UN inquiry to propose tribunal
UN inquiry to propose tribunal
JAKARTA (Agencies): An inquiry set up by the United Nations
into human rights abuses in East Timor has concluded that
Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel were directly involved in
last year's violence, sources close to the inquiry said in New
York on Saturday.
The report was commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and is due to be sent to the UN General Assembly and Security
Council on Monday, AFP reported.
The sources quoted the report as saying "the intimidation,
terror, destruction of property, displacement and evacuation of
people would not have been possible without the active
involvement of the Indonesian Army and the knowledge and approval
of top military commanders."
"The United Nations should establish an international human
rights tribunal consisting of judges appointed by the United
Nations, preferably with the participation of members from East
Timor and Indonesia," sources quoted the document as saying.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to make his official
response to the commission's report in New York on Monday.
The Indonesian government-sanctioned Inquiry into Human Rights
Abuses (KPP HAM) in East Timor is due to announce its findings
also on Monday. Speculation was rife that it would recommend the
government to prosecute several top military generals for the
mayhem in East Timor which erupted in September after a UN-
sponsored self-determination ballot.
"We will first hand over the report to the National Commission
on Human Rights at 10 a.m. and then to the Attorney General's
Office at 3 p.m.," KPP HAM secretary Asmara Nababan told The
Jakarta Post by phone on Sunday.
KPP HAM chairman Albert Hasibuan said on Friday that former
TNI chief Gen. Wiranto and Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, former chief of
the Udayana Military Command which oversaw East Timor, were
"morally responsible" for the post-ballot violence.
Albert, however, refused to confirm whether Wiranto and Adam
would be among the 20 to 30 names, mostly from the military, who
would be submitted to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman for
further investigation.
Wiranto is currently the coordinating minister for political
affairs and security.
As commission members met behind closed doors at a hotel in
Jakarta to finalize their report on Sunday, TNI Commander Adm.
Widodo A.S. called on KPP HAM to present a "credible" report.
On a visit to East Timor last week, the chief defense lawyer
for the TNI generals, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said his clients
were ready to face a human rights or war crimes tribunal.
But he said he found no evidence of military complicity in the
mass destruction and killings.
In Semarang, former justice minister Muladi, who is
coordinating the defense team for the senior military officers
questioned by KPP HAM, threatened that the team would take legal
action if the inquiry mentions names in its report on Monday.
Marzuki has said that if KKP HAM found evidence of human
rights violations in East Timor, an ad hoc committee would be set
up to prosecute those responsible in a national human rights
tribunal.
The Indonesian commission was established in October shortly
after Jakarta rejected the UN plan to launch an inquiry to look
into the possibility of prosecuting those responsible for the
East Timor violence on charges of crimes against humanity.
Sources close to the UN inquiry said that Indonesia has
rejected the call for an international tribunal, saying it was
under no legal obligation to comply with the UN inquiry, a BBC
report was quoted as saying by foreign news services.
In a letter to Annan accompanying the report, Indonesian
foreign minister Alwi Shihab said the report was biased and he
dismissed the accusations as totally false and baseless.
Alwi also warned that setting up an international human rights
tribunal would create obstacles in the promotion of friendly
relations between Indonesia and East Timor.
In his own accompanying letter, Annan said it would be up to
the General Assembly, Security Council and the Geneva-based
Commission on Human Rights to decide what further action was
required, sources were quoted as saying. (44/har)
JAKARTA (Agencies): An inquiry set up by the United Nations
into human rights abuses in East Timor has concluded that
Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel were directly involved in
last year's violence, sources close to the inquiry said in New
York on Saturday.
The report was commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and is due to be sent to the UN General Assembly and Security
Council on Monday, AFP reported.
The sources quoted the report as saying "the intimidation,
terror, destruction of property, displacement and evacuation of
people would not have been possible without the active
involvement of the Indonesian Army and the knowledge and approval
of top military commanders."
"The United Nations should establish an international human
rights tribunal consisting of judges appointed by the United
Nations, preferably with the participation of members from East
Timor and Indonesia," sources quoted the document as saying.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to make his official
response to the commission's report in New York on Monday.
The Indonesian government-sanctioned Inquiry into Human Rights
Abuses (KPP HAM) in East Timor is due to announce its findings
also on Monday. Speculation was rife that it would recommend the
government to prosecute several top military generals for the
mayhem in East Timor which erupted in September after a UN-
sponsored self-determination ballot.
"We will first hand over the report to the National Commission
on Human Rights at 10 a.m. and then to the Attorney General's
Office at 3 p.m.," KPP HAM secretary Asmara Nababan told The
Jakarta Post by phone on Sunday.
KPP HAM chairman Albert Hasibuan said on Friday that former
TNI chief Gen. Wiranto and Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, former chief of
the Udayana Military Command which oversaw East Timor, were
"morally responsible" for the post-ballot violence.
Albert, however, refused to confirm whether Wiranto and Adam
would be among the 20 to 30 names, mostly from the military, who
would be submitted to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman for
further investigation.
Wiranto is currently the coordinating minister for political
affairs and security.
As commission members met behind closed doors at a hotel in
Jakarta to finalize their report on Sunday, TNI Commander Adm.
Widodo A.S. called on KPP HAM to present a "credible" report.
On a visit to East Timor last week, the chief defense lawyer
for the TNI generals, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said his clients
were ready to face a human rights or war crimes tribunal.
But he said he found no evidence of military complicity in the
mass destruction and killings.
In Semarang, former justice minister Muladi, who is
coordinating the defense team for the senior military officers
questioned by KPP HAM, threatened that the team would take legal
action if the inquiry mentions names in its report on Monday.
Marzuki has said that if KKP HAM found evidence of human
rights violations in East Timor, an ad hoc committee would be set
up to prosecute those responsible in a national human rights
tribunal.
The Indonesian commission was established in October shortly
after Jakarta rejected the UN plan to launch an inquiry to look
into the possibility of prosecuting those responsible for the
East Timor violence on charges of crimes against humanity.
Sources close to the UN inquiry said that Indonesia has
rejected the call for an international tribunal, saying it was
under no legal obligation to comply with the UN inquiry, a BBC
report was quoted as saying by foreign news services.
In a letter to Annan accompanying the report, Indonesian
foreign minister Alwi Shihab said the report was biased and he
dismissed the accusations as totally false and baseless.
Alwi also warned that setting up an international human rights
tribunal would create obstacles in the promotion of friendly
relations between Indonesia and East Timor.
In his own accompanying letter, Annan said it would be up to
the General Assembly, Security Council and the Geneva-based
Commission on Human Rights to decide what further action was
required, sources were quoted as saying. (44/har)