The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, said yesterday there was evidence that the mass bloodshed in East Timor after it voted for independence was organised by the Indonesian army (TNI) and not by rogue elements in the military as Indonesian ministers have suggested. "My worry is that it appears to be systemic. All the interlocutors I spoke to, all of them said TNI was fully involved, were orchestrating it. I have the impression it was systematic," Mrs Robinson told a news conference after meeting President B.J. Habibie in Jakarta. Gen Wiranto, head of the Indonesian armed forces, was to have attended the meeting with Mr Habibie but was not present, she said.
Mrs Robinson cited evidence gathered on a visit to Darwin in northern Australia on Sunday where she had spoken to refugees, civilian police and other officials from the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET). She spoke of reports from many sources that Indonesian soldiers had donned militia outfits to intimidate people, then reappeared later in uniform offering to protect them.
"The deliberate attempt to drive out the world's eyes and ears in East Timor, namely the UN presence and the media, did not prevent the collection of a great amount of evidence, names, places and facts," she said. "This will allow the world community to put the criminals responsible away, provided the resolve is there to do so. Much of this evidence pointed clearly to the role played by parts of the TNI in the violence." On Saturday the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, conceded that TNI troops had been involved in the burnings and shootings of civilians but said only "rogue elements" were involved.
Mrs Robinson said it was necessary to get the international force into East Timor "quickly, urgently, to secure life, the right to life and human security". The Human Rights Commissioner said she would travel to New York to brief the UN on her visit to Darwin, and will recommend the establishment of a commission of inquiry by an international committee of experts to gather and analyse evidence of the events in East Timor.
She said the committee would make recommendations on how to establish accountability, including the possible creation of a special tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity reported to have been committed. Mrs Robinson cited many harrowing reports, including rape, burning of bodies to hide evidence and systematic evictions, which she had been given during her visit to Darwin.
Asked about an international tribunal to look into crimes against humanity committed in East Timor by the TNI and pro-Jakarta militias since the vote for independence on August 30th, she said: "There must be no impunity from that scale of violation. I don't rule out the question of a possible tribunal but it is too soon to know what the committee of experts will recommend."
President Habibie said he would consider a joint UN-Indonesia panel to look into human rights abuses in East Timor, the head of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission said after meeting Mrs Robinson in Jakarta. "The president agrees that a commission should be considered," Mr Marzuki Darusman told reporters.
On Sunday Mr Habibie said he would allow peacekeepers into East Timor to end violence by anti-independence militias. UN officials said hundreds of thousands of refugees in East and West Timor were scavenging for food, eating plant roots and facing starvation unless emergency aid air drops arrive soon.
Mr Brian Kelly, deputy UN chief of information in Dili, said the 1,000 or so refugees in the UN headquarters, under constant threat of attack by pro-Jakarta militias, had given a cautious welcome to the news on peacekeepers.
"They are aware of the weakness of their position," Mr Kelly said. They were cautious "because they know of their vulnerability", he said. Dili had been quiet with no gunfire for 24 hours.