March 8, 2001, Thursday

HEARING OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

on THE FISCAL YEAR 2002 FOREIGN OPERATIONS BUDGET

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JESSE HELMS (R-NC)

WITNESS: SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL

SEN. FEINGOLD (D-WI): Let me switch to Indonesia and East Timor, which Senator Thomas mentioned. More than a year after the 1999 violence in East Timor, the Indonesian government has not indicted a single person in connect with that violence, despite the fact that all the suspected organizers are in fact living in Indonesia, most of them in West Timor, Jakarta. Kofi Annan said, in January 2000, that the Indonesian courts would be give a chance to handle the cases first, but he did not rule out an international tribunal if the Indonesian judicial process proved not to be credible.

As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, will the United States push for an international tribunal on East Timor now that Jakarta's unwillingness or inability to prosecute anyone is really quite manifest?

SEC. POWELL: That's certainly an option. I think what I have to do on that one, Senator, is let me go back and study the ramifications and study the current state of play, and then you give a more definitive answer for the record.

SEN. FEINGOLD: I'd appreciate that.

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