Cooperation with tribunal would boost trust in Indonesia

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)