DATE=11/26/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TIMOR - MASS GRAVES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256544
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian human rights investigators say they
have found the bodies of 26 people in mass graves in
West Timor. As Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta,
the dead are believed to be victims of anti-
independence militia groups which overran neighboring
East Timor in September.
TEXT: Officials say the bodies of women and children
as well as three priests were among those found in
three mass graves in West Timor. H-S Dillon, with the
Indonesian Commission for Human Rights Investigation
in East Timor, says he believes the dead were killed
in the East Timorese town of Suai, just 30 kilometers
from the border.
But investigators have not yet explained how or when
the bodies were transported over the border.
It is one of the largest discoveries of mass graves
since anti-independence militia groups launched a
campaign of killing and destruction in East Timor in
September.
The violent militia groups were reacting to the
announcement that most East Timorese had voted for the
territory to break free of Indonesian rule in a
referendum supervised by the United Nations.
U-N officials who witnessed the general unrest say
that Indonesian soldiers participated in the militia
violence.
Mr. Dillon said that he believes Indonesian soldiers
were involved in the deaths of the people found in the
mass graves. He did not elaborate on how he came to
that conclusion, but Mr. Dillon said eye-witness
reports corroborate his information that members of
the military were involved.
The Indonesian Armed Forces has consistently denied
that its soldiers directly participated in the
violence.
Mr. Dillon says the human rights team is now working
with the International Committee of the Red Cross in
order to transport the bodies back to Suai after
autopsies are performed. The bodies of the dead
clergymen will be sent to the East Timorese capital
Dili.
The Indonesian investigation was set up through the
government's National Human Rights Commission.
The United Nations is also planning to investigate
allegations of atrocities committed by Indonesian
soldiers, in order to determine if a war crimes
tribunal should be formed. (signed)
NEB/PN/GC/PLM
26-Nov-1999 05:11 AM EDT (26-Nov-1999 1011 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
