Indonesia slams Portugal's hypocrisy

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)