UN special envoy meets with local NGO activists
UN special envoy meets with local NGO activists
JAKARTA (JP): Special Rapporteur from the United Nations'
Human Rights Commission for Execution Without Trial, Bacre Waly
Ndaye, yesterday met with representatives from various non-
governmental organizations to get their views on the current
situation in East Timor.
Ndaye had previously met with the Secretary General of the
Minister of Defense and Security Lt. Gen. Sugeng Subroto, Chief
of Jakarta's Military Command Maj. Gen. Hendropriyono and
Director General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Izhar Ibrahim.
In the evening, he met with representatives of NGOs grouped in
the Indonesian Joint Committee for the Defense of East Timorese.
"We talked about the human rights situation in East Timor
after the (1991) Dili incident and the improvements which have
taken place since then," Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara from the
Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, told The Jakarta
Post.
Other members of the joint committee who attended the meeting
were Harjo Putranto from the Social Research and Development
Studies Institute, Edi Raintung from the Communion of Churches in
Indonesia, Warsito from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation and
Herbin Siahaan from the Joint Committee secretariat.
Hakim said the committee also informed Ndaye of the limited
access to the province given to NGOs, especially those intending
to carry out advocacies.
Hakim explained that Ndaye, who was accompanied by two U.N.
staff members, would submit his report of this visit to the Human
Rights Commission for publication.
"The government should give Ndaye more elbow room during this
mission, because everything he (Ndaye) observes will be reported
to the world public," he said.
He explained that the joint committee also advised Ndaye to
talk not only to government officials in East Timor but also to
community leaders, such as Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo.
"Ndaye has sound background information on East Timor ... He
is also an expert on summary execution reports, so he is quite
qualified for his job," said Hakim.
Ndaye yesterday refused to be interviewed, saying that he
would hold a press conference after his visit to East Timor. He
was scheduled to leave for Dili, the province's capital, early
this morning. (pwn)