Arriving in East Timor today, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, announced that her Office was preparing to launch a two-year programme of human rights technical coordination and cooperation with the Government.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, is set to visit East Timor later this week as part of her three-nation tour this month.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has spoken out against suggestions by an Indonesian tribunal - which is trying human rights abuse cases that occurred in East Timor - that there were irregularities in the United Nations-sponsored 1999 popular consultation to determine the future of the territory.
The top United Nations human rights official today voiced concern over the first verdict handed down by an Indonesian court dealing with crimes committed in East Timor and urged Jakarta to take all steps necessary to ensure that thorough investigations are conducted into alleged human rights violations committed during the 1999 popular consultation.
East Timor and the United Nations mission in the country have made substantial progress since that nation's independence three months ago, the President of the Security Council said today.
