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.