Indonesia slams Portugal's hypocrisy

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia yesterday fired a broadside at Portugal saying a country known for its colonial past should not pretend to be a champion of human rights.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, when asked by journalists, lambasted comments by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio who had criticized Jakarta's human rights record and policy in East Timor.

During a televised debate after the presentation of the Nobel Peace prize in Oslo, to Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and East Timor separatist leader Jose Ramos Horta, Sampaio attacked Jakarta for denying East Timor the right to self- determination.

Alatas questioned how such a statement could be made by the president of a country notorious for being one of the world's worst colonialists.

"With all my respect to the Portuguese President, I found it quite funny seeing him express a position as if Portugal was a champion of human rights and self-determination. My question is, were those things applied in Angola? I don't think so. In Mozambique? Neither there too," remarked Alatas.

Alatas refuted Sampaio's accusation that Jakarta has failed to implement a United Nations decision to place a representative of the UN human rights commission in East Timor.

Sampaio was wrong, no such decision had ever been taken, said the minister, who was speaking on the sidelines of the on-going ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Meanwhile, the OIC conference political affairs committee expressed support for Indonesia's position on East Timor.

Near the end of the committee meeting, Indonesia's Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo took the floor to explain the situation in East Timor.

"I would like now to appeal to our friends in the OIC to show understanding and support for the Indonesian position...This could be reflected in the final documents," he told the committee.

Egyptian assistant foreign minister Sayed Kassem El-Masry told The Jakarta Post after the meeting that there had been spontaneous support from the floor, and the committee agreed to forward a statement to be included in tomorrow's final communique.

A Pakistani delegate, Shah M. Jamal, said more then 20 countries took to the floor in support of Indonesia's position. They included Malaysia, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

"It would form part of the final communique to be issued by the conference. It would clearly support the efforts taken by the Indonesian government," said Jamal who is director of OIC at the foreign ministry in Pakistan.

The move came as a surprise as Alatas last week had said Indonesia would not be seeking a statement of support from the OIC over the East Timor issue.

Belo

Meanwhile Alatas and Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman expressed satisfaction at Belo's press conference in Oslo.

Soesilo commended Belo for saying the Nobel prize was also for all Indonesian people and because he had refused to hold a joint press conference with Horta.

Soesilo said President Soeharto had given him permission to meet with Belo upon his return.

"Yo tampanen wae (yes, just receive him)," Soesilo said in Javanese, referring to Soeharto's comments.

He said Jakarta appreciated Belo's comments which showed that Belo was a person aware of his position as leader of the Catholic community in East Timor, which is inseparable to the country as a whole.

In Oslo, the Indonesian embassy yesterday filed a complaint to the Norwegian police for failing to inform them they had detained two Indonesians who had gone to the Norwegian capital to protest against Ramos Horta.

First Secretary of the Indonesian Embassy, Andhika Bambang Supeno said the Norwegian police had apologized.

The two men -- Joao Angelo D'sausa Mota, in his 40s, and Octavio Augusto De Jesus Osorio Soares, in 20s -- are of East Timorese origin and reside in Yogyakarta. They told embassy officials that they had anti-Horta pamphlets.

Police who held them for six hours, said there was some confusion about their names, according to Andhika.

Norwegian press reports had earlier said the two men were Indonesian intelligence officers sent to disrupt the Nobel prize giving ceremony. (mds/lem)