Letter: Ways to address rights abuses

Referring to the past human rights issue in Timor Leste, I would say that there are other and many ways to handle the case than by simply establishing a disputed international tribunal based on national ownership.

Those who support the tribunal, mostly from the West, argue that the crimes committed against the people of Timor Leste in 1991 were crimes against humanity under international law and cannot be dismissed through amnesty, nor is there a statute of limitations on such crimes, therefore the only way to remedy such a situation is through establishing an international tribunal.

If this is the argument, the same pertinent questions should be asked: Should Indonesians (or other formerly colonized territories) ask or persist in asking for a tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity, such as those done by the Netherlands from 1945-1949? I don't think so.

Will Amnesty International support these efforts, if any? I don't think so. According to international human rights, is there a big difference between human rights abuses in 1945-1949 and those in the 1990s? The Netherlands did pay the price, the same goes now to Indonesians. I encourage decision makers in Washington, D.C., and in capitals across Europe to read Stanley A. Weiss's article "Indonesia's security burden", in The New York Times, Sept. 4, 2009.

Hamutuk
Los Angeles