UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
Irwin Arieff Reuters/United Nations
The United Nations will conduct its own inquiry into a 1999 rampage in which Indonesian gangs killed about 1,000 East Timorese, despite pleas from Indonesia and East Timor to leave the probe to them.
The decision by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to go ahead with a review, though announced on Friday, was disclosed to the Security Council over a month ago, said UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard.
Indonesia and East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia after the end of colonial rule, announced plans on Dec. 21 to create a joint commission in hopes of putting behind them any lingering bitterness over the 1999 violence.
The rampage, carried out by gangs supported by elements in the Indonesian army, was triggered by a referendum in which East Timor voted to break free from Jakarta after 24 years of brutal military rule.
Mainly Catholic East Timor finally became independent in May 2002 after 2-1/2 years of UN administration, closing the book on centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and an occupation by Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
In setting up a Commission on Truth and Friendship, Indonesia and East Timor had said they hoped to head off a parallel initiative by Annan, who was considering creating his own expert commission to review whether justice was done.
But Annan did not go along with that plan, Eckhard said on Friday.
"The secretary-general is of the view that the work of the (UN) commission could complement that of the Truth and Friendship Commission, and expresses his hope that the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste (East Timor) will extend full cooperation to the Commission of Experts," Eckhard said.
The idea for the joint commission stemmed from a dinner meeting in Bali on Dec. 14 between Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his East Timorese counterpart Xanana Gusmao, a former guerrilla leader who fought Indonesian rule.