RI Embassy slams Wolf's biased view of E. Timor
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Embassy in Washington went on the counter offensive yesterday against what they called the "biased, one-sided" remarks made by United States Congressman Frank Wolf on the issue of East Timor.
A statement from the embassy, received here yesterday, described the congressman's reflections on his visit to East Timor as "a perspective doubtless cemented prior to his visit and completely unaffected by the reality of life today in East Timor".
The statement said that given the great effort he made to travel to East Timor, "it is especially disappointing that an opportunity to reach beyond the prejudice and simplistic caricatures was so completely and utterly ignored".
The Republican congressman from Virginia, after a brief junket to Dili on Jan. 12-14, made some very strong criticisms of conditions in East Timor.
He reportedly described conditions in Indonesia's youngest province as being "at the bottom of the scale on human rights".
He called on the Clinton administration to take a tougher line against the alleged human rights abuses committed by Jakarta and went as far as to suggest Washington send a high level envoy to discuss the situation with Indonesian officials.
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976. However the United Nations and many other Western states still recognize Lisbon as the administrative power there.
The Indonesian Embassy said it was "puzzled" that Wolf's reflections were completely at odds with those made by his colleagues on previous visits.
The embassy added that Wolf's very brief visit "could hardly have yielded any depth of knowledge on East Timor's rapid transition from poverty and misery under Portuguese rule to progress and well-being".
"We (the Indonesian government) have been more sensitive to the rights of the people of East Timor and have done more to enhance the quality of life of East Timor's people in 20 short years than over 450 years of Portuguese colonial servitude," said the embassy.
Charges by the congressman about the large military presence in East Timor were also countered.
The embassy maintains that of the five 800-troop battalions there, only one is a combat group while the other four are entrusted with the civic mission of infrastructure building.
The embassy also brushed aside Wolf's attempts to link allegations of criminal activity to the military as "irresponsible" and "libelous".
"If Mr. Wolf has proof of criminal acts he should alert the authorities, if he doesn't he should refrain from unfounded allegations," the embassy said.
Yesterday's statement comes a day after Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas fired a salvo against what he calls Western double standards.
Alatas revealed Tuesday that he had recently received a letter from Congressman Patrick Kennedy who professed his concern for several people detained in a Christmas eve melee, but neglected to express his anguish about the victims of the incident.
Foreign Ministry sources yesterday divulged that Alatas in his Jan. 23 reply said he was "disappointed" with Kennedy's "biased and a priori assessment of Indonesia's policy on the protection of human rights in East Timor."
Kennedy, son of Senator Edward Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, addressed his Dec. 31 letter to President Soeharto. (mds)