Timorese leaders hail Soeharto-Guterres meet
Timorese leaders hail Soeharto-Guterres meet
JAKARTA (JP): Two senior East Timorese politicians yesterday welcomed the meeting between President Soeharto and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, saying that the event raised hopes for a diplomatic solution to the East Timor question.
F.X. Lopez da Cruz, the roving ambassador for East Timor, and Clementino dos Reis Amaral, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said the meeting would pave the way to the reopening of Indonesian-Portuguese diplomatic ties.
Soeharto and Guterres met briefly after dinner on the eve of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Bangkok on Thursday. Guterres suggested that the two countries reopen diplomatic ties, severed 20 years ago, but also demanded that Indonesia release all East Timor political prisoners, particularly Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao. Lopez and Amaral admitted that Guterres' demand was hard to meet but the matter is up to President Soeharto to decide.
They also support Guterres' proposal that Indonesia should improve its human rights record in East Timor.
Lopez asked why Guterres should link the noble purpose of reopening diplomatic ties with the release of Xanana, who is serving a 20 year jail term in Jakarta for heading an armed rebellion in East Timor.
"Xanana is not a political prisoner as foreigners think. He is in jail for murder and other criminal acts," he said.
Xanana, leader of the separatist Fretilin movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment. This was commuted to 20 years in 1993.
Amaral said that the release of Xanana would have consequences both at home and on the diplomatic front.
"If Xanana is freed, other detainees would demand the same. It would also create legal complications because he was sentenced as a criminal," he said.
As for Guterres' demand for better respect for human rights in East Timor, Amaral said Indonesia has no reason to reject.
"I fully agree. This condition should be met," he said. "We should not hesitate to admit human right abuses. Even champions of democracy like America violate basic rights."
But in his opinion, the best way forward would be for Indonesia and Portugal to reopen their embassies while continuing talks to settle the international status of East Timor.
While Jakarta insisted that East Timor is an inseparable part of Indonesia, the United Nations continues to regard Lisbon as the administrative power.
Amaral reiterated his long-standing proposal that East Timor be given special status in Indonesia due to its peculiar historical and cultural background.
"I believe that such a special status would go a long way to satisfy East Timorese wishes that their cultural identity be respected," he said. (pan)