Subject: Indonesia FM Calls for UN Boycott Demand of Timor Commission to Be Ignored

also: JP: RI criticizes UN for stance on Timor Leste commission; ETimor truth commissioner brushes off UN boycott threat

Indonesia Calls for UN Boycott Demand to Be Ignored

JAKARTA, July 31 (AFP) - - Indonesia's foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda has called on a commission set up to examine violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote to ignore a UN boycott threat, a report said Tuesday.

The United Nations warned last week that it would not send any officials to testify to the Indonesia-East Timor Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) unless it changes its terms of reference to disallow it to recommend amnesties.

"Whatever the world says, including the United Nations, let them do so... Just be self-confident about our own process, because the governments of both countries consistently support the commission," Wirayuda said in Manila, according to Kompas newspaper.

He said that the UN had offered no alternative solution to the CTF and also had an interest in their officials not testifying.

"They would not want to have what is being called fraud by UNAMET to be uncovered," the minister said, referring to the UN body that organised the independence referendum in East Timor.

Indonesia has long accused UN workers of favouring pro-independence supporters during the ballot and instigating some electoral fraud to help them.

East Timor and Indonesia, which ruled the former Portuguese colony for 24 years, established the CTF in 2005. The commission is aimed at reconciliation rather than prosecuting those suspected of perpetrating crimes.

Indonesian CTF chairman, Benjamin Mangkudilaga, said on Monday that he did not believe the UN stance would affect the commission.

The world body is demanding that the commission amend its terms of reference to state that it has no authority to recommend amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or gross violations of human rights.

The East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favour of breaking away from Indonesia, but the ballot triggered an orgy of violence blamed on militias backed by the Indonesian military.

Some 1,400 people were killed and much of the nation's already paltry infrastructure deliberately destroyed.

East Timor's leaders have taken a largely conciliatory stance towards Indonesia since then, arguing that good relations with its giant and more powerful neighbour are crucial to its future.

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The Jakarta Post Tuesday, July 31, 2007

RI criticizes UN for stance on Timor Leste commission

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Manila

Indonesia said it will continue joint efforts with the Timor Leste government to solve past problems and seek reconciliation through the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) despite a boycott by the United Nations.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the UN had to be realistic that a prosecutorial approach alone would not solve the nations' problems.

Indonesia, according to Hassan, will stick to the CTF's terms of reference, including on an amnesty to pardon those sincerely helping the process by cooperating, because it was the only acceptable way for both countries to overcome their differences.

"The UN has to realize this is a reconciliation process and not a prosecutorial one. We have established terms of reference to find out the truth and we are committed to not prosecuting perpetrators. I told CTF members that as long as the process is credible and consistent with the terms of reference set, they will find out the truth," he said.

Criticizing the commission for allowing amnesties for those who committed serious crimes, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told UN officials Thursday not to testify before a panel investigating the 1999 killings in Timor Leste.

"The United Nations' policy is that the organization cannot endorse or condone amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or gross violations of human rights, nor should it do anything that might foster them," Ban was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"Unless the terms of reference are revised to comply with international standards, officials of the UN will not testify at its proceedings or take any other steps that would support the work of the CTF," he said.

Among those who have been called on to testify are former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and UN special representative in Timor Leste in 1999 and current UN envoy in Nepal Ian Martin.

Hassan said two sovereign countries should be able to solve their problems in a way that both countries voluntarily agree on.

"We never forced Timor Leste to agree, but they realized it was important to solve our past problems without sacrificing our friendship and cooperation," said Hassan, adding that the UN is yet to offer an alternative solution.

Hassan said the strict prosecutorial approach applied by the UN in countries with a similar past to that of Indonesia and Timor Leste has failed to address issues of impunity and solve problems comprehensively.

In a war crimes tribunal in the former Yugoslavia, for example, only Slobodan Milosevic has been tried, while a trial in Cambodia is yet to begin, Hassan said.

He said the UN's insistence on trying the alleged killers of former Lebanese prime minister Hariri might also be counterproductive to the peace process in the country.

"These examples prove that prosecution alone does not solve problems. Even the U.S. realizes reconciliation through the CTF is the only way to solve Indonesia and Timor Leste's past problems,' he said.

Indonesia and Timor Leste have agreed to work together to investigate the violence that followed the UN-supervised independence vote in 1999.

Riots blamed on militia backed by the Indonesian military killed up to 100,000 people and forced 250,000 people from their homes in the former Portuguese colony. During the violence, many buildings were burnt to the ground.

However, Indonesia claims the figures are far lower, with only about 100 people being killed in the violence before Australian troops arrived followed by a UN peacekeeping mission.

Both Indonesia and Timor Leste have set up parallel systems to prosecute those responsible for the violence, but UN reports have described their efforts as inadequate.

While the commission is unable to prosecute perpetrators, its hearings are likely to have an impact on the Indonesian public and government.

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ETimor truth commission brushes off UN boycott threat

Mon Jul 30, 2:21 AM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) - A commission set up to examine violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote brushed off Monday a UN boycott threat.

The United Nations warned last week that it would not send any officials to testify to the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF), which has no prosecution powers, unless it rules out recommending amnesties.

"It will not affect us at all," said the Indonesian CTF chairman, Benjamin Mangkudilaga. His East Timorese counterpart, Jacinto Alves, could not be reached for comment.

Mangkudilaga said that the CTF was a bilateral affair set up by East Timor and Indonesia and had nothing to do with the UN.

The world body is demanding that the commission amend its terms of reference to state that it has no authority to recommend amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or gross violations of human rights.

UN officials have been asked to give testimony to the commission, which is set up along the lines of South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"This commission was formed by the presidents of both countries and it is those two who have the authority to decided on whether to review (the terms of reference)," Mangkudilaga told AFP.

Mangkudilaga said that to his knowledge, the leaders were unlikely to order a review of the terms and noted that many people asked to testify have refused. Dozens of witnesses and experts, however, have presented testimony.

East Timor and Indonesia, which ruled the former Portuguese colony for 24 years, set up the CTF in 2005.

The East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favour of breaking away from Indonesia in a 1999 UN-sanctioned referendum, but the vote triggered an orgy of violence blamed on militias backed by the Indonesian military.

Some 1,400 people were killed and much of the nation's infrastructure was deliberately destroyed.

East Timor's leaders have taken a largely conciliatory stance towards Indonesia since then, arguing that good relations with its giant and more powerful neighbour are crucial to its future.

------------------------------------------ Joyo Indonesia News Service


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