NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    JAKARTA, NOV 23 (ZENIT).- Some 200,000 refugees of the conflict in East Timor, during which two bishops were attacked and hundreds of Catholic collaborators and faithful were killed, will be able to return to their land from their present refuge in the western part of the island. The decision follows an agreement signed by the Jakarta army and the U.N. INTERFET forces. Those who wish to remain in the west, will be able to do so if they choose to be integrated into Indonesian society.

    The agreement was made possible, thanks to the mediation of United States U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is currently visiting the Asian island. The treaty stipulates that the Jakarta armed forces must control the activities of the pro-Indonesia paramilitary militias, who were responsible for the previous killings, which took place in the island after the referendum on independence held on August 30.

    Yesterday, Albert Hasibuan, president of an independent Commission established in Indonesia to investigate these attacks on human rights, said to the newspaper "Suara Pembaruan" that "the TNI (Indonesian army) supported the militias' burnt earth program in East Timor, which ended in killings and devastation." Hasibuan specified that a series of military chiefs are being investigated.

    "There are at least five violations of human rights that have caused the death of hundreds of Timorese and have been committed by militias with the help of regular troops," the Commission's president said.

    Meanwhile, tensions and disorders on another island of the archipelago, in the province of Aceh, have resulted in the death of two policemen and three civilians. This province, which experienced unrest previously -- provoked by independence movements, had returned to calm following Wahid's election as President of Indonesia. ZE99112308

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