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Indonesia has struck back at critics of a court decision to annul
the sentences of four members of the security forces convicted of
abuses during East Timor's vote for independence five years ago.
But the Indonesians say they may be willing to look at new ways
to close the bloody episode.
Washington was the latest to criticize the Indonesian court's decision
to acquit the four officers, with a State Department spokesman saying
the Bush administration was "profoundly disappointed."
But the spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry, Marty Natalegawa,
said Tuesday that such criticism was premature. He said the judicial
process was not finished, adding that Jakarta would be willing to
consider some kind of truth and reconciliation commission similar
to South Africa's at the end of apartheid.
"Something we have heard and thought out loud about is this
notion of a truth and reconciliation commission type of set up,
but even on that issue we have not made a decision as yet,"
said Mr. Natalegawa.
More than one-thousand people died during East Timor's 1999 vote
for independence from Indonesia. Most of them were victims of pro-Jakarta
militias and their sponsors in the military. But the Indonesian
courts found only six people guilty, and now the appeals court has
freed four of them.
Human rights groups have renewed calls for an international tribunal
to bring those guilty to justice, but both Indonesia and East Timor
have rejected the proposal.
East Timor's government had tentatively suggested forming a truth
and reconciliation commission. East Timor's government is reluctant
to push Indonesia, taking the view that in the long term, good relations
with its giant neighbor are more important than putting a few men
behind bars.
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