UN investigator meets prosecutors

JAKARTA: The UN special rapporteur who is monitoring the legal system here met on Friday with Indonesian state prosecutors to inquire about the impediments they faced, especially in bringing additional suspects in human rights violations in East Timor to the ad hoc trial.

Dato' Param Cumaraswamy, a Malaysian lawyer, said that "there are some concerns" regarding the prosecutors' performance, but he refused to elaborate pending further discussions with the minister of justice and human rights and legislators in a bid to get a clearer picture about the roots of the problems.

Deputy attorney general for special crimes Haryadi Widyasa told the press that Cumaraswamy was worried about the absence of key witnesses for the rights trial.

The rapporteur also questioned why the state prosecutors refused to take into account some key evidence made available by the UN regarding human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

"The rapporteur apparently assumed that the state prosecutors are not doing their best," Haryadi added.

Cumaraswamy will wind up his mission on Tuesday and will make recommendations to the government on Wednesday on how to improve the country's justice system. --JP