U.S. congressmen end visit to Timor

U.S. congressmen end visit to Timor

JAKARTA (JP): A nine-person delegation of the United States
Congress ended a brief visit to East Timor on Saturday after
meeting with officials and probing into issues of human rights.

Lead by congressmen Bill Ascher, during their two-day stay the
delegation met with East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares
and members of the provincial legislative council (DPRD).

Antonio Freitas Parada, speaker of the East Timor legislative
council, during the meeting with the congressional delegation,
asked why the world is obsessed with human rights abuses only
after East Timor's integration and not while it was still a
Portuguese colony.

"During the Portuguese colonial era, human rights violations
were even worse, but why did the world not pay any attention
then?" Parada said as quoted by Antara from Dili.

East Timor was integrated as part of Indonesia in 1976, a year
after the hasty withdrawal of the Portuguese administration. The
United Nations, however, still recognizes Lisbon as the
administrating power there.

The United States, though giving de facto recognition of the
integration, has carefully scrutinized the implementation of
human rights there.

Following the 1991 Dili incident in which several
demonstrators were killed following a clash with security forces,
Washington promptly suspended its military training program to
the Indonesian army. U.S. Congress has also blocked the sale of
U.S. military equipment to Indonesia, based on human rights
considerations, particularly in East Timor.

"There is no country that is free from human rights
violations," Parada remarked. "(But) You can compare the
conditions during the Portuguese colonial period to that under
the Indonesian government."

Similarly, the deputy speaker of the East Timor legislative
council, Maria L.V.C. Quintao, said East Timorese people now
could channel their political aspirations through the legislative
council. "The aspiration of the people that is presented through
this council is never ignored," Quintao contended.

Quintao maintained that the many demonstrations occurring in
East Timor were engineered by "outside" influences. "Some of
those who come to East Timor have a particular mission in mind to
incite the people here to do some things." (mds)