| Subject: AFP: Timorese church opposes
Indonesian deal on war crimes
AFP DILI, East Timor 7 February 2005
Timorese church opposes Indonesian deal on war crimes
by Jill Jolliffe
East Timor's new Catholic bishop has opposed a deal between Timorese
and Indonesian leaders to drop trials over atrocities during the country's
1999 independence process, saying it lacks public support.
Indonesia's President Soil Bam Yudhoyono and his Timorese counterpart
Xanana Gusmao agreed in Jakarta last month to form a Truth and Friendship
Commission to deal with crimes during Indonesia's scorched earth
withdrawal six years ago.
The United Nations has refused to endorse the deal, proposing instead a
Commission of Experts to assess why a 1999 Security Council resolution to
try those accused of war crimes has failed.
"What Kofi Annan says or not, what Timorese leaders want or not,
the position of the church is the same, it's clear and firm. We need
justice, justice must be done," Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva said.
Da Silva took over as bishop of Dili -- an influential position in the
largely Catholic country -- last year, replacing Nobel peace laureate
Carlos Ximenes Belo, who retired due to ill-health.
The new bishop asserted that 'all' Timorese people supported war crimes
trials, and said he was dealing with constant complaints from his
congregation over the issue.
Foreign Ministers Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor and Hassan Wirayuda of
Indonesia are due to meet in Jakarta this week to hammer out details of
the proposed commission.
Ramos Horta, who also attended the initial Jakarta meeting, told
Portugal's LUSA news agency the scheme would contribute to 'closing a
chapter of history'.
Militia gangs directed by Indonesian army officers killed around 1,500
independence supporters, laid waste to much of the infrastructure and
forcibly deported 250,000 people after a UN-supervised poll which returned
an overwhelming independence vote.
A UN Security Council resolution later adopted a two-pronged approach
to war crimes. Indonesia formed an ad hoc court to try its citizens
accused of atrocities, while a UN-backed Special Crimes Unit was set up in
Dili to try Indonesian soldiers and Timorese militiamen alike for crimes
against humanity.
The Indonesian court wound up last year after acquitting all but one of
the 18 alleged perpetrators who appeared before it.
The Special Crimes Unit jailed 74 Timorese culprits, but was powerless
to extradite Indonesian commanders: more than 300 people wanted for trial
have sanctuary in Indonesia.
It is scheduled to close down when the current UN mission leaves East
Timor in May.
Timorese human rights lawyer Aderito de Jesus Soares said in Dili that
the Truth and Friendship Commission could 'bypass and undermine' the UN
proposal.
Bishop da Silva said the Timorese church would not actively petition
the United Nations on the issue, "but our door is always open".
The 61-year-old cleric said he was puzzled by Gusmao's stand. "I
don't understand," he said. "If you reconcile, does justice
remain to be done, or is it not going to be done?
"When a person steals, and they're not tried, where are we?
"If there was a crime, there has to be justice. This is
independent of Xanana's position. It's nothing new, it's always been the
church's position on justice and peace... Guilty or not guilty, justice
must be done', de Silva said.
He said he had not yet spoken personally to Gusmao on the issue, but
would like clarification.
The bishop defended a younger generation of East Timorese who survived
a 1991 massacre in which around 200 unarmed demonstrators were killed by
Indonesian soldiers.
As the parish priest who said mass before the nationalist
demonstration, he has always argued for perpetrators to be judged.
Under pressure from human rights groups and governments, including the
US government, the Suharto dictatorship tried several officers.
Their nominal sentences did not satisfy world opinion and led to a US
arms embargo still largely in force, but currently under review.
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