International tribunal for East Timorese 'bloodbath' possible: Albright

05/05/2000 Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON, May 5 (AFP) - An international tribunal to bring perpetrators of last year's "bloodbath" in East Timor should be convened if Indonesia's own effort to conduct an inquiry is not deemed acceptable, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday.

"The bottom line is that those responsible for orchestrating this bloodbath must be brought to justice," Albright said.

"If the Indonesian judicial system is capable of delivering credible justice, so much the better. (But) if that is not ultimately the case, the international community can and should exert its prerogative to see that the perpetrators are brought to justice," she said.

Though holding out the international option, Albright, speaking to a conference on war crimes here, praised Indonesia's efforts thus far to investigate the violence that swept the territory ahead of and after the territory's August vote for independence from Jakarta.

She noted the creation this week of a 64-member panel to probe the incidents and its prompt summoning of top generals in the Indonesian army who are suspected of ordering or being complicit in the violence.

The team -- which answers directly to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman -- is investigating four major attacks in East Timor and the murder of a Dutch journalist.

"The prospects are promising for a credible and effective domestic accountability process that hardliners cannot dismiss as a Western- imposed, politically motivated version of victors' justice," Albright said, encouraging Indonesian authorities to be thorough in their work.

If they are, she added, "Indonesia's judicial capacity and credibility will be enhanced."

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USA: U.S. hopeful on Indonesia's Timor investigation.

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it saw "promising prospects" for Indonesia's domestic investigation into atrocities in East Timor last year.

But if the Indonesian judicial system failed to deliver credible justice, the international community would have to take on the task, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told a seminar for editors on war crimes.

Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman has set up a 64-strong team to investigate the violence which swept East Timor after it voted for independence last year. The United Nations has welcomed general progress by Indonesia.

Albright said: "The (Indonesian) team wasted no time in bringing in several top generals for questioning."

"The prospects are promising for a credible and effective domestic accountability process that hardliners cannot dismiss as a Western-imposed, politically motivated version of victors' justice," she added.

The investigation is into killings by militias opposed to independence for East Timor , a former Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975, and possible assistance to the militias by elements of the Indonesian military.

The territory is now under U.N. administration in preparation for independence in about two years.

Albright said: "The bottom line is that those responsible for orchestrating this blood bath must be brought to justice. If the Indonesian judicial system is capable of delivering credible justice, so much the better.

"If that is not ultimately the case, the international community can and should exert its prerogatives to see that the perpetrators are brought to justice." 

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