Government shifts stance on UN probe

Government shifts stance on UN probe

JAKARTA (JP): Shifting from its previous acceptance, the
government on Wednesday announced its opposition to a planned
United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate reported
atrocities in East Timor in aftermath of the self-determination
ballot there.

Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi said the government
rejected the UN resolution to set up the international inquiry
because it had already established a national commission to
verify the allegations. The government will also form a human
rights tribunal to follow up the commission's findings as well as
other gross human rights abuses.

President B.J. Habibie is expected to sign on Thursday a
Perpu, a government regulation in lieu of a law, on the
establishment of the human rights tribunal, which is suggested by
the newly endorsed law on human rights, according to Muladi.

Citing Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas' report, Muladi
said the UN Human Rights Commission plan was not binding for the
government.

"Indonesia rejects the UN fact-finding inquiry on human rights
violations in East Timor and also the UN resolution issued on
Sept. 27 in New York about the situation in East Timor," Muladi
said after attending a Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha presidential
office.

Different from Alatas' statement in New York, Muladi earlier
said the government had to accept the UN decision on the
international inquiry.

"As a member of the UN we have to approve the commission,"
said Muladi, a professor of law, on Tuesday.

He quoted Alatas as saying that none of Asian countries voted
for the UN proposal for the inquiry. "And it's very interesting
that Russia, Sudan, China and Cuba were supportive of Indonesia,"
Muladi said.

Muladi said the President conveyed the government rejection to
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a telephone conversation on
Tuesday night.

"The President told Annan, within two or three months, the
national fact-finding commission would be able to finish its
investigation", said Muladi.

He acknowledged international pressure had forced the
government to accelerate the setting up the tribunal.

Law No. 39, signed into law by the President last week,
actually mandates its establishment within four years.

The minister also conceded government foot-dragging and
reluctance to fully follow up any findings of the respected
National Commission on Human Rights in the past, had influenced
the international community perception about the effectiveness of
the commission inquiry.

"This is first test case for the national commission," said
Muladi, who is a former member of the commission.

Muladi also pointed out the danger to Indonesia of the UN
resolution and plan on East Timor because the fact-finding
commission would become an embryo for the birth of an
international war tribunal.

"Such a human rights tribunal would be rather unpleasant for
Indonesia," warned Muladi.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said in
New York on Tuesday the scale of atrocities in East Timor may
well warrant an international war crimes tribunal.

"The allegations cover not only actions against individuals
but patterns of systematic coordination," Robinson added.

"If that is borne out, that is the kind of evidence that
warrants the establishment of an international tribunal," she
said as quoted by AP on the sidelines of a humanitarian award
ceremony at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Robinson said her office would actively support and coordinate
a UN inquiry into the killings which was approved Monday. Such an
investigation is the first possible step in creating an
international tribunal.

She also said work had already started and that evidence was
being preserved at the sites. (prb)