Asia Times: UN commission approves inquiry into abuses



	September 29, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

UN commission approves inquiry into abuses
By Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA - The United Nations Human Rights Commission has condemned the massive, systematic and grave human rights violations in East Timor, and approved the creation of an international commission to investigate abuses committed there this year.

The decision was adopted by a majority vote, which highlighted discrepancies between the group of Asian nations and many Western countries regarding the oversight functions of UN human rights mechanisms.

The effectiveness of the Human Rights Commission does not arise from its ability to single out and criticize specific countries, but from the consensus among its members on the promotion of humanitarian principles, said Indian Ambassador Savitri Kunadi.

The Asian countries, aligned with Indonesia, maintained that the creation of an international commission of inquiry was unnecessary, because the investigation could be conducted by Indonesia's brand-new National Human Rights Commission.

The resolution approved on Monday denounced serious abuses committed in East Timor, particularly since the release of the results of the August 30 self-determination ballot in which 78.5 percent of voters opted for independence from Indonesia, which has occupied the former Portuguese colony since 1975. Reports cited by the resolution refer to collusion between armed militias in East Timor and members of the Indonesian armed forces and police in repression against East Timorese, especially independence activists.

The meat of the resolution is found in the sixth paragraph, which urges UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up an international commission of inquiry to gather information on alleged human rights violations.

The draft of the sixth paragraph was altered by the European Union, which sponsored the initiative, in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the backing of Indonesia and the other Asian nations. The final text states that an adequate number of experts from Asia will sit on the commission of inquiry, which will act in collaboration with Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission. UN rapporteurs will also cooperate with the commission, to monitor specific aspects of humanitarian law.

Despite such concessions by the European members, Indonesian representative Hassan Wirajuda said his country would not recognize the resolution as legally binding. He maintained that the moral weight of the decision was eroded by the divisive climate in which it was approved.

Criticism over the lack of consensus also came from Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile and Mexico, which abstained from voting on the sixth paragraph along with the Asian nations. Argentinian representative Guillermo Gonzalez suggested that the paragraph could have been worded differently in order to achieve a consensus, which would have given the resolution more punch.

The controversial paragraph was approved by 27 to 12, while 11 delegations abstained and three were absent. The resolution as a whole was approved by 32 to 12, with six abstentions.

The debate on the issue of East Timor and the procedures followed to call the special session of the Human Rights Commission triggered deep divisions between delegations. In the process, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) also came in for criticism. It was accused of bias by several delegations from Asia.

(Inter Press Service)

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