East Timor prosecutors indict RI troops, militia over atrocities
East Timor prosecutors indict RI troops, militia over atrocities
Agencies, Jakarta
United Nations prosecutors in East Timor on Tuesday indicted four Indonesian military officers and a former militia commander, among others, over atrocities in the territory in 1999.
The indictment issued in the East Timor capital Dili charges 15 Indonesian soldiers and 17 militia members with crimes against humanity.
It accuses them of murder, torture, persecution and other crimes in Bobonaro district between March and April 1999, according to a statement from the Serious Crimes Unit of the UN Mission in Support of East Timor (UNMISET).
The indictment specifically charges two Indonesian officers and two militia members, including a commander, with responsibility for the killing of three men by Indonesian troops in Poegoa village on April 12.
They are: Lt. Col. Siagian, former district military commander; Lt. Sutrisno, former district military intelligence chief; Joao Tavares, former militia commander in East Timor; and Jorge Tavares, former district head of a pro-Jakarta political group.
It also charges 15 soldiers and militia members over the subsequent killing of four men in Marco village the same day.
Those charged include Siagian, Joao Tavares and Jorge Tavares who were present during the four murders, according to the statement.
Military officers and militia commanders and their men are also charged with other incidents including six more killings in the Cailaco area and torture and other crimes against people seen as independence supporters.
All the accused are believed to be in Indonesia and arrest warrants will be forwarded to Indonesia's attorney general. The warrants will also be forwarded to Interpol.
Indonesia has refused to hand over any suspects previously indicted by UN prosecutor. It set up its own human rights court to try 18 people over the 1999 bloodshed but rights groups describe it as a sham.
Eric MacDonald, a prosecutor with the special crimes unit in East Timor, acknowledged that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to bring the 32 to trial.
Filing the indictments, nevertheless, is important despite the barriers to a trial, MacDonald said.
"There is a certain sense of relief for the victims' families," MacDonald said. "Even though there might never be a trial, there still is a sense that the United Nations is doing something to bring these people to justice."
Pro-Jakarta local militias, who were armed and organized by the military, launched a brutal campaign of intimidation before East Timor's August 1999 vote to break away from Indonesia and a revenge campaign afterwards.
An estimated 1,000 people were killed and much of the impoverished territory was laid waste. East Timor finally achieved independence last May after 31 months of United Nations stewardship.