Indonesia rejects UN tribunal on Timor

From correspondents in Jakarta
July 05, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse

INDONESIA today formally rejected a recommendation by a UN panel of experts that an international tribunal be set up to judge military officers and others accused of atrocities in East Timor in 1999.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the panel's demand would not alter Jakarta's refusal to pursue those accused of abuses during Indonesia's violent exit from Timor after its own trials failed to jail any key figures.

"We have all along rejected the recommendation on the establishment of an international tribunal because it is not a solution," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Wirayuda said Indonesia would soon write to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Security Council to convey its rejection of the report by the three-member UN Commission of Experts.

Pro-Indonesian militia gangs, allegedly directed by Indonesian army officers, went on a rampage before and after East Timorese voted for independence from Jakarta in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999.

They killed about 1,400 independence supporters, laid waste to much of the infrastructure and forcibly deported 250,000 people after the poll resulted in an overwhelming vote for separation.

Most of the deportees have since returned.

Human rights trials held in Indonesia to try those responsible - and deflect UN calls for a proper tribunal - ended last year after acquitting all but one of the 18 security officers or officials who appeared before them.

In its report, the commission said Indonesia's human rights court was "manifestly inadequate" and "shows scant respect for - or conformity to - relevant international standards".

The three-member panel recommended that the UN Secretary General require Indonesia to account for its prosecutions within six months or allow an international tribunal to bring those responsible for the violence to justice.

Wirayuda said Indonesia and East Timor were bringing justice through reconciliation efforts and by calling for an international tribunal the UN panel had exceeded its mission's purpose.

"Regardless of the Commission of Experts' recommendations, we will continue to work with East Timor to come to terms with the past through the Commission of Truth and Friendship," Wirayuda said.

The UN commission visited Indonesia in May to assess its efforts after earlier visiting East Timor to review the work of a parallel prosecution body tasked with indicting human rights violators.

Jakarta had argued that the United Nations panel was redundant in light of the creation of the truth and friendship commission, but later agreed to cooperate.

East Timor leaders have said they do not support an international tribunal, preferring to focus on good ties with their giant neighbour.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, gained full independence in May 2002 after more than two years of UN stewardship, which followed a quarter of a century of Indonesian occupation.

END