Dossiers of 14 suspects in E. Timor done
Dossiers of 14 suspects in E. Timor done
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Monday
that the team investigating the human rights abuses in East Timor
last year had completed the dossiers on 14 of 23 suspects in the
case.
"The dossiers will be filed with an ad hoc human rights
tribunal which has yet to be established," he said after the
inauguration of a team to investigate human rights abuses in
Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
The joint team on East Timor, which comprises prosecutors, the
military police and the home affairs officials, began
investigation in April and named 19 suspects during the first
part of its investigation.
Several high-ranking military officers were on the list,
including, among others, 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.
Another four were named in early October, including militia
leaders Eurico Guterres, Vasco da Cruz, Motornus and Lt. Col.
Endar Priyatno, the former military commander of the East Timor
capital of Dili.
But one of the suspects, Olivio Mendoza Moruk, was murdered
not long after he was named a suspect.
His death triggered a mob attack which killed three United
Nations humanitarian aid workers in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara,
on Sept. 6.
Pending the deliberation of a new bill on a human rights
trial, the team was based on the Government Regulation in Lieu of
Law No. 1/1991 on a human rights tribunal.
The regulation stipulates that the investigation period is
three months and can only be extended once. That period ended on
Oct. 17.
However, Marzuki said, the newly passed Law on human rights,
which is now awaiting the President's ratification, gives leeway
for the team to continue investigation.
"The new law gives us time till mid-December to complete the
investigation and make dossiers on Izidio Manek and Martinus
Bere," he said, referring to two militiamen.
He said the two suspects were currently in Atambua.
Separately in Bali, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri met
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos in Kuta on Monday.
The Chilean president, who arrived in Bali on Sunday, said he
would visit East Timor the following morning.
"Chili has troops in East Timor under the umbrella of the
United Nations, and I'm going to say hello to them. I think it is
extremely important to explain our purpose to the Indonesian
government," Lagos said in a news conference after the meeting.
"President Wahid asked me to come to Indonesia and explain the
purpose of the visit to East Timor. So I want to clarify it with
Indonesian authorities," he said.
There are some 40 Chilean soldiers in East Timor.
Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities in East Nusa Tenggara were
making final preparations for the arrival of a UN Security
Council team on Tuesday.
Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika said
all necessary measures had been taken to ensure the situation was
in order.
Nevertheless he said there was no additional reinforcements
and that it was being handled by those stationed in the province.
Governor Piet A. Tallo said he hopes an affirmative decision
would be taken by the visiting delegation.
"We hope they can yield a fresh decision," he said adding that
the people of the province had endured much and had also suffered
in helping the some 130,000 refugees in the
province. (lem/zen/bby)