,\" the
\nState Department's annual report on human rights said.<\/p>\n
\"The Habibie government committed serious human rights
\nabuses,\" the report said. \"While there was significant progress
\nin institutionalizing democracy during the year, serious problems
\nremained under the Wahid government, although overall abuses
\ndecreased markedly,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Early in 1999, parts of the security forces and militias that
\nopposed an independent East Timor, armed and supported by the
\nmilitary, were responsible for \"numerous\" killings in East Timor,
\nthe report said.<\/p>\n
A wave of violence that swept through East Timor in September
\nafter residents voted for independence in a UN-organized
\nreferendum on Aug. 31. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese
\ncolony in 1975 and later annexed it.<\/p>\n
Australian-led peacekeeping troops were sent in to calm the
\nvolatile situation and the United Nations is now administering
\nthe territory with the goal of helping it to independence.<\/p>\n
\"There were numerous reports of disappearances in East Timor
\nand from refugee camps in West Timor following the flight of over
\n250,000 East Timorese civilians in September,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
The report listed human rights violations in East Timor by
\nsecurity forces and military-backed militias against pro-
\nindependence supporters.<\/p>\n
Those included executions, massacres, massive deportation,
\nattacks on women and children, houses and buildings destroyed and
\nattacks on property of international organizations, the Catholic
\nChurch and the only functioning medical clinic in Dili.<\/p>\n
\"More than 250 bodies were found in Dili and other areas,\" the
\nreport said.<\/p>\n
It also cited \"serious abuses\" by pro-independence groups in
\nEast Timor, including the killing of security personnel.<\/p>\n
In Aceh military forces and police committed killings and used
\n\"excessive force\" to quell separatist movements, the report said.<\/p>\n
On the other side, the separatists were believed to have
\nmurdered and abducted low-level civil servants, police, and
\nmilitary personnel in Aceh, the report said.<\/p>\n
Violence against women, child abuse, child prostitution and
\nfemale genital mutilation were also cited in the report.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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