Indonesians, Timorese charged with crimes against humanity
Indonesians, Timorese charged with crimes against humanity
Joanna Jolly
Associated Press
Dili, East Timor
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged two Indonesian officers and 14
pro-Jakarta East Timorese militiamen with crimes against humanity
for their alleged involvement in the deaths of dozens of people
during East Timor's violent break with Indonesia in 1999.
Prosecutor Longuinhos Monteiro filed indictments in a Dili
court against suspects allegedly involved in over 70 killings and
four rapes in East Timor's Bobonaro and Oecussi districts in
1999.
The murders include those of two East Timorese citizens
working for the UN mission that organized the August 1999
referendum in which East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for
independence from Indonesia.
One of the UN workers was allegedly shot dead by an Indonesian
military intelligence officer, identified only as Asis Fontes,
one of the two indicted.
The second officer, Lt. Sustrisno, is alleged to have been
present when both UN workers were killed.
"This is a breakthrough case because it shows clearly that the
killing of UN workers was part of a widespread and systematic
attack, not only carried out by militiamen but also by serving
members of the Indonesian military," said prosecutor Brenda Sue
Thornton.
East Timor, which officially gained independence on May 20,
has issued indictments against 117 individuals accused of
involvement in crimes during the violence surrounding the
referendum.
Up to 1,000 East Timorese civilians were killed and hundreds
raped and tortured by the militias and their Indonesian military
backers before and after the independence vote.
Twenty-three suspects have already been convicted and are
serving sentences in East Timorese jails.
Only four militiamen out of the 14 indicted Wednesday are in
custody in East Timor, Thornton said. The rest, along with both
Indonesian officers, are at large in Indonesia, she said.
Although arrest warrants have been issued, the government of
the new East Timorese nation has yet to negotiate an extradition
treaty with Jakarta.
Earlier this year, Indonesian authorities set up their own
human rights court for atrocities committed in East Timor in an
effort to avert the creation of international war crimes
tribunals akin to those for ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
However, there is widespread skepticism that convictions will
result from the trials in Indonesia's notoriously corrupt and
inept legal system.