Rights body to probe E. Timor violence

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the National Commission on Human Rights will visit strife-plagued East Timor next week to investigate reports of an attack on a proindependence group in Liquica on Monday, which was allegedly perpetrated by the military-backed militia.

Secretary-general of the rights body Clementino dos Reis Amaral told The Jakarta Post on Friday the fact-finding mission would leave for East Timor on Wednesday or Thursday.

Amaral will be accompanied by Djoko Soegianto, B.N. Marbun and Koesparmono Irsan. He did not state the duration of the visit.

"We will try to establish what really happened in Liquica earlier this week as there are two different reports on the incident," Amaral said.

The Armed Forces (ABRI) insists only five people were killed in Liquica, about 40 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Dili, but Nobel Peace co-laureate Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo said there were at least 25 fatalities.

Belo said the Church stood by its earlier statement about the number of those killed. He pointed out as well that the bodies of those five that the Armed Forces claimed were killed had not been recovered by their families.

He therefore appealed to the Udayana Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, who oversees Bali, Nusa Tenggara and East Timor, to return the bodies to their families.

"If ABRI wants to (win people's trust), it should have been more honest in its statements," Amaral said.

He cited the November 1991 shooting in the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, when the military claimed 19 people were killed and 91 others were injured.

Later investigations by a government-backed commission found that at least 50 people died after troops opened fire on a demonstration by proindependence supporters.

Earlier on Friday, about 25 East Timorese youths rallied at the rights body's office in Central Jakarta in support of a call by rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao for proindependence supporters to fight back against pro-Indonesian forces.

"We East Timorese youth totally support Xanana's statement," the protesters said in a media release.

Participants included members of the National Council of East Timorese Resistance (CNRT) and Union of East Timor Muslim Students.

The Solidarity Forum for the People of Timor Lorosae (Fortilos) also visited the commission to submit a report alleging rights violations by military-backed militia.

The protesters accused the military of engineering a situation in the former Portuguese colony in which people "kill each other". They also accused the United Nations of foot-dragging in finding a solution.

"Its (the military's) barbarous acts show the cowardly attitude of the Indonesian government, mainly its military, (in its campaign) to maintain its illegal occupation of East Timor," said a statement issued by CNRT youths.

Protesters demanded the military's withdrawal from East Timor and disarmament of the paramilitary militia under international supervision.

They also called for an immediate deployment of the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor.

The request, also aired by Xanana on Tuesday, was rejected by ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto on Wednesday on the grounds that problems in East Timor were internal concerns of Indonesia. He reiterated the stance on Friday, terming the call unreasonable because East Timor is part of Indonesia's sovereignty.

Minister of Justice Muladi on Friday threatened to remove Xanana from his designated special detention house and send him back to jail unless he retracted the reported call to arms.

He said he was verifying if Xanana actually made the statement.

"If it is true that he has declared war, it clearly violates (the terms of his) placement in the current place. If he really has such intentions, we will review his position there, we will return him to Cipinang," Muladi said.

The government moved Xanana in February from Cipinang Prison to the special detention house, following calls by the UN secretary-general for him to play a greater role in the East Timor peace process.

The rebel leader was caught in 1992 and jailed for life for plotting against the state and the illegal possession of weapons. His term was commuted to 20 years in jail.

Xanana made his statement late Monday following reports of a massacre in the territory.

He subsequently said he did not order a war but urged followers to defend themselves, including against pro-Indonesian militia.

Muladi, speaking to journalists at the presidential palace, said Xanana would be given a week to provide a written retraction if he issued the call in writing.

"He has to make a written statement within one week and make it public, reading it himself on television, not through his lawyers, so that his (earlier) statement could be corrected."

He said Xanana might have violated the terms of his move from jail and risked a hostile reaction from pro-Indonesian East Timorese.

The United Nations Information Center confirmed in a statement on Friday talks between Indonesia and Portugal on East Timor, which were originally scheduled for April 13 and April 14, have been postponed to April 21.

"The postponement was at the request of the Indonesian government which is finalizing the text of the autonomy- proposal," read the statement, a copy of which was made available to the Post.

The scheduled April 22 meeting of the UN secretary-general and the foreign ministers of the two countries remains unchanged, it said. (byg/prb/33)