UN official confirms rapes during May upheaval

COLOMBO (Reuters): A United Nations investigator on Friday accused the Indonesian military under former president Soeharto of carrying out widespread rapes in various parts of the country.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women, backed reports by non-governmental organizations in Indonesia that many women of Chinese ethnic origin had been raped in the riots which preceded Soeharto's downfall in May.

Many officials questioned the reports and even denied that any rapes had taken place. However, a government-sponsored fact- finding team confirmed 52 rapes in November and blamed some members of the military for the violence.

The team also issued a series of recommendations on action that should be taken by the government.

"During the May riots, with regard to women there was mass rape and they were all Chinese (women). We met many victims and it was clear it was conducted in a widespread manner," said Coomaraswamy.

"Secondly it seems to have been conducted in an organized manner," she told Reuters in an interview.

Coomaraswamy also accused the Indonesian authorities of perpetrating violence against women in the troubled provinces of East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya before Soeharto's fall in May.

"The problem was with military occupation. The troops were not sensitized to sexual violence and there was widespread rape," she said.

Indonesia entered East Timor in 1975 after the former colonial power Portugal pulled out. In 1976, the territory was integrated into Indonesia and became its 27th province, although Jakarta's rule there remains unrecognized by the United Nations.

Coomaraswamy recently visited Indonesia to compile a report for the United Nations on violence against women during the May riots.

"So many victims we spoke to had not made complaints to the police," said Coomaraswamy, who is expected to submit the report on Indonesia to the UN Human Rights Commission next March.

Human rights groups estimate that at least 1,200 people died in Jakarta last May in rioting shortly before Soeharto resigned after 32 years in power. Most of those who died were looters trapped in burning buildings. Chinese-Indonesians bore the brunt of the violence.

Coomaraswamy said the Indonesian government needed to pay more attention to reforming the country's legal system.

"There seems to be a huge lack of confidence in the criminal justice system with regards to victims of violence."