Rights activists air concerns over East Timor rights tribunal
Rights activists air concerns over East Timor rights tribunal
JAKARTA (JP): Human rights activists aired doubt on Thursday
that the government-sanctioned commission of inquiry into East
Timor would be able to thoroughly resolve alleged rights abuses
in the troubled territory.
Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI) told The Jakarta Post that while the mission
was not authorized to prosecute the alleged perpetrators, its
findings would not be "legally binding".
Hendardi was speaking after attending a closed-door discussion
on the inquiry with a number of leading rights activists at the
National Commission on Human Rights' office.
"Impartiality and justice can only be guaranteed if those who
are found involved in the violence are brought to an
international war crimes tribunal," Hendardi said.
He was referring to the planned establishment of a national
human rights tribunal which was decided by Jakarta last week
following its rejection of an international commission of inquiry
into East Timor.
Rampaging violence prevailed in East Timor following the
announcement of the Aug. 30 ballot which saw an overwhelming vote
for independence.
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed and rights
groups claim that pro-Jakarta militias and some elements within
the Indonesian Military were allegedly involved in the violence.
Rights body chairman Marzuki Darusman said later in the day
that he "acknowledged" the skepticism.
Marzuki, however, said that "under the enormous international
pressure, it will not be easy for the government to ignore the
findings of the fact-finding mission".
"What we are doing now is trying to eliminate the culture of
impunity here... the establishment of a national human rights
tribunal will show that nobody can get away now with human rights
violations," Marzuki said.
Marzuki said the mission, which was scheduled to complete its
investigation by the end of December, was expected to start work
early next week.
Leading human rights groups have said that a rejection to an
international inquiry into East Timor was a sign of the
government's reluctance to bring those who were allegedly
involved in the violence to an international war crime
tribunal. (byg)