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16 November 1999
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HR/99/103
16 November 1999
MEMBERS OF COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON EAST TIMOR
TO PREPARE THIS WEEK FOR DEPLOYMENT
Members of the international commission of inquiry on possible violations of human rights and acts which may constitute breaches of international humanitarian law committed in East Timor since January 1999 will gather in Geneva this week to prepare their deployment to the territory.
The investigative panel, called for by a special session of the Commission on Human Rights on 27 September, can now begin operations after receiving the endorsement of the United Nations Economic and Social Council yesterday. The chairperson of the commission of inquiry, Sonia Picado of Costa Rica, has arrived in Geneva to conduct preliminary work. She will be joined in the coming days by Judith Sefi Attah of Nigeria, Justice A.M. Ahmadi of India, Justice Mari Kapi of Papua New Guinea and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger of Germany.
The experts are scheduled to leave for East Timor later this week. There they will interview witnesses to alleged atrocities and visit sites where rights violations are reported to have taken place. Following their visit to the territory, the experts are expected to return to Geneva to prepare their report for submission to the Secretary-General by 31 December 1999, with a view to enabling him to make recommendations on future actions, and to make the report of the international commission of inquiry available to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
In its 27 September resolution on the situation in East Timor, the Commission on Human Rights called on the Secretary-General to establish the international commission of inquiry, "with adequate representation of Asian experts, in order, in cooperation with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights and thematic rapporteurs, to gather and compile systematically' information on possible violations" (resolution 1999/S-4/1). The Secretary-General entrusted High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson with setting up the commission.
16 November 1999
MEMBERS OF COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON EAST TIMOR
TO PREPARE THIS WEEK FOR DEPLOYMENT
Members of the international commission of inquiry on possible violations of human rights and acts which may constitute breaches of international humanitarian law committed in East Timor since January 1999 will gather in Geneva this week to prepare their deployment to the territory.
The investigative panel, called for by a special session of the Commission on Human Rights on 27 September, can now begin operations after receiving the endorsement of the United Nations Economic and Social Council yesterday. The chairperson of the commission of inquiry, Sonia Picado of Costa Rica, has arrived in Geneva to conduct preliminary work. She will be joined in the coming days by Judith Sefi Attah of Nigeria, Justice A.M. Ahmadi of India, Justice Mari Kapi of Papua New Guinea and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger of Germany.
The experts are scheduled to leave for East Timor later this week. There they will interview witnesses to alleged atrocities and visit sites where rights violations are reported to have taken place. Following their visit to the territory, the experts are expected to return to Geneva to prepare their report for submission to the Secretary-General by 31 December 1999, with a view to enabling him to make recommendations on future actions, and to make the report of the international commission of inquiry available to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
In its 27 September resolution on the situation in East Timor, the Commission on Human Rights called on the Secretary-General to establish the international commission of inquiry, "with adequate representation of Asian experts, in order, in cooperation with the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights and thematic rapporteurs, to gather and compile systematically' information on possible violations" (resolution 1999/S-4/1). The Secretary-General entrusted High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson with setting up the commission.