Dili's Bishop Belo voices suferings of voiceless people

JAKARTA (JP): Dili Bishop Carlos Fillipe Ximenes Belo, a 1996 Nobel Peace Prize cowinner, has often spoken out against the suffering of East Timorese and those in other provinces.

The coleader of the Roman Catholic Church in East Timor has frequently angered the government and military leaders with his frank statements on human rights abuse in the country's youngest province.

"He always uses very plain language to say something. He is so frank that is unbelievable when his statements are interpreted differently," said Dr. Muhammad Hikam yesterday at the launch of Belo's book titled Voice of the Voiceless.

The book was on sale for Rp 10,000 before the launch.

Hikam, a researcher at the National Institute of Sciences, said he was not surprised that the government, which was unused to hearing the bitter truth, was often outraged by Belo's statements.

Another speaker, Clementino dos Reis Amaral of the National Commission on Human Rights said: "His statements are simple, sometimes very bitter but nutritious."

Amaral said Belo, who he had known since his youth, had never opposed East Timor's integration with Indonesia despite accusations to the contrary.

"His parents, sisters and brothers were all members of the Apodeti party, which has always struggled for integration with Indonesia," said Amaral, who called the bishop a national asset.

"Sometimes he lost his patience because almost everyday people came to him, many of them victims of physical abuse. Mothers came to search for their missing sons, or starving children came who had nothing to eat or youths who were hunted by the military," he said.

The 275-page book contains Belo's interviews with eight Indonesian magazines and two daily newspapers from February 1984 to November 1996.

Despite its English title, the book is in Indonesian.

Sihol Siagian, the book's editor, said: "We have sold almost 8,000 copies."

Bishop Belo was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize last December. He shared the prize with self-exiled East Timor separatist spokesman Jose Ramos Horta. Belo became the first Indonesian to win the prestigious award.

The government has said it is shocked by the awards, especially to Ramos Horta. It has never congratulated Belo.

State Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono has questioned the prize's selection criteria.

Father Franz Magnis-Suseno said East Timor was "a beam tied to our leg," and Belo was a "moderate and balanced spiritual leader".

"He talks about humanitarian issues not politics," Magnis- Suseno said.

Most of the 100-strong audience at the launch strongly protested when the discussion's moderator, Kepra, said that Belo should choose whether he was pro-integration or pro-independence. (06)