DATE=1/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N - INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258575
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations human rights commission,
that investigated September's wave of killings and
destruction in East Timor, says the Indonesian
government is to blame for the violence. As Patricia
Nunan reports from Jakarta, the Commission wants the
U-N Security Council to establish a war-crimes
tribunal to bring to justice those involved.
TEXT: United Nations sources in East Timor confirm
that a report written by UN human rights investigators
will call on the Security Council to form an
international human rights tribunal for East Timor.
The report says that the intimidation, terror and
destruction of property in East Timor "would not have
been possible" without the active involvement of the
Indonesian army --and the knowledge of top military
officials.
The report was commissioned by the UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan. It is expected to be formally
submitted to the UN General Assembly and the Security
Council Monday.
Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds of
thousands forced to flee their homes in East Timor
last September, after armed anti-independence militias
launched a campaign of terror and destruction across
the territory. The militias were reacting to the
announcement that most East Timorese had voted for the
territory to break free of 24 years of Indonesian
rule, in a
UN-supervised referendum held August 30th.
Human rights groups and United Nations officials have
consistently accused members of the Indonesian
military of supporting the militias, and in some cases
actively participating in militia violence.
Investigators from the UN High Commission for Human
Rights carried out a nine-day investigation in East
Timor in November.
The submission of the report to the UN Security
Council is expected to anger the Indonesian
government. In a letter to the Secretary General,
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab already
dismissed the report as "one-sided." He says Indonesia
would find it "totally unacceptable" to set up an
international tribunal to consider alleged human
rights abuses in East Timor,
while the territory was still part of Indonesia.
Indonesian investigators from the National Commission
on Human Rights in East Timor are expected to present
their own report to
the country's attorney-general Monday.
The UN team's report also calls for the disarming of
the anti-independence militias, who remain active in
the Indonesian Province of West Timor. Aid officials
say that continued intimidation on the border has
prevented tens of thousands of refugees from returning
home. (Signed)
NEB/PN/PLM
30-Jan-2000 06:22 AM EDT (30-Jan-2000 1122 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
