Marzuki to brief House leaders on Timor MOU, joint communique
Marzuki to brief House leaders on Timor MOU, joint communique
JAKARTA (JP): In an attempt to calm fears of foreign
intervention, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Wednesday
he would brief the House of Representatives (DPR) on a joint
investigation by his office and the United Nations into last
year's violence in East Timor.
"The MoU (memorandum of understanding) and joint communique
(between the government and the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor) will be explained to House leaders
tomorrow (Thursday) at 11 a.m.," Marzuki said after a Cabinet
meeting at Bina Graha presidential office.
DPR, backed by the military, has strongly criticized the joint
communique, which was signed in February, and its subsequent MoU
between the government and UNTAET regarding cooperation on legal,
judicial and human rights related matters.
Legislators, top generals and lawyers representing military
and police officers implicated in East Timor violence fear that
the agreement would lead to foreign intervention in the country's
domestic affairs.
Marzuki said, however, that the joint agreement was actually
made "to prevent an international tribunal (for those involved in
the violence) from being convened.
He again guaranteed that "human rights violations in East
Timor will be prosecuted under Indonesian law".
The memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta
Post on Wednesday, says that the government and UNTAET shall
"afford to each other the widest possible measure of mutual
assistance in investigations or court proceedings".
The memorandum, signed in April by Marzuki and UNTAET chief,
Sergio Vieira de Mello, also says the mutual assistance would
include, among others, "taking evidence or statements from
persons; assisting in the availability of detained persons;
ensuring service of judicial documents; executing arrests,
searches and seizures; facilitating transfer of persons; and
ensuring participation of representatives of authorities in legal
proceedings".
Later in the day, secretary-general of the National Commission
on Human Rights, Asmara Nababan, accused the defense lawyers of
"shifting the focus of public attention from impunity and human
rights violations to legal procedures".
"The core of the problem is that there have been violations of
human rights and in this case, a crime against humanity, and this
must be resolved," Asmara told the Post.
Separately, Governor of the National Resilience Institute Lt.
Gen. Johny Lumintang voiced a different tone from his colleagues
saying that the joint investigation by the government and UNTAET
"should not be avoided".
"If we try to hide things or to complicate the investigation,
it will be more obvious that we are guilty (of the allegations),"
he said. (02/byg)