Int'l tribunal for E. Timor 'bloodbath' possible

Int'l tribunal for E. Timor 'bloodbath' possible

WASHINGTON (AFP): An international tribunal to bring
perpetrators of last year's "bloodbath" in East Timor should be
convened if Indonesia's efforts to conduct an inquiry are not
deemed acceptable, United States Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said on Friday.

"The bottom line is that those responsible for orchestrating
this bloodbath must be brought to justice," Albright said.

"If the Indonesian judicial system is capable of delivering
credible justice, so much the better. (But) if that is not
ultimately the case, the international community can and should
exert its prerogative to see that the perpetrators are brought to
justice," she said.

Though holding out the international option, Albright,
speaking to a conference on war crimes here, praised Indonesia's
efforts thus far to investigate the violence that swept the
territory ahead of and after the territory's August vote for
independence from Jakarta.

She noted the creation this week of a 64-member panel to probe
the incidents and its prompt summoning of top generals in the
Army who are suspected of ordering or being complicit in the
violence.

The team -- which answers directly to Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman -- is investigating five incidents in East Timor.

"The prospects are promising for a credible and effective
domestic accountability process that hard-liners cannot dismiss
as a Western-imposed, politically motivated version of victors'
justice," Albright said, encouraging Indonesian authorities to be
thorough in their work.

If they are, she added, "Indonesia's judicial capacity and
credibility will be enhanced."