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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesia concedes East Timor abuses |
| 2008-07-16 |
| Indonesia and East Timor expressed deep regret yesterday for violence surrounding Dili's 1999 independence vote after a joint probe blamed state institutions for "gross human rights violations". The report by the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) blamed Indonesian security forces for the mayhem, although Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stopped short of an apology. The two governments set up the CTF in 2005 to look into the violence, during which the UN estimates more than 1,000 East Timorese died, but it has no power to prosecute, prompting criticism that it serves to whitewash atrocities. It has been boycotted by the UN. The statement expressing regret came after the truth commission submitted its report on the violence to Yudhoyono, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Bali. Indonesian security and civilian forces had a major role in systematic, widespread "gross human rights violations", while a small number of East Timor's pro-independence groups also played minor parts in the violence, the report said. |
| Posted by:Fred |