Rights body begins E. Timor visit
Rights body begins E. Timor visit
DILI, East Timor (JP): The National Commission for Human Rights arrived yesterday to investigate the recent killings in Liquisa of six people the military believes were rebels.
The five-member team lead by Commission chief Ali Said met with Liquisa regent Leonetu Martin and Roman Catholic priest Rafael Dos Santos.
The investigation team is scheduled to visit the Fatufo village today where the incident happened.
The other team members are Muladi, Joko Sugianto, Marzuki Darusman and Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, who is an indigenous East Timorese.
Local military Chief Col. Kiki Syahnakri has repeatedly insisted that the six victims were Fretelin rebels killed in a skirmish with troops on Jan. 12. He said soldiers confiscated a document which suggests they were separatists.
But many local residents and church leaders have rejected the military's version, saying that those slain were innocent civilians. The Armed Forces headquarters in Jakarta has also started its own investigation following international outcry.
Ali Said assured the public that the Commission is an independent body that will look into the incident in Fatufo village, about 60 kilometers west of here.
"We will talk to local community leaders, ordinary people and government officials we believe can provide useful information," Clementino said on his arrival in Dili.
Father Rafael told journalists after meeting the Commission members that relatives of those killed met with him day and night until Feb. 16 for advice.
"Some tearfully told me about their slain loved ones," he said.
The church plays a key role in the predominantly Roman Catholic East Timor.
On Wednesday, chief of the Udayana military command Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna who oversees security in the former Portuguese territory, said he welcomed the rights commission's fact finding mission.
He described the Commission's move as "positive and very heartening" and expressed the hope that the results would be noted by foreign countries, especially their mass media.
"Foreign countries always doubt our (military) version of an event," he said.
The Dili diocese through its Commission for Justice and Peace has promised support for the investigation.
East Timor Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo said he wrote to President Soeharto, asking him to address human rights abuses in the territory. (yac/pan)