The Jakarta Saturday, March 24, 2007

Truth Commission to Interview Wiranto and Habibie

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) will begin a second phase of hearings on Monday in an attempt to uncover the facts behind the deadly violence that followed the 1999 referendum in the former Indonesian province.

Unlike the first phase of hearings last month, which heard testimonies from victims of the 1999 violence, this time the commission will listen to the accounts of a number of top Indonesian decision makers at the time of the tragedy. They will include then president B.J. Habibie and then Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto.

The TNI has given the green light to the commission to interview active and retired officers alleged to have been involved in the violence and has guaranteed it will not protect soldiers proven guilty of taking part.

Commission co-chairman Benjamin Mangkoedilaga of Indonesia has confirmed that both Habibie and Wiranto will testify for the commission during the five-day hearing, which starts Monday.

He has also said that other key figures of the time, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, are due to testify.

Indonesia and Timor Leste formed the 10-member commission in 2005 amid calls to bring the perpetrators of the violence to an international tribunal. The CTF's mission is hear testimonies on the violence before and after the Aug. 30, 1999 referendum that led to the establishment of an independent Timor Leste.

A total of 1,400 people were reportedly killed and most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed in the violence, which erupted following the announcement in September 1999 of the results of the referendum.

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