Habibie to testify in rights trial

Habibie to testify in rights trial

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of former high-ranking government officials are to give
testimony in the ongoing trial of former East Timor police chief
Brig. Gen. Timboel Silaen to explain their policies on the
country's former 27th province.

The defense team told the Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal on
Thursday that they would present former president B.J. Habibie,
former coordinating minister for political and security affairs
Feisal Tanjung, and former minister of foreign affairs Ali Alatas
on June 27 to shed light on government policies in East Timor
prior to the referendum.

Members of the Commission for Peace and Stability (KPS) and
the Indonesian Task Force for the Implementation of the Popular
Consultation in East Timor (P3TT) would also appear in the court
hearing, lawyer Tommy Sihotang said.

"We will summon KPS members Djoko Soegianto and Koesparmono
Irsan and the task force's Agus Tarmidji," Sihotang said.

Djoko is currently chairman of the National Commission on
Human Rights (Komnas HAM), while Koesparmono is one of its
members.

Sihotang said the KPS had reported that peace had been reached
between pro-Jakarta and pro-independence groups with the help of
local civilian authorities, the military, and the police ahead of
the 1999 referendum.

Timbul Silaen has been charged with crimes against humanity
for failing to prevent human rights abuses prior to, during, and
after the 1999 United Nations-sponsored referendum that led to
East Timor's independence.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors read out the testimonies of
four witnesses. Three of the witnesses are now East Timor
citizens, while the other one is residing in Kupang, East Nusa
Tenggara.

They testified that armed militia, military and police
personnel deliberately fired at pro-independence supporters
taking refuge at the Dili Diocese compound and the residence of
East Timor Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo on Sept. 6, 1999.