LAKSAMANA.Net, February 25, 2003 06:20 PM
Indonesia Disregards UN Indictments
February 25, 2003 06:20 PM
Laksamana.Net - Indonesia is unfazed by the United Nations' move to indict former
amred forces chief General Wiranto and six other senior military officials, as well as
East Timor's former governor, for crimes against humanity during the months
surrounding the territory's bloody independence vote in 1999.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda on Tuesday (25/2/03) said the government
would simply ignore the indictments.
His response came just hours after prosecutors from the UN Serious Crimes Unit
issued a statement that said the seven military officials and former governor have been
indicted with "crimes against humanity for murder, deportation and persecution".
Those on the list are: former Indonesian Armed Forces commander/defense minister
General Wiranto; former security advisor/covert operations officer Major General Zacky
Anwar Makarim; former operations assistant to Army chief/martial law administrator
Major General Kiki Syahnakri; former Udayana Military Command chief Major General
Adam Rachmat Damiri; former East Timor Military Command chief Colonel Suhartono
Suratman; former East Timor Military Command chief Colonel Mohammad Noer Muis;
former Combined Intelligence Task Force chief Lieutenant Colonel Yayat Sudrajat;
and former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osario Soares.
The UN prosecutors have requested arrest warrants from East Timor's Dili District
Court and will forward them on to the Indonesian Attorney General's Office.
Like so much other material that ends up at the notoriously corrupt Attorney General's
Office, the warrants will not be dealt with, partly because senior generals remain a
potent force in the Indonesian political arena, although often behind the scenes.
The former ruling Golkar Party has even nominated Wiranto as one of its potential
candidates for next year's presidential election.
Wirajuda said the government does not see any need to take action against Wiranto.
"He is a free man... Why take action? Who gave [the UN] the mandate to indict
Indonesians, under what basis, what authority?" the minister was quoted as saying by
the Associated Press.
Justice Ministry spokesman R.H. Tjapa confirmed that Wiranto and the others would
not end up on trial in East Timor. "We don't have [an extradition] agreement with East
Timor, therefore, we would not extradite them," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Australian media reports have said the UN will seek the help of Interpol and foreign
governments to help bring Wiranto and the others to court.
The indicted military officials and Soares, who were responsible for security in East
Timor, have been accused of funding, training and arming the Army's murderous
militia proxies that went on sprees of murder, arson and looting during the final
months of Indonesian rule in the territory in 1999.
According to the UN, more than 1,000 people were killed in the violence, most of them
independence supporters. Another 250,000 East Timorese fled or were forced across
the border into Indonesian-controlled West Timor after the August 30, 1999, vote to
secede from Indonesia.
The UN indictment against the military officers and Soares documents more than 280
murders in 10 separate attacks. The indictment is based on over 1,500 witness
statements and reports.
Soares was in August 2002 sentenced by Indonesia's special human rights court to
three years in prison for allowing massacres to take place in East Timor. He claimed
he was made a scapegoat and reportedly remains free pending an appeal process
that could take years.
Several others on the UN indictment list have also been named in human rights cases
underway in Jakarta, but not Wiranto, Makarim or Syahnakri.
Wiranto has consistently denied any wrongdoing, although human rights groups have
said was ultimately responsible for the East Timor carnage. The UN Serious Crimes
Unit also feels Wiranto is at fault.
"The evidence against General Wiranto is supported by over 1,500 witness
statements. He made frequent visits to East Timor at the time of the violence, and
met with key figures on the ground whose responsibility was to stop crime and punish
the wrongdoers. Instead, most were later promoted," Stuart Alford of the Serious
Crimes Unit was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
In the 1999 UN-sponsored referendum, 78.5% of East Timorese voted for
independence after 24 years of brutal Indonesian rule. Critics say the Indonesian
military had concocted a "scorched earth" policy to leave the territory in bloodshed
and ruins because it dared to secede.
Wiranto in April 2002 claimed the violence was due to irregularities in the
UN-organized ballot.
Testifying during the Jakarta trial of former East Timor Police chief Timbul Silaen, he
insisted the military and police had done their best to control the mayhem, and said
he had played the role of peacemaker.
"I tried to reconcile the two conflicting parties. I imposed a state of emergency aimed
at restoring peace and order in East Timor. I have done a lot," he said.
On February 13, 2003, Wiranto was defending his record again, this time during the
Jakarta trial of Suratman.
He said the violence was "a risk of the policy taken by former president Habibie", who
had outraged senior generals by allowing East Timor to democratically determine its
future.
Wiranto said he had done everything possible to prevent violence. "If we had not taken
preventive measures I'm sure there would have been a civil war," he said – ignoring
the fact that his military had allowed its militia gangs to destroy most of East Timor's
infrastructure.
Bus Attack
The East Timor government held an emergency meeting on Tuesday after an armed
group attacked vehicles near the border with West Timor, leaving at least one person
dead and three seriously injured.
According to the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), the armed group
attacked a minibus carrying civilians in Bobonaro district, southeast of Dili. Earlier in
the day, a truck was similarly attacked.
The attacks come just one day after a senior UN peacekeeper in East Timor warned
that an anti-independence militia group had launched a "terrorist strategy" to
undermine the territory's government ahead of next year's planned withdrawal of the
United Nations from the infant country.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Brigadier General Justin Kelly,
deputy commander of the UN peacekeeping force, as saying the killing of five former
pro-independence campaigners in a mountain region last month indicated a new
militia threat from West Timor.
The Indonesian Army has denied sending its militia thugs across the border into East
Timor.
No Comparison
Wiranto last Thursday (20/2/03) said the role of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI)
cannot be compared with the roles played by the military forces of other countries.
"The military position in each country is not the same. In civilian-military relations, TNI
is integrated with the people," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.
He said TNI's identity lies in its philosophy: "From the people, for the people and with
the people."
This creed is a historical asset that remains alive and should never be abandoned, he
said, adding that TNI must be committed to maintaining national unity and
strengthening its military professionalism.
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