[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 68 (Wednesday, April 26, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   A CHANCE FOR JUSTICE IN EAST TIMOR

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on January 12 of this year, the 
Indonesian military tortured and murdered six unarmed civilians in 
Liquisa, near Dili, in East Timor.
  The Indonesian Army Chief of Staff, while reportedly admitting 
``procedural violations,'' claimed the victims were supporters of the 
guerrillas. However, the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia, 
which released a scathing report on March 2, accused the military of 
``unlawful'' killings of innocent civilians.
  As anyone who follows events in East Timor knows, the Liquisa 
shootings were not an isolated incident. They were part of a pattern of 
political violence on the island in which Indonesian troops have been 
implicated for decades.
  However, the fact that the National Human Rights Commission published 
such a conscientious report is encouraging. The Indonesian Government 
now has two choices.
  One choice is to repeat its mistakes after the November 1991 Dili 
massacre. Many here will recall how back then, the unarmed 
demonstrators were sentenced to long prison terms, while a handful of 
lower ranking soldiers who fired the deadly shots went to jail for a 
few months and the officers who gave the orders and tried to cover up 
the crime went scot free.
  The other choice is to take responsibility, and use this opportunity 
to punish severely all those implicated in these crimes, and by doing 
so deter others from committing such atrocities in the future. Only 
when the impunity ends will the abuse of human rights end.
  Let us hope that the Indonesian Government seizes this opportunity to 
demonstrate that no one is above the law, because it is long overdue in 
a country that seeks to be accepted as a respectable world 
power.


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