East Timor: Gusmão sends atrocities report to foreign embassies, int'l bodies

Dili, Feb. 8 (Lusa) - President Xanana Gusmão sent copies Wednesday of the East Timorese truth commission's report on a quarter century of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, mostly committed under Indonesian occupation, to foreign embassies, international institutions and human rights groups.

In a communiqué, the technical secretariat of the CAVR truth commission said the embassies, including the Indonesian and Portuguese missions, were instructed by Gusmão to relay the reports to senior officials in their respective countries.

Extracts of the more than 2,000-page report, which blames Indonesia for direct or indirect responsibility in the death of more than 100,000 Timorese, have been widely leaked since Gusmão first delivered the document to Dili's parliament in November.

The president personally delivered a copy to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan in New York last month.

While the report attributes about 10% of the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity to pro-independence Timorese forces, especially during the brief 1975 civil war, it underscores that, in contrast to Indonesia, Timorese nationalist leaders assumed their responsibilities and cooperated with the 18-month inquiry.

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