It's difficult to implicate Wiranto, observers say<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Observers have noted that it would be tricky
\nto name Gen. (ret) Wiranto a suspect in the East Timor case,
\nsaying that apart from the difficulty of gathering concrete
\nevidence against him, the desire to incriminate him was more
\npolitically motivated than legally based.<\/p>\n
Ichlasul Amal of Gadjah Mada University said on Tuesday that
\ninternational pressure was the predominant factor in efforts to
\nhave Wiranto named a suspect rather than evidence which could
\nimplicate him.<\/p>\n
\"Why do people want Wiranto named a suspect in the East Timor
\ncase, while they do not ask for the same thing for the Aceh case,
\nfor example. Regardless of the fact that real murders occurred in
\nAceh,\" Amal said.<\/p>\n
International pressure, according to Amal, was the reason for
\nthis.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that Indonesia's weak international standing at
\nthe present time was the main factor for this.<\/p>\n
As a country saddled with so much foreign debt and in turmoil,
\nIndonesia has less bargaining power.<\/p>\n
\"The international community could not do much about the
\nTiananmen Square tragedy, regardless of the fact that rights
\nviolations were so obviously present,\" Amal remarked.<\/p>\n
\"What I'm trying to say is that it is political interests that
\nhave more of a say in this case and not that of judicial facts,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office last week named 19 suspects of
\nrights violations in East Timor. Several high-ranking officers
\nand officials were included in the 19.<\/p>\n
But conspicuously missing was Wiranto, who during an earlier
\ninquiry conducted by a team from the National Commission on Human
\nRights was implicated as also being responsible for the violence
\nthat took place just before and after the ballot on independence
\nin the former Indonesian province last year.<\/p>\n
Amal noted that Indonesia in 1999 was in turmoil, and,
\naccording to earlier precedence, even former President B.J.
\nHabibie could be held accountable.<\/p>\n
\"We could even name the president, as the highest commander of
\nthe military, a suspect if we wanted to go further,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He referred to the Bosnia case in which Slobodan Milosevic was
\nimplicated. \"He is only a political figure, but he was named a
\nsuspect because he was considered to have known about the
\nkillings\".<\/p>\n
Amal added that it was also easier to name Milosevic a suspect
\nbecause the case there was much more clearer compared to that of
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
\"We were in such a chaotic situation at the time that the line
\nof command became blurred. Therefore, we need to consider many
\nthings in deciding up to which level (of high-ranking military
\nofficers and officials) should be responsible for the violations
\nin East Timor,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amal further added that in instances during the Vietnam War
\nonly field commanders were named suspects, not higher ranking
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
Amal remarked that it was up to President Abdurrahman Wahid to
\nmake a political decision on the case.<\/p>\n
\"Gus Dur has to consider how far international pressure (on
\nthe case) will effect national interest. If he believes it will
\nhave an insignificant effect, then he may exclude Wiranto from
\nthe list of suspects,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amal, however, believes that if Wiranto is excluded it could
\nhave some effect on the flow of foreign loans, especially from
\nthe International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"That is the worst impact that we may experience due to the
\nexclusion of Wiranto because the international community cannot
\njust interfere in the handling of the case,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, political commentator Andi A. Malarangeng said the
\nAttorney General's Office was most likely finding it difficult to
\nobtain concrete evidence against Wiranto.<\/p>\n
\"How do you prove Wiranto instructed brutal acts be committed
\nor that he knew about the acts but made no effort to stop them?
\nIt's difficult,\" Andi said here after lecturing at Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He also remarked that it all depended on the political will of
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
According to Andi, prosecutors should widen their
\ninvestigation into the East Timor violence and include
\nproindependence activists on the list of suspects because both
\ncamps were involved in the violence.<\/p>\n
He said the excuse of proindependence groups that they engaged
\nin violence in the name of an \"independence war\" could not be
\njustified because basically any act of violence remained a human
\nrights violation regardless of the reason.<\/p>\n
\"It doesn't mean that in an 'independence war' rights
\nviolations are justified, does it?\"(44\/swa)<\/p>",
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