Government rejects UN report on rights violations in E. Timor

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government rejected a report by the United Nations's Commission of Experts which recommended that the Security Council set up an international tribunal to try top military officers allegedly involved in human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

"In principle, we could not accept their recommendation. We reject it. I have said earlier that whatever the result (of the Commission) is, we will continue to work with the government of Timor Leste to settle our past through the Commission of Truth and Friendship that we have agreed on before," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said on Tuesday.

He added that the government considered that the recommendations of the Commission were not in line with their terms of reference, meaning that it could not be applied here politically and would not support the efforts of the Commission of Truth and Friendship to seek reconciliation.

He said that the government of Indonesia would submit its stance on the issue soon to the UN secretary-general and Security Council.

The three-member UN panel, set by the UN secretary-general to evaluate Indonesia's efforts to punish those responsible for the violence that erupted in East Timor after it voted to break free from Indonesia in a U.N.-organized referendum in 1999.

The independence ballot sparked a rampage by pro-Indonesia militia, allegedly directed by Indonesian troops, that left more than 1,000 people dead. The bloodshed only ended with the arrival of peacekeeping troops.

The government then established an Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for Timor Leste in Jakarta. The Indonesian attorney general indicted 18 military and police personnel, two government officials and a militia leader but no high-level suspects. Of the 18 who were tried, only six were convicted, and five of those convictions were ultimately overturned on appeal.

The Commission of Experts visited Indonesia earlier this year and submitted its report to the Security Council late last month.

In their report, the experts determined that Indonesia's efforts to secure justice had been "manifestly inadequate." They urged the Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal to try the perpetrators unless the government takes "substantive action" within six months.

"...we reject the recommendation of the possibility of the establishment of an international tribunal because it will not solve anything," Hassan said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said that the government would lobby the Security Council not to approve the recommendations of the Commission of Experts.

The government also believes that the establishment of an international tribunal for the East Timor case would not be easy.

"The process is not that easy. The UN is facing a lot of problems such as the cases of Darfur and Iraq. Why hasn't the case involving the prisoners in Guantanamo in the United States been proposed for a tribunal? It's a case of gross human rights violations. It's more severe that the East Timor case. They shouldn't apply a double standard," Juwono said.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raised the issue during a meeting with United States Ambassador for Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe at the Presidential Office. The President will also lead a delegation for a state visit to China in the coming weeks. Both the United States and China are permanent members of the Security Council.