Justice for East Timor

The expected arrival of United Nations investigators in East Timor this week to look into allegations of severe human rights abuses in the territory, particularly shortly before and in the wake of the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot, is easily the most serious blow to Indonesia's international reputation to date. It also has the potential of bringing the most far-reaching consequences, whose impact on the country are difficult to foresee.

The experts UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson plans to bring to East Timor this week are well qualified for the job. They will include field and forensic experts from the Boston-based U.S. Physicians for Human Rights and from Argentina. These experts will be looking for evidence of the alleged killings, torture, rapes and forced expulsions committed by pro-Jakarta militias, in many cases allegedly condoned or supported by Indonesian troops.

If such evidence is found, the next step would be for the UN to appoint a special international tribunal to try the perpetrators either for war crimes or crimes against humanity. It is difficult even to imagine how average Indonesians would react to such an unprecedented experience of seeing some of their most prominent leaders, either military or civilian, exposed and brought to account for such abominable crimes.

Considered in this context, it is easy to understand the angry reaction of Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi on learning that a number of Australian jurists were planning to visit East Timor to collect evidence of past Indonesian wrongdoings in the territory. If that were to occur, the minister said, Indonesia would have to reconsider its relations with Australia -- a hint that such "extraordinary arrogance" could lead to diplomatic relations between the two countries being broken off.

Yet, though vehemently opposed to the idea of having an international team of investigators browsing through Indonesia's dirty linen in East Timor, there is little Jakarta can do to prevent justice from taking its course in the former Portuguese colony, short of refusing to cooperate. The territory, after all, is effectively under UN control. Personal security would be the only possible hindrance left to bar the investigators' access to suspected crime sites and witnesses. However, refusing to cooperate could have dire consequences for Indonesia, in the form of being regarded as a pariah state and being isolated from the rest of the world. What that would mean for the crisis-stricken country is not difficult to imagine.

In this situation, there is an ominous ring to the statement made by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard on Thursday, that the UN would hold an inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor regardless of whether Indonesia accepted or rejected the inquiry. If there is any light amid the gloom, it is in Eckhard's promise the UN would strive to cooperate with Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

One may ask why the UN cannot just make things easier by allowing Komnas HAM to lead the investigation, and simply assist the commission with whatever expertise it may need. Komnas HAM, after all, has a well-earned reputation of integrity, despite its having been established by the New Order regime. The answer to this question, of course, is the lack of credibility -- not on the part of the rights commission, but of the Indonesian government.

In the past year since the fall of the Soeharto regime, the commission has made a number of recommendations to the government based on its investigations of major incidents, including the 1997 kidnapings of political activists, the May 1998 riots, the Trisakti University shootings and the shooting of student protesters at the Semanggi cloverleaf. None of the recommendations have been followed up by the government.

Not to be overlooked in all of this is the predominant role the Indonesian Military (TNI) continues to play in the country's social and political lives. In all of the mentioned cases -- and, of course, in East Timor -- the military is suspected of being either directly or indirectly involved.

Obviously, the TNI leadership will resist with all its power a candid exposure of the military's past wrongdoings. An indication of this is seen in Muladi's about-face regarding the question of whether Indonesia should accept foreign investigators in East Timor. A similar indication was the government's earlier U-turn over whether to declare martial law in the territory.

It can be said that given the currently prevailing circumstances in Indonesia, the only way for the UN to satisfactorily investigate human rights abuses in East Timor would be to hold its own independent inquiry. Another option would have been to ensure Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights was able to work as a truly independent body, free of any outside influence, particularly from the government. That, however, is difficult to achieve as long as the military remains effectively in control of civilian politics and the civilian administration.