Indonesia vows to avoid war crimes court
Indonesia vows to avoid war crimes court
JAKARTA (JP): Foreign minister Alwi Shihab said on Tuesday
Indonesia would not allow its generals to be tried overseas.
Responding to concerns from legislators that top military
officers may be subject to international humiliation and trial
abroad, Alwi said the government was doing its utmost to see that
it would not happen.
"We will try not to deliver the generals to an international
tribunal," he said during a hearing with the House's Commission I
on defense and foreign affairs.
The government would lobby various parties to ensure that an
international tribunal is not convened. He pointed to a meeting
with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as one example.
Alwi said he also did not wish to see Indonesia's generals
hounded like criminals abroad.
"We don't want generals unable to travel overseas and be
arrested like Pinochet," he said, referring to the former Chilean
ruler who was arrested in England during a visit.
Indonesia has rejected the idea of an international tribunal
on East Timor and contended it can properly investigate and try
those responsible for violence in its former province by itself.
Jakarta has set up its own inquiry headed by lawyer Albert
Hasibuan. In its midterm report the inquiry said Indonesian
Military officials knew of the abuses going on.
The Indonesian and United Nations's inquiry team, headed by
Costa Rican Sonia Picado, met on Monday to compare notes and both
agreed on the involvement of certain military officials in the
violence.
Separately, Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said
on Tuesday he would not interfere with a judicial process on
human rights violations in East Timor as long as fairness and
impartiality could be guaranteed.
He said international accusations of rights violations must be
first proven through a legal process.
"There has to be a clear process of evidence -- not just based
on reported media developments, including news from foreign
countries, which has tremendous influence on public opinion," he
said.
Juwono underlined it was the Indonesian team which "should be
accepted to lead the agency in the inquiry rather than the
reverse".
"That is linked to our economic interests because I believe
that the degree of credibility in the findings... will be
sufficiently adequate to enable the UN Security Council and
secretary-general to decide on what level of punishment would be
adequate to address to Indonesia," Juwono said, adding that he
had met Picado on Monday. (jun/mds)