Biased article

Your article on Aug. 20, 2003 by Aboeprijadi Santoso (Radio Netherlands Amsterdam) titled Jakarta rights tribunal buries E. Timor atrocities disgusted me. The article is full of hatred, is extremely biased, and the writer clearly misunderstood the legal aspects of the Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) in Indonesia.

The Tribunal in Jakarta was conducted fairly in accordance with due process of law under the legal system of Indonesia as a sovereign country. During the proceedings, all the witnesses gave their evidence freely without any intervention. One key witness was former president B.J. Habibie, who personally testified before the Tribunal.

Unexpectedly, Bishop Carlos Belo and other persons from East Timor refused to testify as witnesses or to provide the Tribunal with written testimony. I think they were afraid because the cases were heavily blown-up by certain elements of the press (as Santoso did to disgrace and slander Indonesia), in a way that had nothing to do with the legal aspects. Evidently, these East Timorese witnesses felt they would find themselves in a very difficult situation if they testified.

Santoso said the European Union (EU) in its declaration deplored the conduct of the Tribunal. The EU says it cares about justice in East Timor. But, what did the EU say about the devastation of Iraq by the U.S. and some members of the EU, which was flagrantly contravened international law. The killing of innocent Iraqi people, including women and children, is tragically still occurring.

The fighting between the pro-independence and the pro- integration groups started because the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) sided with the pro-independence group (see Florence Dos Santo's letter in the Post, Aug. 5, 1999). The military were proved during the Tribunal's proceedings not to have been involved in the fighting.

On July 8, 2003, Santosa wrote an article in this paper titled Unspoken protest amid prolonged war in Aceh. This article was criticized by Hilda May from Jakarta as "unfair and one-sided". A certain gentleman (I am sorry but I forget his name), fully agreed with Hilda May and concluded his letter with the comment "What a shame".

MUHD. RAMZY HASIBUAN Jakarta

Jakarta.