Indonesia to Deny Entry for
United Nation Experts
By CHRIS BRUMMITT
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia will deny entry visas for a U.N.
legal team investigating why Jakarta failed to punish military officers
for the violence that accompanied East Timor's 1999 independence
vote, a government spokesman said Monday.
Marty Natelegawa said East Timor and Indonesia have formed their
own commission to investigate the violence and promote reconciliation,
and denied that refusing entry to the three legal experts would
anger the United Nations.
"Indonesia is a respected member of the United Nations,"
he said.
Vengeful Indonesian forces and their militia proxies killed nearly
2,000 people in the aftermath off a U.N.-organized plebiscite in
1999 that ended Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor. About
half of East Timor's 700,000 people were forced to flee their homes
during the bloodshed, which only ended with
the arrival of peacekeeping troops.
In response to international pressure, Indonesian courts charged
18 people, most of them police and military officers. Seventeen
were either acquitted or had their sentences overturned. An appeal
in the final case is pending.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed a commission of experts
to review Jakarta's prosecutions and explain why a 1999 Security
Council resolution to try those responsible for the bloodshed failed.
Indonesia and East Timor's Commission of Truth and Friendship was
inaugurated last month. The body consists of lawyers and human rights
figures from both nations. It will issue a report describing the
cause of the bloodshed, but will not recommend legal action against
those responsible.
Human rights groups want the United Nations to oversee an international
tribunal for East Timor like those in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
They say the joint East Timor and Indonesia commission is an attempt
to absolve Indonesia's generals of responsibility for crimes in
East Timor.
East Timor, however, says it is no longer interested in pursuing
war crimes cases, saying it is more interested in improving ties
with its giant neighbor.
