Asia Times: Generals, investigators face off over Timor atrocities



	December 18, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Generals, investigators face off over Timor atrocities
By Marianne Kearney

JAKARTA - An independent Indonesian commission, which has made surprising headway investigating human rights abuses committed during East Timor's post-ballot violence, has come under fire from the high-ranking generals it has named as being connected with the violence.

Still, the Indonesian team of lawyers has vowed to press on with its investigation. They have been receiving threats from a senior military commander who says Indonesian soldiers would be so humiliated they might run amok if their generals were called to give evidence in a public trial.

''If that happens, I pity the ordinary people. The people who are wrong are the ones that are discrediting TNI (the Indonesian armed forces),'' said General Jaja Suparman, who commands the elite Kostrad forces and is a close friend of the former armed forces head, Gen Wiranto.

While the UN special investigation into the Timor human rights abuses has been hindered by the Indonesian government, the Indonesian commission has received support from the new president, Abdurrahman Wahid, and is considered more likely to proceed with a human rights trial.

The commission has come under strong criticism from the military over the past few days, because it has indirectly accused senior Indonesian generals, including Wiranto, of either supporting or directly organizing the militias' post-ballot rampage which destroyed East Timor. Wiranto has denied any links with the violence, calling the commission's accusations ''groundless''.

This week Munir, an investigator with the Indonesian team, announced that the commission had uncovered new evidence clearly showing the links between the military, the government and the militias. For instance, Munir said, every provincial mayor had been linked to the militias. The investigators also had documents which showed the militias asking for help from the military.

Meanwhile, the UN commission has called for the continuation of its investigation, saying it also has evidence proving the military's involvement in the post-ballot violence. The team will make a recommendation to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the end of this week.

The UN investigators, who left Jakarta last week, have not received the same support as their Indonesian counterparts from the Indonesian government. Even Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab rejected the inquiry, saying it would shame Indonesia if its generals were hauled before an international inquiry. As a result, the UN commission was refused access to West Timor, where much of the evidence, such as bodies of pro-independence supporters, is reported to have been taken. Many of the military-backed militia leaders now live in West Timor.

UN commission leader Sonia Picado is disappointed that the Indonesian government was not more cooperative, but pleased that her team was able to share evidence with their Indonesian counterparts. The Indonesian team, for example, found a mass grave in West Timor where 26 people who were victims of a massacre in the Catholic church at Suai had been buried.

The Indonesians have been far more successful than the UN team in interviewing members of the Indonesian military who were allegedly ordered to participate in the violence, and high-ranking members of the militia. However, Picado said, the UN team was still able to gather a lot of evidence in East Timor, some of it provided by the international peacekeeping force, Interfet. She added that new witnesses were coming forward every day in East Timor.

Diplomatic commentators are not confident that the UN Security Council will approve a war crimes tribunal, and therefore place more hope in the Indonesian investigation to deliver justice.

Munir and commission leader Albert Hasibuan say they are committed to trying the people ultimately responsible for the violence, but admit that bringing the accused to court will be difficult. ''This week I still thought the trial would run fairly but I don't know what will happen next week after the statements from the military,'' said Munir.

Another problem is witness intimidation. Munir admitted that the military, which is bringing key militia members to Jakarta in the next week, might try to intimidate witnesses. ''The military and the militias have consolidated,'' he said.

Hasibuan believes that if Wiranto's knowledge of the violence can be proven, he could be tried for failure to prevent it. Yet even if the evidence is solid, the outcome may still be political, with generals who are found guilty escaping punishment. ''It depends on the political position of the government. Maybe the government will give amnesty to the generals after the trial. But the important thing is that the trial is held, not the results,'' Hasibuan said.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.