Abilio plans to take Timor abuses to ICJ

Abilio plans to take Timor abuses to ICJ

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former East Timor governor Abilio Soares has threatened to bring
human rights abuses in the territory in 1999 to the International
Court of Justice (ICG) if forced to serve a three-year jail term.

Abilio said he has been made a scapegoat to protect certain
individuals responsible for security in the former Indonesian
province.

"The guilty verdict issued by the Supreme Court shocked me as
I was hoping to find justice here in Indonesia. If I am forced to
serve the jail term, I will bring the case to the International
Court of Justice," he said here on Friday.

Abilio, accompanied by lawyer O.C. Kaligis, said he would take
those legal steps still available to him to avoid jail.

"Once I receive a copy of the verdict, I will do anything to
avoid the punishment," he said.

According to the law, once a defendant's sentence has been
upheld by the Supreme Court, he or she can apply for presidential
clemency or request a judicial review.

The Supreme Court upheld the three-year jail term given to
Abilio by an ad hoc rights tribunal. The former governor was
convicted of failing to prevent violence in East Timor ahead of,
during and after the territory's independence referendum in 1999.

Abilio is one of 17 civilians, police officers and military
soldiers brought to trial for the violence in East Timor in 1999,
when dozens of independence supporters were killed and almost 80
percent of the territory's infrastructure was destroyed.

Earlier, the Supreme Court cleared one former police officer
and two military soldiers of human rights abuses. Other
defendants were either acquitted or given light sentences, though
those defendants found guilty remain free pending appeal.

Abilio said he should not be held responsible for the
breakdown of peace and security in East Timor because he was no
longer in charge when the violence occurred.

"I do not understand why I should be held responsible for the
violence in the province since I no longer had any power as
governor after the signing of the May tripartite agreement," said
Abilio, referring to an agreement that stipulated that all
administrative matters fell under the supervision of the UN
Mission in East Timor.

"If the court blames me for failing to maintain security
during, before and after the ballot, it should be understood that
the same agreement stipulates that the police, backed by the
military, were responsible for security in the territory," said
Abilio, while joking that he planned to flee Jakarta as soon as
possible.