Generals tend to lay blame on others for East Timor mayhem
Generals tend to lay blame on others for East Timor mayhem
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) top brass tend to
blame lower-ranking officers for the mayhem in the ravaged
territory of East Timor after the Aug. 30 self-determination
ballot, a member of the government-sanctioned inquiry team said
on Sunday.
"During the questioning, there was a tendency to shift the
responsibility (for the violence) to other officers," secretary
of the Commission of Inquiry into Human Right Violations (KPP
HAM) in East Timor Asmara Nababan, told The Jakarta Post.
"They suddenly said that they did not know anything about it.
This is not helpful and it is clear that they are trying to save
their own necks," Asmara added.
The commission, in its midterm report, claimed that, based on
preliminary investigations and witness accounts, TNI was directly
or indirectly involved in the East Timor violence perpetrated by
prointegration militias.
A number of TNI top brass, including the forces' former chief
Gen. Wiranto, were questioned last month and they all denied the
allegations, saying that the violence was an emotional outburst
which was neither premeditated nor controllable.
Wiranto, who is now the coordinating minister for political
affairs and security, was at TNI's helm when the ballot was held
and during the resulting violence which broke out in East Timor.
The generals also denied the alleged links between TNI and the
prointegration militia groups.
Asmara said, however, that the inquiry "will look at the
strongest evidence" before it drew a conclusion by the end of
this month.
"We will analyze all of the information that we have and at
that point we will be able to separate the false and misleading
information from the accurate information in order to give the
public a comprehensive picture of what really happened in East
Timor," Asmara said.
The inquiry was established in September by then president
B.J. Habibie after the government rejected calls for an
international inquiry that might lead to war crime tribunals for
Indonesian officers.
Asmara said that the next officers to be questioned this week
would include former military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Zacky
Anwar Makarim, former head of the Restoration Operation Command
in East Timor Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri and former East Timor
military commander Col. M. Noer Muis.
Asmara also said that former foreign affairs minister Ali
Alatas was also scheduled to be questioned this week.
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman had said earlier that if the
inquiry found evidence of rights abuses an ad hoc committee would
be established to prosecute the perpetrators in a national human
rights tribunal. (byg)