John Zarocostas, Geneva – A UN panel Friday criticized Indonesia for human-rights abuses, including sexual abuse, in its troubled provinces.

A 10-member panel of independent experts asked the Indonesian delegation to explain a long list of acts of brutality, including deaths of detained students, in Aceh, Papua, and the Moluccas. The panel said the acts might be in breach of a global convention against torture.

The panel oversees the 126 member countries, including Indonesia, that are party to the convention against torture. Under the accord, member countries are required to present periodic reports on efforts to put the convention's provisions into effect.

"The government [Indonesia] has done little to stop torture, in spite of its stated commitment to ending the practice," Amnesty International, the human-rights group, said in a statement released to coincide with the panel review. The group said torture in Indonesia is carried out both the military and the police and typically "takes the form kicking, beating with fists, hard objects, burning with cigarettes or matches, slashing with knives or razors, death threats and mock executions, soaking with water including sewerage, mutilation of genitals, sexual molestation and rape."

Indonesian representative Lucia Rustam told the panel the government had set up human-rights courts and commissions to address the problem. She said many soldiers, army officers and former government officials had been sentenced for human-rights violations. She conceded, however, the government faced difficulties in its efforts to promote human rights. She cited lack of financial resources and the country's size as factors that made enforcement difficult.

Panel expert Felice Gaer of the United States said the information provided by Indonesia was limited. She said though many cases of torture had been investigated, they had not resulted in trials. She asked what the obstacles were to bringing such cases to trial.

She said sexual violence "appeared to be frequently employed" as a form of torture. The panel, chaired by Peter Thomas Burns, a Canadian professor of criminal law at the University of British Colombia, is expected to present its conclusions at the end of the proceedings on November 22.