Eurico resists UN team probe over rights abuse

Eurico resists UN team probe over rights abuse

JAKARTA (JP): Former East Timorese prointegration leader
Eurico Guterres said on Tuesday he would not submit to
questioning by a UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET) team probing 1999 human rights abuses in the former
Indonesian province.

"I am a citizen of Indonesia ... I refuse to be questioned, to
be tried by foreigners ... unless they also investigate Xanana
Gusmao, the Portuguese government, the United Nations and the
traitor (former president) B.J. Habibie," Eurico said after an
"informal meeting" with UNTAET investigators here on Tuesday.

"They also should be held responsible for the human rights
violations after the direct ballot ... not only me," he said.

Under an agreement signed by the Attorney General's Office and
UN officials, both sides have the right to question witnesses in
each others jurisdictions for the purpose of investigating rights
abuses in East Timor.

After the two-hour meeting at the Attorney General's Office,
Eurico's lawyer Suhardi Somomoeljono said "we have reached some
concessions".

He also said Eurico had disclosed details of various
violations allegedly committed by the proindependence camp,
including its leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao.

Suhardi added that Eurico asked the UNTAET team, led by Oyvind
Olsen, to carry out an impartial investigation.

Eurico is currently on trial for the illegal possession of
firearms and for inciting crimes in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara,
last September.

Separately, East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA)
foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, after meeting with Attorney
General Marzuki Darusman, denied suggestions he was interfering
in Jakarta's investigation into the violence in the territory.

"We're not at all interfering, we're not saying anything to
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman (about the investigation) ...
we're only saying that for the sake of justice and the good name
of the Republic (of Indonesia), justice must be done and seen to
be done."

Claiming that the meeting was a courtesy visit, Horta welcomed
the efforts of the Attorney General's Office, while warning that
the eyes of the world were on the investigation.

Horta would not comment on the possibility of Gusmao being
questioned, saying that such a decision would have to be made by
East Timor officials.

"Xanana Gusmao is internationally respected and he is a hero
for the East Timorese ... beyond that, I should not comment any
further." (bby)