19 suspects named in East Timor case

19 suspects named in East Timor case

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office named 19 people on
Friday, including three generals, "possible suspects" in last
year's violence in East Timor.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes M. Rachman told a
news conference that the generals were former Udayana Military
commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, former East Timor military
commander Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and former East Timor police
chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen.

Conspicuously missing from the list were Indonesian Military
(TNI) chief at that time Gen. (ret) Wiranto, former intelligence
chief Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim and infamous militia leader
Eurico Guterres.

Later on Friday evening, however, Attorney General's Office
spokesman Yushar Yahya contacted The Jakarta Post to correct the
term "possible suspects", saying the 19 were, in fact, considered
suspects.

He did not elaborate on the confusion which occurred earlier
in the day.

"It's alright to change 'possible suspects' to 'suspects'. We
don't want to prolong debate about the differences of the two
terms," he said.

All 19 suspects had been named in an earlier report by an
inquiry from a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
team which implicated 33 military and civilian officers in the
violence.

Wiranto, in the report, was said to be "morally responsible"
for the East Timor violence. Wiranto has denied any wrongdoings.

Also named by the Attorney General's Office on Friday were
Tono Suratman's replacement, Col. Noer Muis, former chief of the
feared SGI intelligence task force in East Timor Col. Yayat
Sudrajat, who is a member of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus)
and former East Timor governor Jose Abilio Osorio Soares.

Three police lieutenant colonels and three Army lieutenant
colonels, respectively the former police and military chiefs of
Dili, Liquica and Suai, were also named as suspects.

One Army captain, an Army lieutenant, three former militia
members and former regents of Liquica and Covalima were also on
the list.

Rachman, who read out the list of suspects, said he did not
close the possibility of naming more suspects in the violence.

"The investigation into the alleged gross human rights
violations (in East Timor) is still continuing, so we are not
closing the possibility of naming new suspects," Rachman, who is
leading the investigation, said.

Rachman said the decision to name the suspects was not because
of "international pressure" or "public euphoria" but was based on
"strong confidence" (in the evidence).

He said the 19 were named suspects for their alleged
involvement in five major cases in East Timor.

They are: an April 17 attack on proindependence leader Manuel
Carrascalao's house in Dili which killed at least 12; the Sept. 6
attack at the home of Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo; a
massacre of refugees in a church in Liquica in April; a massacre
in a church in Suai in September where at least 26 people died;
and the killing of The Financial Times correspondent Sander
Thoenes in the East Dili area of Becora on Sept. 21.

Rahman said that pending the completion of the deliberation of
the bill on a human rights tribunal by the House of
Representatives, the investigation would be based on the 1999
government regulation in lieu of a law on human rights tribunal.

The bill is expected to be passed before the end of September.

The new bill could provide the key legal instrument to try top
military generals for rights abuses as it includes an article
which can snare those who aided and abetted rights violations.

Article 35 of the bill, a copy of which was obtained by the
Post, stipulates that "every state official, military or police
officer who allows or fails to prevent his or her subordinates
from committing gross human violations is liable to face the same
possible punishment as those who directly commit violations".

The bill varies punishment from three years to life
imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the defense team for TNI officers implicated in the
case said in a statement on Friday it would demand a judicial
review as there was still controversy surrounding the legal basis
of the case.

Referring to a constitutional amendment which prevents an
individual from being prosecuted under laws that did not exist
when the crime was committed, the statement, signed by Adnan
Buyung Nasution and Yan Juanda Saputra, said the Attorney
General's Office did not have a monopoly on legal truth.
(byg/bby)