UN panel calls for tribunal for East Timor atrocities News
UN panel calls for tribunal for East Timor atrocities

[JURIST] A new report by a UN Commission of Experts [JURIST report] says Indonesia's efforts to examine atrocities committed in East Timor [BBC backgrounder] in 1999 was "manifestly inadequate" and show "scant respect for or conformity to relevant international standards," after Jakarta failed to jail any senior officials [BBC report], and all but 1 of the 18 tried were acquitted. In 1999, 1,400 supporters of East Timorese independence from Jakarta were killed by pro-Indonesian militia allegedly directed by the Indonesian army while some 250,000 people were forcibly deported and much of the country's infrastructure was destroyed. The three member panel has recommended that the UN Secretary General require Jakarta to account for the prosecutions within 6 months or allow an international tribunal to handle the matter. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda [profile] has denied any need for a UN tribunal and said last month that the country's human rights tribunal was "imperfect" but emphasized they were "trying to move forward." AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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