| Subject: International
inquiry team in East Timor will have five experts also: UN chief seeks extra funds for Timor mission
International inquiry team in East Timor will have five
experts
GENEVA, Oct 1 (AFP) - A team of five experts will conduct
the international inquiry into East Timor requested by United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan, a UN spokesman said Friday.
"We'll have some five high-level experts to take part
in the commission of inquiry. Some names have been mentioned but these people are being
contacted," UN Commission for Human Rights spokesman Jose-Luis Diaz said.
Diaz said he hoped to make an official announcement of the
team members by late next week or early the following week.
Diaz added that the Commission's team will have "an
adequate representation of Asian experts" drawn from Indonesia's Asian neighbours.
An estimated budget of 500,000 US dollars, financed through
voluntary donations, will be needed for the international inquiry into alleged atrocities
in East Timor committed by both pro-Jakarta militiamen and the Indonesian military.
Technical experts will be sent to the East Timorese capital
of Dili starting next week.
Annan Thursday asked UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mary Robinson to set up a team to work in cooperation with Indonesia's national commission
on human rights, Komnas HAM.
The UN secretary general requested a final report from the
team by year's end.
The Indonesian government on Wednesday rejected an
international mission, saying Komnas HAM "has already set up a fact-finding
commission," but the UN has decided to proceed.
Indonesian authorities then asked for the Commission's
cooperation with its own investigation, a proposal which was accepted.
Meanwhile on Friday, a spokesman for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees said the situation of the East Timorese in West Timor refugees
camps was "appalling."
"In West Timor, the refugees' conditions are still
appalling, especially in Atambua where the people who fled or have been deported are
living in very squalid camps," said UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski.
A team of UNHCR observers visited six sites earlier this
week where about 130,000 refugees now live. Janowski said people are living in three of
the camps without housing.
He added that UNHCR experts would like freer access to the
camps, where they are now accompanied on every visit by Indonesian officials.
-----------------
UN chief seeks extra funds for Timor mission
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 1 (AFP) - Secretary General Kofi Annan
has asked for 38 million dollars to finance the current phase of UN operations in East
Timor, his spokesman's office said Friday.
This is a preliminary estimate of the needs of the UN
mission to East Timor (UNAMET) for three months, on the assumption that 50 percent of its
equipment was destroyed after the August 30 ballot on self-determination.
The figure does not cover the needs of the Australian-led
multinational force in East Timor.
Nor does it include the UN's requirements when it assumes
full authority over East Timor after the Indonesian parliament rescinds the annexation of
the territory, expected early next month.
In a report to the budget committee, Annan asked the UN
General Assembly to increase the appropriation for Phase One of UNAMET's mission, from May
5 to August 31, from 52.53 million dollars to 54.43 million.
He noted that 47.27 million dollars of that had already
come in as voluntary contributions; the biggest donors were Japan (10.11 million),
Portugal (10.0 million) and Australia (6.50 million plus 3.44 million dollars in kind).
The United States had donated 9.00 million dollars.
Annan requested 38.04 million dollars for Phase Two, which
runs from September 1 to November 30.
The Security Council has already approved an increase in
the number of UN civilian police in East Timor from 280 to 460 and of military liaison
officers, from 50 to 300.
Annan said he planned to increase the number of
international UNAMET staff from 242 to 316 while reducing local staff numbers from 3,645
to 498.
The chief of UNAMET, Ian Martin, told the Security Council
on Friday that 58 UNAMET personnel had returned to Dili, the capital of East Timor, since
the multinational force began arriving there on September 20.
At the height of the post-ballot violence, UNAMET evacuated
to Darwin, northern Australia, almost all of its staff and hundreds of East Timorese who
had sought refuge in its compound in Dili.
Annan said his budget estimates were based upon the
assumption that 50 percent of the vehicles, communication and workshop equipment, office
furniture and data-processing equipment supplied to UNAMET for Phase One would need
replacing.
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