UN investigator meets prosecutors

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