'East Timor inquiry needs full freedom'

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab (left) meets with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on Tuesday to detail the progress of Indonesia's inquiry into violence in the former Indonesian province of East Timor.

During the meeting, Alwi stressed that the government sanctioned Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP Ham) in East Timor should be given full freedom to carry out their work without any intervention, including from the UN, a statement issued by the Indonesian Permanent Representative in New York said.

Alwi urged the international community not to prejudge the work of the Indonesian inquiry, saying what was most important was the end result.

He stressed that the Indonesian government would not permit impunity on rights violations and thus there was no need to convene an international tribunal on the violence which occurred in East Timor after the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot. (mds)