Annan tells RI to proceed with human rights tribunal
Annan tells RI to proceed with human rights tribunal
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is to go ahead with the ongoing Human Rights tribunal,
which is still under the watchful eyes of the international
community, to ensure that justice is properly brought to bear on
those responsible for the mayhem in East Timor.
Although UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that an
international tribunal was not discussed at the meeting between
him and Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Saturday,
Annan sent out a clear message that the proceedings of the ad hoc
trial were not a forgotten chapter now that East Timor was due to
become an independent state.
"We discussed to what extent we could work together to ensure
that justice was done. We also discussed the cooperation that
they would need with regard to witnesses and other aspects of the
trial," the UN secretary-general said in a joint media conference
before ending his two-day visit to the capital.
"At this stage, we have not talked about establishing an
international tribunal (on the East Timor mayhem). The Indonesian
government should press ahead with the trial of the accused in a
respectable and credible manner and we are prepared to cooperate
with them," he said at the foreign affairs ministry building when
asked about his opinion of the trial, and whether the UN would
take the case to an international tribunal.
In his visit to Indonesia in 2000, Annan insisted that then
president Abdurrahman Wahid try those responsible for the
bloodshed in East Timor in accordance with the law.
"As I will leave for East Timor this morning, I'm also mindful
of the brief period of tension between the UN and Indonesia, but
that happened in the past, and we now move forward toward very
strong relations between Indonesia, East Timor and the
neighboring countries," Annan said on Saturday.
The ad hoc human rights tribunal is ongoing in Jakarta, at
which reluctant military and police officials are on trial. They
were allegedly responsible for the various human rights abuses in
East Timor when the tiny territory voted to break away from
Indonesia after a UN-organized ballot in 1999.