| Subject: JP: KPP
HAM warns militia leaders of 'obstruction of justice'
Jakarta Post December 22, 1999
KPP HAM warns militia leaders of
'obstruction of justice'
JAKARTA (JP): The government-sanctioned
commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor (KPP HAM)
warned prointegration militia leaders on Tuesday if they failed to adhere
to the inquiry's summonses they could be considered to be
"obstructing justice".
The warning came after militia leaders
failed to attend questioning on Tuesday.
The leader of Besi Merah Putih militia
group, Manuel Sousa, failed to appear for questioning at the office of the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
It was not clear why Manuel, who was the
first militia leader scheduled to be questioned by the commission, failed
to arrive.
"We are going to send him a second
summons and if he still fails to answer, KPP HAM will then write in its
report that he is unwilling to cooperate or it is an obstruction of
justice," KPP HAM deputy chairman Todung Mulya Lubis told
journalists.
Later on Tuesday, Aitarak militia leader
Eurico Guterres said in a television interview he would not abide by the
summons as the inquiry had been impartial in its investigation.
KPP HAM started this week questioning
militia leaders, Army generals and former East Timorese regents about the
violence and destruction in the former Indonesian province after the Aug.
30 ballot.
"We have asked defense minister
Juwono Sudarsono to help us bring these militia leaders to Jakarta because
we want to obtain information from both sides, so we flatly deny
allegations saying that KPP only seeks information from proindependence
supporters," Todung remarked.
"Those accusations are completely
wrong, obscure and misleading," Todung said, adding that "KPP
has started and will interview all parties to obtain information".
Todung was referring to a team of defense
lawyers representing top military generals, led by Adnan Buyung Nasution,
which said earlier the information KPP HAM had made public was one-sided
and mostly obtained from proindependence sources.
A source close to the investigation said
that along with Manuel and Eurico, those scheduled to be questioned
included; the commander of prointegration forces Joao da Silva Tavares;
the leader of Laksaur militias Olivio Moruk; and the leader of Saka-Sera
militias Joanico.
The source said Eurico, Tavares and
Olivio were scheduled to be questioned on Wednesday while Joanico was
scheduled on Friday.
Coordinating Minister for Political
Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto, who was the Indonesian Military (TNI)
chief when the ballot was held in East Timor, is scheduled to be
questioned on Wednesday.
The source also said a lieutenant colonel
from the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) would be questioned on Thursday
for his alleged involvement in an attack on a group of nuns and church
workers near the East Timorese town of Los Palos in late September, in
which at least nine people, including Indonesian journalist Agus Mulyawan,
were killed.
Two other middle-ranking Army officers
would also be questioned on Thursday for their alleged involvement in an
attack on a church in Suai on Sept. 6 which killed at least 26 people, the
source said.
Meanwhile, Todung also said the
commission was seeking to acquire the assistance of three foreign human
rights experts.
Todung said the complexity of the East
Timorese problem necessitated the involvement of the foreign experts, but
he did not elaborate.
He named the experts as Malaysian rights
advocate Datuk Param Cumaraswammy, University of Philippines' Carolina G.
Hernandez and Vitit Muntarbhorn of the Culalongkorn University in
Thailand.
Cumaraswammy and Hernandez have already
agreed to help while Muntarbhorn has yet to give an answer.
Earlier in the day, KPP HAM questioned
the former spokesman for the Indonesian Task Force for the Implementation
of the Popular Consultation in East Timor Dino, Patti Djalal, and former
Dili regent Dominggos Soares.
Dominggos said after the questioning that
"there was no official instruction to launch a campaign of
destruction in East Timor".
KPP HAM member Nursyahbani Katjasungkana
said, however, that Dominggos admitted during the questioning that
prointegration militia groups were set up under a decree and they had
received a monthly allowance from the local government. (byg/emf)
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