UNSC stalls E. Timor tribunal plan
UNSC stalls E. Timor tribunal plan
Irwin Arieff, Reuters/United Nations
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is sitting on a UN
expert panel's recommendation for an international tribunal to
try Indonesian and local militia leaders blamed for a deadly 1999
rampage in East Timor, diplomats and UN officials said on
Wednesday (Thursday morning in Jakarta).
The experts submitted their findings on May 26 to UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who transmitted their report to the
15-nation council in late June. Normally such a document would be
officially published at that time.
But the council decided instead to delay its official release
at least until Indonesia and East Timor had added their views,
council diplomats and UN officials said.
Since Indonesia and East Timor's strong opposition to an
international court is already well known, human rights activists
said the council move raised fears it meant to suppress the
report altogether.
Twelve rights groups wrote Annan on Tuesday asking him to
ensure the report was published "as soon as possible" and its
findings discussed by the council.
"I have given my report to the council," Annan said when asked
if the report was being killed off.
Greek Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, the council president
for July, denied the council wanted to suppress it.
"We received a report from the secretary-general which the
council will consider and will take appropriate action at some
stage," he said.
Asked why there had been no official action to date, he said
council members did not want to disturb the current good
relations between East Timor and Indonesia, and wanted "to see
also what the implementation of that report requires."
Diplomats said many council members including the United
States, China and Russia had been were wary of offending
Indonesia by putting out the report without first seeking
Jakarta's comments.
China and the United States flatly denied standing in the way
of its publication. Russia had no immediate comment.
"This issue of justice in East Timor is incredibly
embarrassing for Indonesia. It is very worrying that the council
now may be falling in line behind them," said Charmain Mohamed, a
researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.
"The fear is that they may be secretly working on a face-
saving way forward. At the very least, the report should be
published and all the recommendations publicly aired before any
deal is struck," Mohamed said in a telephone interview.
About 1,500 civilians were killed, 250,000 driven from their
homes and others raped and tortured when the pro-Indonesian gangs
and militia razed much of East Timor in 1999.
The violence was triggered by a referendum in which mainly
Catholic East Timor voted to break free from Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation, after 24 years of brutal
military rule.
East Timor finally won independence in May 2002 after 2-1/2
years of UN administration and centuries of Portuguese colonial
rule and Indonesia occupation.
Under international pressure, Indonesia set up a special court
to hear cases of crimes against humanity and its attorney general
indicted two government officials, 18 military and police
officers and a gang leader but no high-level suspects.
Over the ensuing years, of the 18 tried, only the gang leader
was convicted.
In February, Annan named a panel of three outside experts to
determine whether justice had been done, despite pleas from
Indonesia and East Timor to leave the matter to them.
In their 149-page report, the experts said the Indonesian
officials and gang leaders should be tried by an international
tribunal if Jakarta did not agree to prosecute them within six
months under international supervision.
The prosecutions before the Indonesian special court had been
"manifestly deficient," they concluded, "due to a lack of
commitment on the part of the prosecution" as well as a lack of
expertise, experience and training.