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.