U.S. and UN fail to understand RI dilemma

U.S. and UN fail to understand RI dilemma

Following the U.S. disappointment expressed last week,
chairperson of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Mary
Robinson, has also reiterated her dissatisfaction with the
outcome of Indonesia's recent trial of cases of human rights
abuses in East Timor.

At the end of her three-day East Timor visit on Aug. 25, Mrs.
Robinson urged that an international tribunal be established to
take over the trial of alleged crimes against humanity. She was
dissatisfied with the acquittal of six military/police officers
by the ad hoc human rights tribunal on Aug. 15. The only
defendant found guilty was former East Timor governor Abilio
Osorio Soares, who got three years in jail -- a sentence also
under fire for being too light.

The Indonesian government has explained that the trial of
these cases was in conformity with international standards and
held openly to allow public view as well as international
monitoring. As a free and sovereign nation, Indonesia should not
overreact and lose confidence. On the other hand, it should not
ignore the U.S. and UN criticisms either, in order to avoid
difficulty in international discourse. By exercising restraint,
Indonesia needs to distinguish between serious world demands from
casual ones.

It is noticeable how the U.S. and Robinson have tended to make
one-sided judgments. They completely failed to consider the
dilemmas and difficulties our nation faces with this issue,
besides the disturbed conscience of the majority of Indonesian
people.

The trial had to be undertaken to meet external demands, but
conversely, the defendants were of great service for supporting
the integration of East Timor with the unitary state of
Indonesia.

-- Kompas, Jakarta