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.

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