Generals protest 'baseless' accusations<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing six military and police
\ngenerals have demanded censure against human rights investigators
\nfor accusing their clients of committing human rights abuses in
\nEast Timor based on scant and incomplete evidence.<\/p>\n
They also warned that the generals' cooperation in the inquiry
\ninto the violence in East Timor depended on the National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)'s action to reprimand the
\ninvestigators for discrediting their clients.<\/p>\n
The accusations \"violated the human rights of Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) officers\", the lawyers wrote on Wednesday in a
\nletter to the commission.<\/p>\n
The commission oversees KPP HAM, the independent inquiry set
\nup by the government in September to look into the campaign of
\nterror and destruction waged by pro-Indonesia militias in East
\nTimor after they lost the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot to
\npro-independence groups.<\/p>\n
In an interim report early this month, the inquiry said it had
\nfound indications that TNI members were involved in or had prior
\nknowledge about the campaign of terror. The inquiry has demanded
\nthe questioning of six TNI officers and police officers whom it
\nsaid were responsible for security in East Timor at the time of
\nthe mayhem.<\/p>\n
The six are Gen. Wiranto, the TNI chief in September and now
\ncoordinating minister of political affairs and security, Maj.
\nGen. Sjafrie Syamsudin, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, Maj. Gen. Zacky
\nAnwar Makarim, Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Police Brig. Gen.
\nTimbul Silaen. All six have retained the services of the
\ncountry's top lawyers to represent them in the investigation.<\/p>\n
The lawyers urged the Commission to take \"corrective action\"
\nagainst members of the inquiry for making the accusations which
\nhave discredited the public standing of their clients.<\/p>\n
They cited article 85c of the 1999 Law on Komnas HAM allowing
\nthe commission's plenary meeting to suspend investigators whose
\nactions had undermined the credibility of the commission.<\/p>\n
\"We plead with the plenary meeting to immediately take a
\nstance as well as action before we decide whether or not to allow
\nour clients to be summoned and questioned by KPP HAM,\" said the
\nletter, signed by lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution and Moh. Assegaf.<\/p>\n
They said public statements given by KPP HAM members accusing
\ntheir clients of human rights violations were \"premature, one-
\nsided and not objective\" and were intended not only for a
\ndomestic audience but also for an international one.<\/p>\n
These accusations were made before the inquiry had talked to
\nTNI officers and pro-Indonesia militias in East Timor, they said.<\/p>\n
The lawyers also demanded that Komnas HAM turned the
\ninvestigation into a closed inquiry, rather than an open one,
\nwhich is allowed under the 1999 Law on Komnas HAM.<\/p>\n
All findings made by the inquiry should not be made public
\nafter their accuracy is proven in an open court, they said.<\/p>\n
The inquiry was established in September by then president
\nB.J. Habibie after the government rejected calls for an
\ninternational inquiry that would look into the possibility of
\nsetting up a war crimes tribunal for Indonesian officers.<\/p>\n
The United Nations went ahead with its own inquiry, and the
\nteam, during a visit to Jakarta last week, said some of their
\nfindings tallied with those uncovered by KPP HAM.<\/p>\n
Albert Hasibuan, who heads the Indonesian inquiry, accused
\nGen. Wiranto of \"omission\" that lead to the East Timor mayhem.<\/p>\n
The UN commission announced in Geneva on Tuesday it had
\nevidence that Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militias were
\ninvolved in acts of terror in East Timor, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
\"The Commission heard evidence of the involvement of militia
\ngroups and army personnel in the intimidation and terror
\ncomplained of,\" the UN team said.<\/p>\n
The commission was sent to East Timor from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8
\nby UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.<\/p>\n
The members of the commission -- from Costa Rica, Nigeria,
\nIndia, Papua New Guinea and Germany -- urged that investigations
\ninto the atrocities should continue with the aim of bringing
\nthose responsible to justice.<\/p>\n
On the basis of their report, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
\nwill to have to decide whether to recommend the creation of an
\ninternational war crimes tribunal for East Timor.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, TNI Chief Adm. Widodo said he supported the
\nongoing investigation into human rights abuses as an attempt to
\nuphold the law.<\/p>\n
But he appealed to the public to uphold the principle of
\npresumption of innocence for the six generals, whom he noted were
\nstill engaged in active military service.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung urged the government to complete
\nthe inquiry immediately, saying Indonesia's international
\nreputation was at stake.<\/p>\n
\"I think it is fair that we should resolve this problem
\nourselves in a fair and just manner, before the international
\ncommunity decides to take the matter over,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ruhut Sitompul, one of the lawyers representing the military
\nand police generals, said here on Wednesday that a 27-member team
\nof lawyers and legal counselors would fly to East Timor on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
\"We'll be staying in the region for three days to hold several
\nmeetings with the prominent leaders in East Timor,\" Ruhut said
\nafter a meeting with some of the military generals here.<\/p>\n
Ruhut claimed that they had received permission to enter East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Among those who will be going are Adnan Buyung Nasution, Hotma
\nSitompul, Chandra Motik Yusuf Djemaat, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo,
\nBunga Suryaatmadja and Ruhut himself. (emb\/byg\/04)<\/p>",
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