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Also: U.N. Sec-Gen Dissatisfied with Indonesia's Ad-hoc Court For Rights Abuses in E Timor; Several Countries Concerned About Trials of E Timor: Rights Abuses

RI HAS NO COMMENT ON ANNAN'S REPORT ON E TIMOR RIGHTS CASE

August 25, 2004 2:40am Asia Intelligence Wire

Jakarta, Aug 24 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has no comment to make on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's report to the UN Security Council in which he expressed dissapointment about the outcome of Indonesian court trials of human right violations in East Timor in 1999, a spokesman said. .

Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda, said here on Tuesday night he understood there were some parts in the report indicating that a number of countries were disappointmed about the results of the Indonesian human right trials.

But according Hassan there was no need to worry about the UN Secretary General's report because Annan himself did not mention measures to be taken to follow up his disappointment.

"He only mentioned the fact that there was disappointment about the case (in Indonesia) but he said nothing about what actions the UN needed to take nor about forming an experts comission," the minister said.

Hassan pointed out the Indonesian and Timor Leste governments had agreed they prefered to take reconciliation measures in solving the human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

At the UN headquarters in New York, Annan earlier praised Indonesia-East Timor cooperation in discussing the two countries' borders , saying the discussions were nearing a conclusion.

In his report on the UN Mission for East Timor (UNMISET)'s role on Monday, the UN secretary general said the talks on the Indonesia-East Timor borders were expected to be finalized in a few weeks' time.

Minister Hassan, meanwhile, said recently the Indonesian and Timor Leste governments had agreed not to discuss what happened in the past between the two countries and therefore holding an international tribunal on 1999 human rights violations in East Timor was irrelevant.

"The justice approach will harm the spirit of reconciliation, open up wounds of the past and that will hurt," the minister said here on Saturday (Aug 14) when asked about the agenda of a meeting he is to have with his Timor Leste counterpart, Ramos Horta, in Bali on Sunday afternoon (Aug 15).

Speaking to reporters during a break in a football match between the foreign ministry's team and foreign diplomats at the Borobudur hotel, Hassan said ,"opening wounds of the past will harm bilateral relations." Indonesia and Timor Leste preferred the reconciliatory approach over the holding of a human rights tribunal or the UN secretary general's idea to form an experts' comission, he said.

"We prefer to cultivate good bilateral relations as neighbours and orient ourselves to the future, not the past," he said.

The proposed formation of the UN commission of experts came to the surface as New Zealand planned to urge the UN to form an international tribunal to settle the human rights violations in East Timor.

New Zealand made this plan after it became disappointed over the Indonesian court's rulings of acquitting certain Indonesian police and military officers accused of committing the abuses.

A similar disappointment had also been aired by the United States, but the relevant Indonesian government authorities thought that there was no need to give a serious response to the countries' disappointment. Indonesia believed that court decisions must be respected.

Eighteen people, including military and police high-ranking officers, stood trial at a special court handling East Timor cases in Indonesia, but only two civilian figures had been convicted, namely former East Timor Governor Abilio Soares and integration leader Eurico Guterres.

U.N. SEC-GEN DISSATISFIED WITH INDONESIA'S AD-HOC COURT FOR RIGHTS ABUSES IN E TIMOR

August 25, 2004 2:40am Asia Intelligence Wire

New York, Aug 24 (ANTARA) - United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed dissatisfaction over the result of the trials conducted by Indonesia's ad-hoc court for human rights violations in East Timor.

"Many people allegedly involved in the case are living abroad and have yet to be brought to court," Annan said in his report before the UN Security Council in relation with the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) here on Monday.

He called on UN members to insist that people suspected of being involved in the riots that erupted in East Timor following the August 1999 ballot, which resulted in the territory's separation from Indonesia, must not go scot-free without any trial.

Based on data from the UNMISET's serious crimes unit, 279 people allegedly involved in human rights violations following the ballot, are still in East Timor.

The UNMISET's special court has passed 58 verdicts, 55 of which were guilty verdicts and the other 3 were acquittals.

Riots broke out in East Timor after a majority of its people chose to separate from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored ballot. Some 1,000 to 2,000 civilians lost their lives in the months before and the days after the ballot, and some 500,000 people fled to seek refuge.

Annan has proposed the establishment of a UN expert commission to assess the ad-hoc court in Indonesia. Indonesian authorities however rejected the idea.

To date, only 12 people have been tried by the ad-hoc court in Jakarta, 10 of whom were acquitted. Of the 10, 9 were Indonesian military and police personnel.

The court has convicted only two people, both East Timorese -- including former East Timor Governor Abilio Soares.

SEVERAL COUNTRIES CONCERNED ABOUT TRIALS OF E TIMOR: RIGHTS ABUSES

August 25, 2004 11:13pm

Asia Intelligence Wire

New York, Aug 25 (ANTARA) - A number of countries have expressed concern about the trial of gross human rights violations in East Timor carried out in Indonesia and in East Timor by the Serious Crime Unit of the UN Mission for Support in East Timor (UNMISET).

"The process toward justice has gone wrong," Dirk Jan van den Berg of the Netherlands who represented the European Union at a UN Security Council session on UNMISET's performance here Tuesday.

Among the countries that had expressed the dissatisfaction about the trails were the Netherlands, Portugal, France, New Zealand, and the United States. The decision made by the Serious Crime unit could not yet bring defendants in the case to jail, van den Berg said.

He said, many people involved in the post- ballot human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999 still enjoyed freedom outside the newly independent country. The issue had been an urgent agenda for UNMISET to settle before it end its task in East Timor in May 2005, he added.

The European Union also expressed concern on the Jakarta ad hoc court's verdicts on the abuses , van den Berg said. "The European Union expresses hope for the court to be conducted according to international standards," he said.

However, he believed the Indonesian government could make maximum efforts to uphold the credibility of its legal process.

Meanwhile, the US representative, Stuart Holliday, emphasized the need of training personnel of the judicial office in East Timor thus they could fulfill the requirements for the implementation of judicative function.

Holliday expressed concern on limitation of judicial organs in East Timor and the "impair" ad hoc court process in Indonesia. The United States opined that it would be necessary to establish an international commission on truth regarding to the issue.

Other countries in the session has focused on the need of support for the new country to be fully independent.

Earlier on Monday, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed dissatisfaction on the result of Indonesia's ad hoc court for human rights abuse in East Timor, and called UN members to insist that people suspected of being involved in the post ballot riots must not go free without any trial.

Riots broke out in East Timor after a majority of its people chose to separate from Indonesia in a UN sponsored ballot in AUgust 1999.

Some 1,000 to 2,000 civilians were killed in the months before and the days after the ballot, and some 500,000 others fled to seek refuge.

The ad hoc court in Jakarta have tried 12 people, 10 of whom were acquitted. Of the 10, 9 were Indonesian military and police personnel. The court has convicted two people, both East Timorese, including former East Timor Governor Abilio Soares.

Meanwhile, the UNMISET' special court has passed 58 verdicts, 55 of which were guilty verdicts and the other three were acquittals.