Activists call for int'l human rights tribunal on East Timor

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Human rights activists pledged on Monday to step up a global campaign for the establishment of an international tribunal for those involved in the mayhem in East Timor in 1999, saying Indonesia's human rights court was inconsistent and not independent.

"Having observed the unreliable proceedings of local trials unfold, we want to launch a campaign to try those alleged to have carried out human rights abuses in East Timor at an international tribunal," Daniel Panjaitan, an activist at Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, told a seminar here.

He said the whole trial process was untrustworthy, citing the fact that even before the tribunal began, the attorney general dropped charges against Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who was in charge of the Indonesian Military (TNI) when the violence prevailed.

When the hearings began, he added, prosecutors were seemingly reluctant to bring in many key witnesses. Only two victim witnesses appeared in court.

Prosecutors were also unwilling to disclose links between prointegration militias, the Army and the government, despite their close affiliation, he said.

In a bizarre verdict, the ad hoc court sentenced on Wednesday former East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares to three years in jail, far below the minimum punishment of 10 years according to Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Tribunal. A day later, the court sparked fiercer criticism for acquitting former East Timor Police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen and five military officers from all charges.

"Court proceedings do not meet international standards. The United Nations (UN) could bring such cases to an international tribunal," Daniel said.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis agreed that the current trials had too many flaws, ranging from weak evidence presented by prosecutors to the fact that judges didn't carry out field checks in East Timor.

"With such flaws, there is a growing hope to set up an international tribunal," he said at the seminar.

He believed the international community would also consider cutting loans for Indonesia because of the controversial verdicts.

"I'm sure the U.S., the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) will question Indonesia about the accountability of its human rights court before deciding to issue loans," he said.

But Sidney Jones from the International Crisis Group said the demand for an international tribunal might face resistance from the UN Security Council, which is authorized to recommend whether the trial takes place.

"The U.S. may not support the idea because it needs Indonesia to support the war against terrorism. Russia and China may veto the idea as they also have human rights abuse records," she said.

Supreme Justice Benyamin Mangkoedilaga supported Jones' argument, saying that an international tribunal for human rights abuses in East Timor was unlikely due to the nebis en idem principle, which bars a person from standing a second trial for the same charges.

Benyamin, former chairman of the team preparing the ad hoc tribunal, added the human rights trials had met international standards.

"The international tribunal for Rwanda was unavoidable because it failed to set up human rights trials at home. This situation, of course, is totally different from our own," he said.

"Remember, an international tribunal is only supplementary should a domestic trial fail to proceed."

Benyamin said it was prosecutors who should be blamed for the controversial verdicts.

"The judges have opened chances for prosecutors to support their charges. But we cannot force the judges to decide other than what they see in the court," he said.

Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda called on the international community to refrain from commenting on the ongoing human rights tribunal as the legal process is not over yet.

"I hope foreign observers will not make immediate comments on the continuing legal process," Hassan told a press conference on Monday.

He underlined that the human rights tribunal in Jakarta may have been the first in Asia and it was important to bear in mind that Indonesia had no experience in handling such trials.

The minister dismissed speculation that the government had intervened in the ad hoc tribunal.

During her meeting with visiting delegates of the United States Congress later in the day, President Megawati Soekarnoputri reiterated the government's stance to stay out of the human rights tribunal process.

"We asked about the tribunal and she said it was the job for the court," the head of the delegation Paul Cleveland said afterwards.

However, he refused to comment on whether the recent verdicts would affect the ongoing process to restore military ties with Indonesia. The Congress banned military assistance to Indonesia following the bloody 1999 mayhem in East Timor.