Antara, March 26, 2004

RI to disregard East Timor's SCU on human rights abuse

JAKARTA: Indonesian will no longer pay attention to East Timor's Serious Crime Unit (SCU) which has accused several Indonesian officials of human rights violations, a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

"We have oversimplified the SCU as being an institution of the United Nations. On the contrary, the unit is only a personnel unit attached to the East Timorese attorney general," said Marty Natalegawa.

"It is only an institution at the national level. That's why we do not have to connect its accusations with the UN," he added.

Marty added that the unit was free to issue any statements it wished to, without interference from Indonesia.

"We already have a human rights tribunal of our own for those violating human rights in East Timor," he said.

"There have been no official charges against any human rights violators submitted by the East Timorese to the Indonesian government or our representatives in the UN." he said.

Marty further said that such matters should be connected with the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

"Currently, the U.S. is busy expressing its opinion on human rights conditions in Indonesia," he said.

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