E. Timor may push for UN panel to try Indonesian officers
E. Timor may push for UN panel to try Indonesian officers
Agencies, Dili
East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao on Friday said the
government may consider pushing the United Nations to convene a
special war crimes tribunal to try Indonesian officers allegedly
responsible for the destruction of the territory in 1999.
Gusmao's comments came after he met with Mary Robinson, the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights. He also said he told Robinson
that the need for an international tribunal is being assessed.
This marked the first time that the leadership of the new
nation has hinted it may support a war crimes tribunal akin to
those for Rwanda and ex-Yugoslavia.
In the past, Dili has always said it trusted Indonesian courts
to deliver justice to those accused of inciting the violence that
led to hundreds of deaths and the destruction of much of East
Timor after its people voted for independence in a UN-organized
referendum.
Last week, two Indonesian courts acquitted a general and five
other senior officers standing trial on charges of having allowed
their subordinates to take part in massacres in the former
Indonesian province in 1999.
The verdicts outraged human rights groups, who have long
feared that most of those who unleashed the bloody mayhem across
the half-island state would go unpunished, despite Indonesia's
promises to the international community that justice would be
done.
Foreign governments - including the U.S. - accused Indonesia
of failing to aggressively prosecute the cases.
Robinson on Friday condemned Indonesia's trials over
atrocities in East Timor in 1999 and said she would take her
concerns to the United Nations Security Council.
On her second trip to East Timor since the territory voted to
break from Jakarta's harsh rule in a UN-sponsored referendum in
August 1999, Robinson said the acquittal of several police and
army officers last week was a black eye for Indonesia.
She also expressed concern about reports that Timorese
witnesses who came to Jakarta to give evidence were intimidated.
East Timor's move to overwhelmingly split from Indonesia
unleashed a wave of killing and looting by pro-Jakarta militias
who were backed by parts of Indonesia's security forces.
"The results were not satisfying...in terms of international
human rights standards," Robinson said on arrival at Dili
airport.
"This will attract world attention and we will take this to an
international forum and the United Nations Security Council,"
Robinson told reporters without elaborating.
Some activists have said Jakarta could face an international
tribunal along the lines of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia if
it failed to account for the violence. Diplomats have played down
that prospect, saying such a move would get little support from
permanent UN Security Council members China and Russia.
Around 100 Timorese rights activists protesting against the
Jakarta court rulings rallied on the road from the airport as
Robinson arrived. She is visiting East Timor for two days as part
of a final trip to Asia before leaving office next month.
East Timor became formally independent last May.
Speaking at a media briefing, Robinson said the UN was
concerned over reports Timorese witnesses were intimidated.
"I've heard reports of intimidation of East Timorese witnesses
who have taken the brave step of giving evidence before the ad
hoc tribunal in Jakarta," she said.
"Let me say that it is absolutely essential that witnesses are
able to provide evidence to the tribunal without fear, and the
United Nations will consider any harm or intimidation of
witnesses in these trials as an extremely serious matter."