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.