East Timor investigators to be named
East Timor investigators to be named
JAKARTA (JP): A team tasked to investigate last year's
violence in East Timor will be established by next week, focusing
on five of the most notorious incidents, Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman said on Tuesday.
Marzuki said the team of investigators, which would consist of
elements from the military police, the police, experts and the
Attorney General's Office, would be formed "either this week, or
next week at the latest".
He told reporters after attending a coordinating meeting for
political affairs and security that the team would focus on five
cases in particular:
* An attack on April 17 on proindependence leader Manuel
Carrascalao's house in Dili, in which at least 12 people,
including his son, died.
* The attack on the Dili residence of Bishop Carlos Filipe
Ximenes Belo on Sept. 6
* A massacre of refugees in a church in Liquica in April. The
bodies of the victims were dumped in a well and found six months
later by international investigators.
* A massacre in a church in Suai in September where at least
26 people, including three Catholic priests, were killed. Their
bodies later found in concealed mass graves in neighboring East
Nusa Tenggara.
* The shooting of Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes
in the East Dili area of Becora by men allegedly wearing
Indonesian Military (TNI) uniforms on Sept. 21
Marzuki also said the team would consist of between 50 to 70
people, and would involve experts from three leading human rights
groups: the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute
(YLBHI), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)
and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).
The investigations into rights abuses in East Timor is a
follow up of recommendations made by the government-sanctioned
Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) in
East Timor.
KPP HAM alleged that former TNI commander Gen. Wiranto and 32
other soldiers and officials were responsible for the violence
before and after the UN-administered ballot on Aug. 30.
Marzuki also said Wiranto and the 32 others would be summoned
by the team as "witnesses".
But Wiranto "will not the be the first" witness to testify, he
added.
Marzuki also said he was convinced that the military would be
fair and open as investigators despite having to examine its own
senior officers.
He pointed out that the investigation would be "under direct
coordination of the Attorney General's Office".
Marzuki added that every member of the team had agreed to use
KPP HAM's recommendations as "material for further process of
investigation".
National military police chief Maj. Gen. Djasri Marin told
reporters that the TNI would "maintain its neutrality and is
committed to upholding the supremacy of the law".
Later in the day, a team of lawyers representing the generals
allegedly involved in the East Timor violence said it would
welcome Marzuki's plan to invite human rights activists to join
the team of investigators as long as they were not "directly
involved" in the investigation.
"We basically do not oppose the involvement of non-
governmental organizations as long as they work in their capacity
as experts," former justice minister Muladi, who is now a
coordinator of the defense team, said.(byg)