CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- An independent East Timor commission has demanded Indonesia, the United States, Britain and Australia pay torture and violence reparations.
The panel also said the U.N.-backed investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed in the former Portuguese colony, occupied by Indonesia until 1999, should continue.
"The Permanent Members of the (U.N.) Security Council, particularly the United States but also Britain and France, who gave military backing to the Indonesian government between 1974 and 1999 and who are duty-bound to uphold the highest principles of world order and peace and to protect the weak and vulnerable (should) assist the Government of Timor-Leste in the provision of reparations to victims of human rights violations suffered during the Indonesian occupation," The Australian newspaper quoted the report from the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor as saying.
The panel said also liable are countries and companies that profited from the sale of weapons to Indonesia during that period.
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao presented the document to Parliament on Monday, and said he was "truly concerned" by it.
