Timorese's trust in military needs restoring: Muladi<\/p>\n
SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): The army has been urged to give
\nsoldiers involved in the Jan. 12 killing of six people in
\nLiquisa, East Timor, the freedom to defend themselves in the
\nmilitary tribunal.<\/p>\n
Muladi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
\nhailed yesterday the army's move to form the Officers' Honor
\nCouncil to probe the Liquisa incident.<\/p>\n
\"What counts most to us is that the council should give those
\ninvolved in the Liquisa incident the chance to defend themselves
\nin the military tribunal,\" Muladi told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The human rights' fact-finding team has found that the troops
\nviolated basic rights when they carried out the Jan. 12 operation
\nthat left six Liquisa villagers dead.<\/p>\n
The army has formed an Officers' Honor Council to further
\nassess the Armed Forces (ABRI) investigation team's conclusion
\nthat those killed were Fretilin rebels and sympathizers and that
\nthe troops deviated from standard procedures.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who took part in the commission's fact-finding
\nmissions last month, said he hoped the Officers' Honor Council
\nwould obtain as much information as possible which would enable
\nthe best possible recommendations to be put forth.<\/p>\n
The world is now waiting for the recommendations the officers'
\ncouncil comes out with, he added. \"Besides, Indonesia should
\nlearn from the incident and find proper ways to handle East Timor
\naffairs.\"<\/p>\n
Muladi said that the government should unearth the reasons for
\ncertain trends, like why East Timorese people opt to recount
\ntheir plight to institutions like the local branch of the
\nInternational Red Cross or the church.<\/p>\n
\"It seems that they (local people) distrust security
\nofficials. I think their trust in the security forces should be
\nrestored,\" said Muladi, who is also rector of the Semarang-based
\nDiponegoro University.<\/p>\n
One way to restore the local people's trust, he said, is by
\nthe military proving that law enforcement truly guarantees the
\nprinciple of equality before the law.<\/p>\n
\"Whoever commits a crime in East Timor should be brought to a
\ncourt of justice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi said the commission on human rights would open its
\noffice in East Timor to help accommodate the people and what they
\nsee as injustices in the former Portuguese colony.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Army chief of Staff Gen. Hartono said in Pamekasan,
\nEast Java, on Sunday that punishment for those found guilty in
\nthe Liquisa affair should not necessarily be the same as that for
\nofficers in the Dili incident on Nov. 12, 1991.<\/p>\n
ABRI sacked the East Timor army field commander Brig. Gen.
\nRudolf S. Warouw and chief of the Udayana Military Regional
\nCommand Maj. Gen. Sintong Panjaitan, who oversaw security in East
\nTimor, Nusa Tenggara and Bali. Eight lower ranking officers were
\ncourt-martialed.<\/p>\n
The punitive measures were recommended by a military honorary
\ncouncil formed to investigate the incident in which about 50 pro-
\nindependence demonstrators were killed.<\/p>\n
\"We do not know yet whether they (soldiers taking part in the
\nLiquisa operation) did anything wrong. Let's wait for the
\nofficers' council's decision,\" he was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Hartono, who hails from Pamekasan -- a town on the Madura
\nisland well-known for its bull racing -- denied allegations that
\ntroops' burnt down a hut at the scene of the Liquisa incident to
\ndestroy material evidence.<\/p>\n
\"That (destroying the hut) is common in a battle,\" he said.
\n(pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/timoreses-trust-in-military-needs-restoring-muladi-1447893297",
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