East Timor: Dili Grants Some Ex-militias Immunity for Reconciliation Visits
Dili, Aug.
26 (Lusa) - East Timor's attorney-general's office has granted
immunity from detention to about 150 former anti- independence militias
and
pro-Indonesia integrationists to return home temporarily for reconciliation
meetings with officials and relatives .
The deputy
attorney-general, Amândio Benevides, told Lusa Tuesday that the
next group covered by the immunity order, about 15 people, were expected
from West Timor Wednesday and did not include any persons sought for crimes
by Dili.
More than
100 people, including some notorious former militia bosses, have
taken advantage of the reconciliation initiative since the immunity program
was declared by Attorney-General Longuinhos Monteiro Aug. 20.
Some judicial
observers have questioned whether Monteiro has the authority
to grant such temporary immunity to former militiamen sought on charges
of
atrocities committed in 1999 at the time of East Timor's independence
plebiscite.
The first
group to take advantage of the immunity program arrived in Dili
Friday, holding meetings with Timorese officials, including President
Xanana Gusmao, a champion of reconciliation.
That group
included Egídio Manek, former deputy commander of the Laksur
militia; two former commanders of the Mahidi militia, Vasco da Cruz and
Domingos Alves; and Raúl Alex, a former member of the Indonesian
army.
The attorney-general's
Aug. 20 announcement underlined the importance of
temporary immunity to facilitating reconciliation and the return of
refugees from West Timor.
It warned,
however, that returnees who trespassed outside the areas
designated for their visit home would be "immediately detained".