Govt plays down lawsuit against Johny

Govt plays down lawsuit against Johny

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab played
down on Saturday a lawsuit filed by two U.S. human rights groups
against an Indonesian Army general, saying it was an ordinary
case in the United States.

The minister expressed his confidence that the legal action
against Lt. Gen. Johny Lumintang would not affect the close
relations between Indonesia and the superpower country.

Alwi said U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbart had
called him to give his assurance about the steady relations
between the two countries.

"It is just common practice in the United States that when
someone is being sued, the court there must be responsive by
issuing a summons to testify, to give a statement," Alwi said
after attending a special Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha
presidential office.

Before the Cabinet meeting, Alwi said Indonesia regretted the
lawsuit.

"We cannot blame the United States, but we can only say that
we regret that this has happened," Alwi said.

An American lawyer confirmed on Friday that her human rights
organization had served an Indonesian general for crimes against
humanity in East Timor.

"We brought a complaint against Gen. Johnny Lumintang,
charging him with crimes against humanity for this repression
against East Timorese," said attorney Jennie Green who signed the
document, as quoted by AFP.

The New York-based Representatives of the Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR) served Johny the complaint at Dulles
International Airport outside Washington as he was preparing to
leave the country on Thursday. The San Francisco-based Center for
Justice and Accountability also sued Lumintang for the same
complaint.

The two groups acted on behalf of three East Timorese
plaintiffs, including a mother whose son was killed during the
mayhem after the independence referendum in East Timor last
August.

Green said Johny had until April 19 to respond to the charges
of "torture, cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment, wrongful
death, assault and battery and intentional infliction of
emotional distress," in his capacity as Army deputy chief of
staff at that time.

Johny currently serves as the National Resilience Institute
(Lemhannas) governor and was in Washington for a conference.

According to Green, Johny could ignore the complaint and face
the prospect of a default judgment.

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) accused Johny of ordering
military commanders to plan a crackdown on proindependence
supporters if they won the self-determination referendum.

Indonesia has been in hot water due to the alleged role of its
military in the rampaging violence exploding after the Aug. 30
ballot, which resulted in an overwhelming rejection to
Indonesia's offer of wide-ranging autonomy.

"Pak Lumintang's case has no relation at all with our laws or
our way of handling East Timor," Alwi said, commenting on the
lawsuit. (prb/byg/cst)