'E. Timor might not seek UN court to try militias'
'E. Timor might not seek UN court to try militias'
Agence France-Presse, Dili, East Timor
East Timor may not seek a United Nations tribunal to try cases of militia atrocities three years ago even if Indonesia's human rights court fails to deliver justice, its foreign minister said Monday.
Jose Ramos-Horta said the government is considering an alternative solution to satisfy the public's demand for justice, taking into account East Timor's good relations with Indonesia.
"We have to think about the consequences if we are to demand an international tribunal, what problems will emerge especially as far as our relations with Indonesia are concerned," he told reporters.
Ramos-Horta said his ministry would meet President Xanana Gusmao to discuss an alternative solution should the ongoing rights trials in Jakarta fail to satisfy East Timorese demands for justice.
"Maybe it won't be an international tribunal but an idea of justice, although not 100 percent justice," he said. He did not elaborate.
Pro-Jakarta militias, armed and organized by the Indonesian military, waged a bloody campaign of terror in which tens of people were killed before and after East Timor's vote on Aug. 30, 1999, to break away from Indonesia.
Indonesia has set up the human rights court to try the atrocities to deflect international pressure for an international tribunal.
Ramos-Horta described relations with Indonesia as "very good" but said East Timor would not forget the 1999 militia violence.
"We realize that the public, non-governmental organizations demand justice," the foreign minister said.
"As the president has said many times, justice must not only be delivered to East Timorese who joined militia groups but more importantly, to the leaders in Jakarta, those generals and colonels who now remain free," he said.
In July Gusmao received red carpet treatment when he made his first visit to Indonesia since his country became independent on May 20 after 31 months of UN stewardship.
A total of 18 people have been tried or are still on trial in Indonesia's human rights court for alleged gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.
In widely criticized verdicts, the human rights court has already acquitted six officers, including the former East Timor police chief, and sentenced the former provincial governor to just three years in jail.