JUDGES OF AD HOC COURT FOR E TIMOR CASE INVITED TO HONOLULU
September
4, 2003 9:40pm
Antara
Jakarta,
Sept 3 (ANTARA) - Twenty 20 judges of the ad hoc Court for East
Timor have been invited to the East-West Centre, Honolulu, United States
this week for a discussion with world-calibre law experts.
Sources
at the centre, a think-tank institution to strengthen East-West
relations, said on Wednesday the meeting is aimed at improving the
effectiveness of the ad-hoc courts in Indonesia.
The world
law experts to meet with the Indonesian judges will include
Navanethem Pillay, of the International Court of Justice for human rights
violation in Rwanda, and judges as well as investigators of international
crime in the war in Yugoslavia.
The Indonesian
ad-hoc court of human rights has often been criticised for
its acquittals and too lenient punishments.
The ad hoc
court was established on April 24, 2001 by the government upon a
recommendation of the House of Representatives (DPR) in response to
international protests over human rights violations in the former
Indonesian province.
It has handled
12 out of 18 cases. The latest was the trial of Maj Gen Adam
Damiri who was sentenced to three years in jail, but had appealed to a
higher court.
Now that
the Damiri case is being brought to the high court, the ad hoc
tribunal has practically been closed down.
Of the 18
defendants tried in Jakarta, twelve have been acquitted, while
the other five have received different jail sentences but also appealed
to
a higher court.
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)