RI says UN statement on E. Timor acceptable

RI says UN statement on E. Timor acceptable

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia says a statement by the United Nations
Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) about human rights in East Timor
acknowledged progress made by Jakarta in the territory, although
it also expressed some concerns.

A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
Indonesia find the statement issued at the end of the commission
conference in Geneva last Wednesday "acceptable".

Director of International Organizations Hasan Wirayuda told
The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the Chairman's Statement did
not lambaste the situation in East Timor.

He noted that most of the points in the statement specifically
expressed either "satisfaction" or "welcome" towards various
developments and initiatives on East Timor.

The "deep concern" expressed in the statement was over alleged
reports of human rights violations in East Timor, he said. "It
did not make judgments on the situation itself."

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
part of Indonesia in 1976. The UN however has not officially
recognized the integration and regards Lisbon as the
administering power.

Hasan was part of the Indonesian delegation headed by the
Director General for Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim at the
Geneva meetings. The Indonesian delegation took an active part in
the deliberation to draft the chairman statement.

This is the third consecutive year that a chairman's statement
was issued, rather than a resolution, with regard to the
situation in East Timor.

Among the progress noted in the statement, as pointed out by
Hasan, was satisfaction over the greater access given to
international media and humanitarian organizations.

On the question of "future presence of human rights
organizations" in East Timor as said in the statement, Hasan said
this actually pointed to a technical cooperation program in the
field of human rights.

The possibility of assigning a program officer at the UN
office in Jakarta is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Intent on
technical cooperation in human rights signed last year and not
meant to assume a monitoring role of human rights practices.

Hasan said Indonesia has agreed to invite a "thematic
rapporteur" instead of "special rapporteur" from the United
Nations to visit the country in 1997.

A "thematic rapporteur's" is issue-oriented and not designated
to investigate a specific country while the term "special
rapporteur" can imply a person who is assigned towards a specific
country for gross human violations.

With regard to earlier reports suggesting that the chairman
statement called on Indonesia to fully investigate the 1991 Dili
incident, Hasan said the statement merely stated the need for
further clarification on the circumstances surrounding the
incident.

"This means that they (commission members) have accepted our
report and just want further clarification," he said.

An Indonesian independent commission investigating the
incident said that "around 50" were killed in the incident in
which East Timorese demonstrators clashed with soldiers.

Several military officers responsible for the incident have
since been punished. (mds)