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)