---------------------------------------------------------- FREE Subscribe/UNsubscribe Indonesia Daily News Online go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 -0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 Free Email @KotakPos.com visit: http://my.kotakpos.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------- Indonesia not to interfere in UN probe on rights abuses in E. Timor JAKARTA, Dec 7 (AFP) - Indonesia will not interfere with the UN investigation into the military's role in human rights abuses in East Timor, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Tuesday. News reports said Tuesday that a UN team which visited East Timor last week had found evidence linking the military to the orgy of violence which wracked the territory after East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to break away from Jakarta in an August 30 referendum. An Indonesian human rights commission is also conducting a separate investigation into the burning, looting and killing which forced tens of thousands of refugees to flee the territory and prompted the intervention of a multinational armed force. "We'll leave it to the law process," Juwono told reporters here. "But that has to be proven beforehand through a legal process. There has to be a clear process of evidence, not just based on story development, including news from foreign countries which has tremendous influence on the climate of opinion," he said. "It could also influence the degree of fairness. This is part of our responsibility not just to the international community but also as a nation," he added. The defense chief said he met on Monday with Sonia Picado of Costa Rica, the leader of a five-member UN fact-finding team which conducted an investigation in East Timor. "I explained to them (UN team members) the context of the events leading to the upheaval in September and I leave it to them to decide on the degree of culpability over the alleged violations of human rights that happened before, during and after the referendum," he said. "I explained to them the historical context, the cultural context and the political context and it is up to them to decide whether their findings will lead to an international tribunal," he said. The Jakarta Post on Tuesday quoted Picado as saying that the UN team had "seen concrete violations of human rights with regards to the rights to life, the rights to liberty and the rights to property." Picado said their findings meshed with those of the Indonesian body which accused the military of involvement in the violence. "I have seen their report, we have been talking about that and I can say to you that our conclusions are very much the same," the newspaper quoted Picado as saying. The UN fact-finding mission is expected to submit a recommendation to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan late this month on whether to set up an international tribual to formally investigate the atrocities. Indonesian troops invaded the former Portuguese territory in 1975 and annexed it the following year. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 14 Dec 1999 jam 02:26:36 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
