Human rights court acquits 4 defendants

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After sentencing former pro-Jakarta militia commander Eurico Guterres to 10 years in prison on Wednesday, a human rights court acquitted on Friday four defendants charged with crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.

The acquittal of two military officers, one police officer and one civilian brought the number of defendants cleared by the ad hoc human rights court to 10 of the 18 people charged with crimes against humanity in East Timor.

The only defendants found guilty so far are two ethnic East Timorese civilians, who say they have been made scapegoats. Six defendants, including two generals, are still awaiting verdicts.

The verdicts on Friday quickly drew criticism from human rights activists and legal experts, who said the court was deliberately sparing military and police officers from jail.

Former Dili military commander Lt. Col. Endar Priyanto was acquitted of charges of having allowed soldiers under his command to murder and torture people in the house of proindependence leader Manuel Vegas Carascalao on April 17, 1999.

At least 12 people were killed in the attack, believed to have been carried out by the Eurico Guterres-led militia Aitarak and the Red-White Iron militia, with assistance from the military.

"The defendant's subordinates did not take part in the attack, thus he cannot be held responsible," presiding judge Amril said when acquitting Endar.

The judge said that even if several military soldiers were involved in the attack, as they were not Endar's direct subordinates Endar could not be held responsible for their actions.

A crime against humanity carries a maximum sentence of death.

Prosecutor K. Lere, who demanded a 10-year jail sentence for Endar, said he would consider whether or not to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

But he disagreed with the judges who said that Endar could not be held responsible even if there were military soldiers involved in the attack.

"Although the officers might not have been Endar's subordinates, Endar must have known of their presence in the attack, which occurred in his territory. Thus, he must be responsible for that," he said.

The acquittal of Endar was in contrast to the sentencing of Eurico to 10 years in jail on similar charges.

In another session, former Liquica Military commander Lt. Col. Asep Kuswani, former Liquica Resort Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Adios Salova and former Liquica regent Leonito Martins were acquitted on charges of allowing their subordinates to kill and torture refugee at the Ave Maria Church in Liquica on April 6, 1999.

"There was an attack by a pro-Jakarta militia, namely Red- White Iron, using traditional weapons such as swords and arrows and led by Manuel Sosa, on the refugee-packed Ave Maria Church.

"But the militia had no command line, no structural link with the three defendants, thus the three must be acquitted on all charges," presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso said.

Five people were killed and at least 20 others injured in the attack.

Prosecutor Pieters J. Silalahi, who had asked that the defendants be sentenced to 10 years in jail, said he had 14 days to decide whether or not to appeal the verdicts to the Supreme Court.

Separately, Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association and legal expert Rudy Satrio of the University of Indonesia said the ad hoc court was protecting military and police officers from legal action.

"Given the trend, I'm sure that all military soldiers, from low to high-ranking officers, will be acquitted of all human rights abuse charges," Hendardi said.

The court is also taking advantage of the slackening in international pressure that human rights abusers in East Timor be punished, distracted as the world is by the war on terrorism, he added.

Rudy said civilians in East Timor should not be scapegoated for the 1999 violence, and military and police officers should also be held responsible as they failed to prevent the chaos.

He said he hoped the Supreme Court would uphold justice rather than simply protecting military officers.

Violence broke out before, during and after a UN-sponsored the referendum in East Timor in August 1999.