Why this delay of trials?<\/p>\n
East Timor trial in three months. So ran the main headline of
\nThe Jakarta Post on Feb. 17, 2000. Attorney General Marzuki
\nDarusman was quoted as saying that trials of those accused of
\ninvolvement in the campaign of terror and destruction in East
\nTimor last year would begin within that time frame. \"Within three
\nto four weeks there will be a number of suspects named\", he said.<\/p>\n
It is now fully five months since that statement. Is it too
\nmuch to ask what is going on? Is it too much to ask for an
\nexplanation for the delay? Some may dismiss this as a minor case
\nof water-treading. It is not. It concerns a case on which
\nIndonesia has expended much political capital, not to mention
\nnationalist self-righteousness in the belief that it can bring to
\naccount those responsible for a range of crimes against humanity
\nthat could, it may be forcefully argued, include genocide --
\n\"destruction in whole or in part of a people or nation\", as
\ndefined by the Geneva Conventions and international customary
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
It is all too easy to imagine the types of obstruction, not to
\nmention downright deception, that the Attorney General's team may
\nbe encountering. This, however, is not an excuse for the Attorney
\nGeneral's office not to issue a \"state of progress assessment\".<\/p>\n
DAVID JARDINE<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/why-this-delay-of-trials-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }