DATE=9/13/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=E.TIMOR - MARY ROBINSON (L-O)
NUMBER=2-253808
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-N Human Rights High Commissioner Mary
Robinson says preliminary evidence indicates the
Indonesian military carried out a systematic campaign
of terror in East Timor. Thousands of people are
believed to have been killed in the territory.
Hundreds-of-thousands of others have been forced to
flee by pro-Indonesia militia groups, which the United
Nations says include Indonesian soldiers. As Patricia
Nunan reports from Jakarta, the United Nations says it
will pursue setting up a war-crimes tribunal to bring
to justice those responsible for gross human-rights
violations in East Timor.
Text: U-N Human Rights High Commissioner Mary
Robinson says she does not believe it was just "rogue"
elements of the Indonesian military that participated
in militia violence in East Timor. She says it
appears the violence was fully orchestrated by the
Indonesian military.
Commissioner Robinson says she met with dozens of U-N
officials who witnessed the brutality and the forced
deportation of East Timorese people by members of the
Indonesian military - the T-N-I.
/// ROBINSON ACT ///
All of them have said the T-N-I were fully
involved, the T-N-I were orchestrating it. The
T-N-I were wearing militia uniforms in the
morning and coming back in the afternoon as army
and saying - We will take you out for your own
protection.
/// END ACT ///
Commissioner Robinson says part of the military's
campaign may have been to force international
observers out of East Timor.
/// ROBINSON ACT ///
There may be a build-up of evidence that it
moved quite systematically from one area to
another, to ensure that the international
presence was being removed, and in that period
after that there was worse violence on the
population of East Timor.
/// END ACT ///
Violence erupted in East Timor last Saturday, after
the United Nations announced nearly 80-percent of East
Timorese voters cast their ballots in favor of
breaking free of Indonesian rule. Pro-Indonesia
militias opposed to East Timor's independence
virtually overran the territory, killing thousands and
forcing hundreds-of-thousands to flee.
Martial law was imposed in East Timor one-week ago.
Indonesian President B-J Habibie announced Sunday that
the government would accept U-N peacekeepers in East
Timor to help restore calm and implement the results
of the ballot.
Commissioner Robinson also says she has the support of
President Habibie for her plan to create an
international commission of inquiry as the first step
towards bringing those responsible for the violence in
East Timor to justice. She also says she has the
support of the U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan to
pursue an East Timor war-crimes tribunal depending on
the results of the inquiry.
But she refused to discuss by name which Indonesian
generals might have been involved in the violence.
Commissioner Robinson says the priority for the United
Nations is to begin airdropping food and relief
supplies to refugees hiding in the East Timorese
mountains or trapped in certain towns.
There has been no confirmation yet of when U-N
peacekeepers will be deployed to East Timor. But
Commissioner Robinson says she hopes the international
force will be in place to begin humanitarian
assistance within hours or days. (SIGNED)
NEB/PN/RAE
13-Sep-1999 11:01 AM LOC (13-Sep-1999 1501 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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