Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday urged the United Nations to give Jakarta the chance to complete its own inquiry into atrocities in East Timor before stepping up international action.
Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab told reporters the Indonesian inquiry being conducted by the government-appointed human rights commission would prove itself credible and UN intervention was unnecessary.
"I will meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. I will explain that Indonesia can manage itself," Shihab said. "We will show that the commission is credible in order to uphold human rights ... there is no need for any interference from the UN"
Annan is reviewing a report from a special UN inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor and plans to make recommendations for further action, the United Nations said last week. UN officials did not say when the report or Annan's recommendations would be released.
Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, on Friday said the military must cooperate with probes into human rights abuses in East Timor, or pressure would mount for an international tribunal.
Pro-Jakarta miliatamen, working with elements of the military, embarked on a wave of destruction after a UN-run vote on August 30 in which the territory overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia.
Hundreds were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands were driven from their home.
The military is fighting efforts to bring senior officers to account for the abuses in East Timor and elsewhere in the vast archipelago. Senior officers have grudgingly given secret testimony to the Jakarta inquiry, which has not yet reported.
Holbrooke said the US government "at every level," including President Bill Clinton, believed the military was "doing immense damage to Indonesia" by continuing to thwart efforts to investigate abuses in East Timor. Holbrooke said Washington would continue the suspension of all ties to the Indonesian military unless "there is full accountability" and all East Timorese could go home.
Shihab is due to leave later on Monday for the United States, where he will meet Holbrooke, Annan and members of the UN security council.