DATE=12/10/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257021
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: East Timorese spiritual leader Bishop Carlos
Belo is calling on the United Nations to set up a war
crimes tribunal for East Timor. As Patricia Nunan
reports from Jakarta, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate
was speaking after a visit to the territory by U-N
human rights investigators.
TEXT: East Timorese Bishop Carlos Belo says those
people responsible for the violence in East Timor
should be taken to a war-crimes tribunal similar to
those set up for Kosovo and Bosnia. Bishop Belo says
the campaign of violence and terror, after the
majority of East Timorese voted for independence from
Indonesia, amounts to crimes against humanity.
The Bishop's statements were backed up by East
Timorese independence activist Jose Ramos-Horta, with
whom Bishop Belo shares the 1996 Nobel Peace
Prize, for their efforts to end human rights abuses in
East Timor.
Mr. Ramos-Horta singled out General Wiranto, the
former head of the Indonesian Armed Forces for trial -
- saying it would be "an affront to humanity" if the
general were allowed to retire. Mr. Ramos-Horta also
says Indonesia can only be considered a democracy by
the international community if a war-crimes tribunal
is held.
Hundreds of people are believed to have died in East
Timor last September, when anti-independence militia
groups overran the territory in response to the
independence vote.
U-N officials and human rights groups say the militias
received weapons and support from the Indonesian
military. They also say some Indonesian troops
actively participated in the violence.
Indonesian military officials deny there was a policy
to support the militias. But officials have said that
some elements of the Armed Forces failed to do enough
to prevent the militia violence from spreading.
A United Nations team of human rights investigators
left East Timor last week after interviewing hundreds
of witnesses to the militia rampage. The team will
report its findings to U-N Secretary General Kofi
Annan, who will determine whether a war-crimes
tribunal should be formed.
But the Indonesian government has already voiced
opposition to a war-crimes tribunal. Foreign Minister
Alwi Shihab said earlier this week the government will
not hand over any generals to an international court.
Instead the Indonesian government wants to try those
suspected of organizing the violence in East Timor in
its own courts.
The comments by Bishop Belo and Mr. Ramos-Horta come
on international human rights day -- which is also the
third anniversary of their Nobel Peace Prize win.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PN/FC/PLM
10-Dec-1999 05:52 AM EDT (10-Dec-1999 1052 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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