DATE=10/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BISHOP BELO / WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-255573
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// Re-issuing to delete last sentence of fourth graf
of text: "The head of the U-N Human Rights Commission
Mary Robinson said six weeks ago she wanted to send
investigators to East Timor, but none have been
dispatched." U-N has decided to send investigators
next week. ///
INTRO: East Timor's spiritual leader, Bishop
Carlos Belo, says that at least three Indonesian
generals should face a war crimes tribunal for
atrocities committed in the territory. As
Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, his demand
includes General Wiranto, who received a post in
the new Indonesian government earlier this week.
TEXT: The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bishop
Carlos Belo, did not hold back in his
condemnation of the "barbarity" he alleges was
committed by three of Indonesia's top generals.
Interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, the bishop says General Wiranto, who
was head of the Armed Forces and the Minister of
Defense when anti-independence militias overran
East Timor, should face an international
tribunal. Bishop Belo says the Army's former
Chief of Operations, General Syafri Syamsuddin
and regional commander General Adam Damiri,
should also be tried.
General Wiranto was appointed to a second-tier
cabinet position by Indonesia's new president
Tuesday. He now serves as the Coordinating
Minister for Political Affairs and Security.
But while condemning the militia rampage in the
territory, Bishop Belo says ordinary East
Timorese who took part in the violence should be
allowed to return. He says, however, they must
first admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness.
The Bishop's remarks came as the human rights
organization, Amnesty International, criticized
the United Nations for not moving swiftly enough
to investigate crimes against humanity in East
Timor.
Amnesty International says vital evidence of
atrocities could be lost or destroyed every day
the investigators fail to arrive.
Human rights officials believe hundreds or
perhaps thousands of people may have been killed
in East Timor last month, when anti-independence
militia groups, backed by the Indonesian army
went on a campaign of murder and destruction.
Hundreds of thousands of others fled deep into
the East Timorese jungle or over the border into
West Timor, where they face food and water
shortages, as well as continued terror by the
militia groups.
Aid workers say Indonesian authorities have done
little to help secure access to camps in West
Timor so that relief supplies can be distributed
to the refugees.
Philip Clarke is with the World Food Program.
/// CLARKE ACTUALITY ///
The problem is how to reach them, because
there are several -- maybe up to 40 percent
-- who are in camps that are controlled by
the miltias and where it is very difficult
to reach these people.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
A United Nations mission is now in East Timor to
help in the formation of a new government. East
Timor received independence from Indonesia
earlier this month.
The United Nations has also taken over the
mandate of the Australian-led international
peacekeeping force sent to East Timor shortly
after the militia violence broke out.
NEB/PN/FC/KL
28-Oct-1999 11:25 AM EDT (28-Oct-1999 1525 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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