Congressman urges U.S. effort on E. Timor

Congressman urges U.S. effort on E. Timor

WASHINGTON (Reuter): A U.S. congressman who recently visited East Timor urged the Clinton administration on Thursday to take the lead in tackling human rights abuses in the territory.

Highlighting reports of torture and killings, Representative Frank Wolf suggested Washington send a high level envoy like Gen. Colin Powell, the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the situation with Indonesian officials.

"It is time for the administration to actively search for solutions to human rights problems in East Timor," Wolf said at a news conference.

Wolf, a Virginia Republican, visited East Timor from Jan. 12- 14 and also met with Indonesian officials in Jakarta.

"East Timor is at the bottom of the scale on human rights," Wolf said. "No one goes out after dark."

He said many of the people he met in East Timor were afraid to talk to him but some told of killings, torture, beatings and disappearances carried out by Indonesian military and police.

Wolf also suggested that President Bill Clinton meet with Nobel Peace Prize-winning Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo when he visits the United States later this year. Belo won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize along with exiled resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta for their efforts to resolve the conflict in the former Portuguese colony.

Indonesia took control of East Timor in 1975, but the United Nations has never recognized the takeover.

Wolf said the United States should use its influence and good relations with Indonesia to help ease tensions in East Timor. He said Washington should work with the United Nations, Portugal and Germany, which also has close ties with Jakarta.

"It's just the right thing to do," Wolf said.

He questioned whether campaign contributions from Indonesian companies and individuals to Clinton and the Democratic Party may have influenced U.S. policy on Indonesia and East Timor, but said he did not know if this was true.