Report recommends Indonesian military and police should face international criminal tribunals / UN pressures Jakarta over East Timor trials / John Aglionby in Jakarta
Report recommends Indonesian military and police should face international criminal tribunals UN pressures Jakarta over East Timor trials John Aglionby in Jakarta Indonesian security forces and local militia leaders responsible for crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 should face an international tribunal if Jakarta does not prosecute them effectively, a UN panel of legal experts has recommended. A report seen by the Guardian demands that Jakarta be given six months to conduct these prosecutions under international supervision. If it does not, the report recommends that the UN security council create an international criminal tribunal in a third country or refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. In some cases this would mean reopening cases already dealt with by an ad hoc tribunal, about which the UN experts are scathing. Only 21 people were indicted and all but one civilian were either acquitted or freed on appeal. These prosecutions, the report concludes, were "manifestly inadequate, primarily due to a lack of commitment on the part of the prosecution . . . Many aspects of the ad hoc judicial process reveal scant respect for, or conformity to, relevant international standards." The 160-page document suggests that Indonesia should be given another chance to prosecute members of the military, police and militia suspected of killing 1,500 East Timorese civilians and forcibly relocating 250,000 others. The violence, which was designed but failed to disrupt East Timor's independence referendum in August 1999, ended after the intervention of foreign troops. The government of East Timor does not escape criticism. Although 391 people have been indicted through a UN-run unit, authorities have not forwarded to Interpol the arrest warrants for the most prominent indictees, such as the former defence minister, General Wiranto. The report has been received by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, who has forwarded it to security council members. It is likely that the council will discuss it this month. Indonesia dismissed the suggestion that the cases be reopened as "preposterous". A foreign ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa, said: "[The tribunal] might have been imperfect, but it was there." East Timor's government has also said that it does not favour further trials, despite demands for justice from much of civil society. The two nations are instead establishing a truth and friendship commission. The terms of reference have been agreed, but Mr Natalegawa said there was no timeframe for when it would start work. Human rights groups strongly welcomed the report. The Guardian Weekly 2005-07-08, page 9 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
