Bishop Belo urges E. Timorese to honor human rights accords

JAKARTA (JP): Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo has urged East Timorese to comply with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, saying rights violators were not only found among the military.

"It should be kept in mind that they (violations) have also been committed by local youths as well as the armed Falintil" group, Antara quoted him as saying on his arrival in Dili, East Timor, from France on Monday. Belo was in France to attend the celebration of the golden anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10.

Belo was accompanied by Francisco Kalbuadi, chairman of Dom Carlos Filipe Foundation. Francisco said the foundation would work with the East Timor Catholic Church to promote human rights, especially among the young generation, in the province.

Belo noted that the Armed Forces leadership in East Timor had called on its members to avoid violating rights, and asked both parties to exercise self-restraint and to conduct a dialog.

Meanwhile, visiting Canadian Ambassador Kenneth Sunquist, said that East Timorese had yet to understand the essence of the special autonomy for the province offered by the government to solve the prolonged East Timor issue.

Quoting Expedito Diaz Ximenes, spokesman for East Timor provincial administration, Antara reported that Sunquist made the statement in a closed meeting with Governor Abilio Jose Osoario Soares at the latter's office on Monday.

Ximenes said the Canadian government would continue to support the dialog between Indonesia and Portugal under auspices of the UN secretary-general to seek a peaceful and comprehensive solution to the East Timor issue.

Portugal unilaterally stopped a senior official meeting with Indonesia in New York recently in protest against the attack of a military office on Nov. 9 in Alas, Manufahi, and the shooting of school teacher by unidentified men in the same regency last month.

Also on Monday, thousands of students and youths staged a peaceful demonstration at the Dili Legislative Council in protest against the failure of a joint fact-finding team to investigate the Alas incident in which five died, including three soldiers.

The Falintil resistant group is still holding as hostage two soldiers it captured in the incident. (rms/33)