| Subject: SMH: Indon
generals face trial for Timor atrocities
Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday, December
15, 1999
Generals face trial for Timor atrocities
By DANIEL COONEY in Jakarta
State investigators demanded yesterday
that army generals be tried for human rights abuses in East Timor after
President Abdurrahman Wahid said he would not block their prosecutions by
the Indonesian courts.
Government human rights investigators
said military commanders should be held accountable for the orgy of murder
and destruction three months ago since they knew it was taking place and
did nothing to prevent it.
"This is great news," said Mr
Asmara Nababan of the Investigative Commission for Human Rights Abuses in
East Timor. "We have enough evidence to go ahead with the
prosecutions."
Mr Wahid said yesterday he would not
interfere in the judicial process and would allow the courts to decide the
fate of the generals, including his senior minister for security and
political affairs, General Wiranto, who was military chief during the East
Timor crisis.
"I will not be swayed by any
temptation," Mr Wahid said. "What is important is that we accept
the decision of the court."
Mr Wahid's comments appear to be at odds
with those made by the Defence Minister, Mr Juwono Sudarsono, last week
who said the generals would escape prosecution "as they were just
carrying out State policy".
Mr Sudarsono said only lower-ranking
soldiers who committed the actual crimes would be prosecuted.
Mr Nababan said the investigative
commission would soon submit its recommendations to Indonesia's
attorney-general, who will decide whether any generals should face
charges.
Although Mr Wahid's new reformist
Government appears intent on allowing Indonesia's own courts to decide the
fate of the generals, it has repeatedly said they must not be tried by a
proposed UN war crimes tribunal.
Last week, UN human rights investigators
visited Jakarta, after spending nine days in East Timor gathering evidence
of atrocities.
The team will present its report to the
UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, before the end of the year. The UN
Security Council will then decide whether to establish a tribunal, similar
to those established for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Indonesian military-backed militia gangs
went on a violent rampage in East Timor following the announcement of the
overwhelming vote for independence in a UN-sponsored plebiscite on August
30, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
Last month, investigators dug up the
bodies of 26 people - including three Roman Catholic priests - who were
massacred during September's violence. In all, about 200 bodies have been
recovered.
In the troubled northern province of Aceh
tension gripped several districts as the military threatened to step up
anti-rebel operations after the fatal stabbing of one of its officers.
Captain Alex, an intelligence officer of
the Central Aceh military command, was stabbed to death yesterday by a
group of unidentified men at a market in the town of Takengon, the Serambi
newspaper said.
A local man accompanying Alex was also
stabbed and remained in a coma, the head of the Aceh command, Colonel
Syafnil Armen, told the paper.
Colonel Armen warned that the patience of
the Indonesian armed forces was wearing thin.
"So far, TNI has been quite patient
despite the security disturbances that have taken place, so please, do not
push us to the limits of our patience," Colonel Armen said.
But the commander of the Free Aceh
Movement guerillas, Abdullah Syafiie, told Serambi that the rebels, who
are demanding the province be allowed to break away from Indonesia, would
continue their attacks on security forces.
Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
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