| Subject: UN warcrimes
commission to investigate in East Timor UN
warcrimes commission to investigate in East Timor
GENEVA, Nov 16 (AFP) - A UN commission to investigate human
rights abuses will travel to East Timor at the end of the week, a UN spokesman said
Tuesday.
The UN's economic and social council (ECOSOC) gave the
commission of inquiry a go-ahead late Monday, spokesan Jose Diaz said, several weeks later
than when it was initially expected.
Diaz added that the five-member team was preparing for
deployment at the headquarters of the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights, which voted
to set up the probe in September despite the opposition of key Asian governments.
Indonesia, which invaded the Portuguese colony of East
Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year, opposed an international inquiry, arguing
it would conduct its own investigation.
The task of the commission of inquiry is to substantiate
claims of atrocities made by refugees to special UN rapporteurs.
Led by Costa Rican jurist Sonia Picado, the team is
expected to submit its recommendation to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by December 31 on
whether the United Nations should set up an international war crimes tribunal.
The other probe members are Judith Sefi Attah, a former
government minister in Nigeria, A.M. Ahmadi, a former chief justice of India's supreme
court, Mari Kapa, vice president of Papua New Guinea's supreme court, and Sabine
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a former German government minister.
They will investigate allegations by refugees and claims
that the Indonesian army organized militias that waged a campaign of violence and mass
destruction in the territory following an August 30 independence vote.
They will then report to the UN General Assembly which has
the authority to establish an international war crimes tribunal.
Sydney Jones of Human Rights Watch Asia told AFP earlier
this month there are concerns that Indonesia's human rights commission might demand equal
access to evidence from the probe, which could deter many witnesses from coming forward
for fear of retaliation.
------ Associated Press November 15, 1999
Despite Objections, UN Group Backs Timor Rights Inquiry
UNITED NATIONS (AP)--Despite objections from Indonesia and
nine other countries, the U.N. Economic and Social Council on Monday endorsed the call for
an international commission to gather information on possible human rights violations in
East Timor.
The commission of inquiry, which could be the first step
toward establishment of a U.N. war crimes tribunal for East Timor, is supported by U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and was approved in September by the U.N.
Human Rights Commission.
In Monday's roll-call vote in the Economic and Social
Council, 27 countries backed the Human Rights Commission's call for an international
inquiry, 10 opposed it and 11 abstained. The opponents included China, India, Indonesia,
Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Vietnam.
The 54-member council, an organ of the General Assembly,
coordinates U.N. economic and social work including the promotion of respect for human
rights.
The European Union insisted at the Human Rights Commission
that an investigation should be internationally led with Indonesian participation. But
Indonesia opposed an international inquiry and supported a national fact-finding mission -
a position it maintained on Monday.
Details of the investigation must be worked out by U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Economic and Social Council condemned "the
widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian
law in East Timor" and "the activities of the militias in terrorizing the
population."
It endorsed the call on the secretary-general to establish
an international commission of inquiry "with adequate representation of Asian
experts" to cooperate with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights and
U.N. investigators to gather information on possible violations.
The council also supported the commission's call to provide
the secretary-general with the international commission's conclusions "with a view to
enabling him to make recommendations on future actions."
During Monday's debate, Indonesia's U.N. Ambassador Makarim
Wibisono reiterated his country's rejection of an international inquiry and questioned the
legality of the Human Rights Commission's September meeting and Robinson's impartiality.
He stressed that following East Timor's overwhelming vote
for independence on Aug. 30, Indonesia transferred authority for the territory to the
United Nations and began a national fact-finding mission to investigate human rights
violations.
Since Indonesia voted against an international inquiry
again on Monday, Wibisono said it was not legally bound by the council's decision.
However, he said his government remained committed to fully cooperate with U.N. human
rights mechanisms and to holding those responsible for human rights abuses accountable.
Portugal's U.N. Ambassador Antonio Monteiro said
Indonesia's cooperation was essential and could open a new era in the region.
He expressed hope that in the future the Human Rights
Commission could work with the full cooperation of democratic Indonesia, saying an
international inquiry would allow for reconciliation in East Timor.
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