Cooperation with tribunal would boost trust in Indonesia

A United Nations decision to bring Indonesia before an international tribunal would not be a surprise, Coordinator of the Independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Munir, told The Jakarta Post.

Question: How do you see the prospect of Indonesia being brought to an international tribunal?

Answer: It's very likely for both normative and political reasons. Based on the 1949 Geneva Convention on war criminals and the experiences of international tribunals for Yugoslavia, Nuremberg, Japan and Rwanda, the crimes of the Indonesian Military after the (Aug. 30) ballot in East Timor fulfill what is called war crimes. This includes systematic terror, torture against civilians, rape, looting and forcing civilians to become armed volunteers.

So far, tribunals of war criminals have involved countries which have experienced a heavy degradation in international relations; countries which have lost a war, which have no more economic bargaining and those who have lost political allies.

Avoiding the tribunal for us would also be difficult because we have the 1946 Act which recognizes war crimes as part of a violation of international laws.

The case of a tribunal for Indonesia is strong because of the extraordinary absence of trust against us; a number of times we failed to submit compulsory reports following up on our ratification of the Convention against torture.

Furthermore, the government gave no response to requests from the UN's new commission on internally displaced persons to visit the country. They wanted to check on the conditions of internally displaced people in Ambon, Aceh and Pontianak.

But the worst development was after the ballot in East Timor, when reports surfaced of the military facilitating the prointegration militia. The following exodus and reported killings led to the allegations that we are guilty of crimes against peace which is even worse than war crimes; it means crimes allegedly conducted amid efforts of peace, and a precedent was the Nuremberg trials of 1945-1949 against a number of individuals, including heads of German armed forces...

But usually political bargaining among members of the UN Security Council and the UN human rights commission lead to concessions...

Q: Is the National Commission on Human Rights seeking such a concession as it offered to form its own investigation team on East Timor?

A: That is not clear; we can only investigate our own territory... The commission can only investigate crimes against humanity in our own country, such as in Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Q: There are fears that the Indonesian Military (TNI) could retaliate against civilians if it were to be brought to an international court. Your comments?

A: We're in a collapsed state, we have no power to defend ourselves. If we reject, we will face an embargo and civilians would bear an economic consequence. Questions (in investigations) will be on the behavior of the TNI, the refugees and border problems. The consequence of an international tribunal for Indonesia would be that the government invites the investigation team and so it must cooperate. (It would be) a chance to rebuild international trust.

TNI will no doubt also think against sacrificing people. The suspension of the state security bill shows there was political dialog a la Indonesia... Gen. Wiranto has stated that it is not possible to live under exclusion of the international community. Such a statement from a general is rare in the world.

Q: What kind of sanctions are to be expected from an international tribunal?

A: Sanctions could be physical, involving officers around the command structure. A concession could take the form of paying East Timor war compensation but we don't have any money...

A precedent of a concession as a result of political bargaining was the 1991 case of child labor; instead of changing labor conditions we got away with the import of Hollywood films...

Q: Are witnesses of alleged crimes regarding East Timor safe now?

A: With the entrance of multinational troops in East Timor and many refugees sheltering in Darwin, they are fairly safe.

Q: With exposure to an international investigation and tribunal, would we become more aware of human rights?

A: We have a "victim syndrome" where people feel they have always been victims, and suddenly we've become the perpetrators (of alleged crimes). So nationalism will increase -- unless the upcoming new civilian and military elite have the courage to explain the strategic need against resisting international investigation, and if they can display a clear sense of nationalism instead of "narrow" nationalism. A few officers might be sanctioned, but international trust needed for the economy would be regained.

Q: What is Kontras' experience with bringing alleged rights abuses to the UN?

A: One was that this year the UN human rights commission issued a resolution on Aceh regarding crimes against humanity, which was a first for Indonesia. A resolution includes recommendations to improve our legal system and to stop arbitrary detention, and the commission's annual meetings will keep checking on whether we have met the recommendations. (anr)