Jakarta – Indonesia flatly rejected a recommendation by a UN panel to set up an international tribunal to prosecute Indonesian forces and militia leaders accused of rights abuses in East Timor, officials said Thursday.
The panel was appointed by UN secretary general Kofi Annan to review efforts by the two countries to bring justice to victims of abuse during a 1999 UN-sponsored independence vote in East Timor.
It called efforts so far inadequate, and concluded the perpetrators should be brought before an international tribunal if Jakarta fails to show significant progress within the next six months.
"We can't accept the recommendation," Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
"We regret the fact that the CoE (Commission of Experts) neglected to recognize the Commission of Truth and Friendship formed by both the Indonesian and East Timor governments, who are willing to move forward and forget the past.
"The international tribunal is very unrealistic and not visible," said Natalegawa, adding that the recommendation was no surprise. "We knew it was coming."
During the panel's visit to Indonesia, judges met with top Indonesian officials, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayudha and Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh.
The judges aim was to evaluate the judicial process of Jakarta's ad hoc human rights tribunal, which was set up after intense international pressure to prosecute those charged with atrocities committed during the 1999 referendum in East Timor.
The vote unleashed a wave of murder and mayhem committed by pro-Jakarta militias that was only stopped after an international peacekeeping force was dispatched to restore law and order. More than 1,000 people died and 500,000 were left homeless.
Indonesia's tribunal has tried 18 suspects. Twelve were acquitted, five had their convictions overturned on appeal and the final case is still pending.
Human rights activists have long described the Indonesian judicial process a sham, and have called for a full international tribunal.
"Indonesia should just give away those generals who are responsible for the killings," said Johnson Panjaitan, a human rights activist and former lawyer for East Timor President Xanana Gusmao during the struggle for independence. "That will give Indonesia a better, cleaner image."