A festering wound<\/p>\n
It surely surprises no one that criticism by the U.S. State
\nDepartment of the trial of those considered responsible for human
\nrights violations in East Timor in 1999 has been met with a lack
\nof sympathy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
To quote Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril
\nIhza Mahendra: \"Speaking about disappointment, we too are disappointed
\nwith the European court's verdicts on war criminals in Bosnia.<\/p>\n
How many people died there, but they have been convicted to only
\nfour and four-and-a-half years in prison. But that's where our
\ndisappointment stops.<\/p>\n
However, if the United States is disappointed, attempts are being
\nmade to pressure the secretary-general of the UN, the UN Security
\nCouncil and members of Congress to ask the UN to form a
\ncommission of experts to study (our) courts' decisions against
\nthose accused of human rights violations in East Timor.\" Not
\nsatisfied to leave it at that, Yusril added, \"We are even more
\ndisappointed with the U.S. over Iraq. But we cannot tell the U.S.
\nthat. Let's just try to be fair.\"<\/p>\n
Not surprising, perhaps, considering his position as the
\ncountry's top diplomat, a much milder opinion was expressed by
\nMinister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda. The American view,
\naccording to Hassan, was understandable and did not constitute a
\ncase of foreign interference in the judicial system of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
What apparently triggered the argument was a statement by U.S.
\nState Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli, made early last
\nweek, in which he expressed \"distress and great disappointment\"
\nat the recent verdicts pronounced by the ad hoc human rights
\ntribunal in Jakarta, which absolved four defendants in the 1999
\nEast Timor human rights case of responsibility for the bloody
\nspate of killings, torture, arson and looting that swept the
\nterritory in the wake of a referendum that sealed its future as
\nan independent nation.<\/p>\n
As might be recalled, a veritable tidal wave of violence swept
\nEast Timor at the time, reportedly leaving about 1,400 civilians
\nkilled, an uncounted number of people tortured and at least
\n200,000 forced to leave their homeland. UN prosecutors stationed
\nin Dili, East Timor, have since issued an order for the arrest of
\nGen. (ret) Wiranto. As commander-in-chief of the Indonesian
\nMilitary at the time of the traumatic East Timor events, Wiranto
\nis held responsible for failing to stop the killings,
\ndeportations and torture, and for failing to punish those
\ndirectly responsible.<\/p>\n
One prominent player in those shocking events, pro-Indonesia
\nmilitia leader Eurico Guterres, has since been sentenced to five
\nyear in prison -- half the term demanded by the prosecution --
\nbut many others were absolved of any responsibility in successive
\ntrials that have taken place over the past years. According to UN
\nofficials in Dili, of 18 defendants who have been tried in
\nIndonesian courts so far, only two have been punished, leading
\nthem to conclude that legal processing in Indonesia, insofar as
\nEast Timor human rights violations are concerned, is seriously
\nflawed and lacks credibility.<\/p>\n
Obviously, such an unflattering appraisal may not go down well
\nin Jakarta. As Minister Yusril put it: \"However much we disagree
\nwith the courts' verdicts, they must be respected.\" However,
\npatriotism and legal formality aside, it must in all honesty be
\nadmitted that is hard to see how so many people -- military and
\npolice personnel as well as armed civilians -- can have escaped
\njustice in the wake of the unspeakable horror that swept East
\nTimor in 1999.<\/p>\n
Good statesmen that they are, East Timor's leaders, from
\nPresident Xanana Gusmao and Foreign Minister Ramos Horta down,
\nhave sought to distance themselves from the demands for a proper
\ntrial of what UN officials see as war crimes, for the sake of
\nmaintaining good ties with Indonesia and preserving stability in
\ntheir huge neighbor to the west.<\/p>\n
That, however, is beside the point. As far as Indonesia is
\nconcerned, criticism will be difficult to avoid, until its courts
\nshape up and justice is meted out fairly and impartially.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-festering-wound-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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