Lieutenant admits giving order to kill detainess

Lieutenant admits giving order to kill detainess

JAKARTA (JP): An Army lieutenant admitted in court yesterday
that he gave the order to eliminate six unarmed East Timorese
during a military operation to pursue separatist rebels in the
East Timor regency of Liquisa on January 12.

First Lieutenant Jeremias Kasse, the intelligence officer for
the Liquisa military command, told a military tribunal in
Denpasar, Bali, yesterday that his order "applied to all six" men
who were detained by his patrol unit.

Jeremias is one of two soldiers now being tried at the
Denpasar tribunal in connection with the killing of the six
villagers in Liquisa, an incident that sparked international
outrage and harmed Indonesia's image because of what appeared to
be an official cover up.

Jeremias commanded the 30-man unit that was following the
trail of a prominent local leader of Fretilin, the armed
separatist group, who was believed to have been rallying support
in Liquisa, a regency just outside the East Timor capital of
Dili.

The other soldier separately on trial is First Private Rusdin
Maumere, a member of the Army patrol unit. He has already
admitted in court that he shot the six villagers, all with their
hands tied, saying that he was carrying out an Jeremias' order.

Four of the villagers -- Jose Nunes, Abel Nunes, Victor,
Agusto Pinto -- were arrested first by the patrol unit on
suspicion of helping the Fretilin guerrillas. They were used by
the Army unit in the hope that they would lead the patrol to the
guerrilla's place of hiding. The other two victims -- Osorio
Soares and Americo Araujo -- were in the house that was
eventually raided by the unit.

Rusdin in his own trial earlier quoted Jeremias as saying, in
giving the order to kill, that "If one of us is injured,
eliminate them."

Lt. Col. Asmar Gutji, the military prosecutor, asked Jeremias
in court yesterday to reaffirm that by the word menghabisi (to
eliminate) he meant to kill, to which Jeremias said yes.

At being asked if the order to eliminate applied to all six,
again Jeremias answered: "All six prisoners."

Jeremias is charged with defying orders from his commanding
officer, of giving orders to kill in breach of procedures, and of
making a false report to his superiors.

The military prosecutors yesterday pressed Jeremias to explain
why he gave a false report and did not change his version until
he was summoned to Jakarta to account for the incident.

"I was afraid that they (my superiors) would find out that I
committed errors," the defendant said.

The military stuck to the version, based on the report
provided by Jeremias, for some time until the case unfolded
before the public about a month after the incident. The earlier
version suggested that all six victims were members of Fretilin
and that they were killed during an armed clash.

The baffling circumstances surrounding the incident prompted
the National Commission on Human Rights to launch its own
investigation.

The Army, responding to criticisms, later established an
Officers Honor Council to investigate the incident. Only then did
the military change its version and decided to court-martial the
two officers believed guilty of the incident.

Jeremias' immediate supervisor, Lt. Col. Trys Suryawan, the
chief of the Liquisa military district command, earlier testified
that his order to Jeremias was very specific: That the unit must
be alert against the rebels because they were possibly armed,
that the unit must respond if the enemy opened fire, and that if
the rebels were unarmed they should be taken alive.

It was heard at the trials of Jeremias and Rusdin that a
member of the unit was stabbed during the raid, and this, apart
from the condition of the unit's members, had played a part in
the incident.

While Jeremias never attempted to deny in court that he
committed errors in heading the operation, his military lawyers
brought in a military psychologist yesterday to explain the
conditions in the field that could possibly have had an adverse
effect on the soldiers.

Captain C.A.J. Ngurah Suwitra, testifying for Jeremias, said
that the defendant had lost control of his emotions when he gave
the order to "eliminate" the six villagers.

He said that the psychological condition of the soldiers,
after days of patrolling, had already deteriorated by the time
they conducted the raid on the house.

When one of the soldiers was injured, the defendant was
emotionally overwhelmed, said Captain Suwitra, who is a
psychologist working with military members, including those
stationed in East Timor.

He said there were two things that triggered Jeremias'
emotional behavior that day. First, because he felt he had been
lied to by the four villagers who led him to the house. The other
was that a member of his unit, First Private Costodio Bareto, had
been stabbed.

Testimonies from one of the victims' sister and mother, who
were in the vicinity of the house at the time of the killing but
spared by the military unit, were also heard at the trials.

Jacinta Alves Corea, the elder sister of Osorio, said she and
her mother had just returned from their farm when they found
soldiers around their house. She could not identify who killed
the villagers, who she said were taken to the back of the house
and shot.

The presiding judge at the tribunal, Col. M. Panjaitan,
questioned the approach in raiding the house used by Jeremias
which he said did not conform with any military theory.

Jeremias admitted that he had "miscalculated" and that the man
they were after, Antoni Alves, escaped from the house after
stabbing one of the officers.

He added that the conditions in the field were difficult.

The trial yesterday was adjourned until Monday when the
military prosecutors are scheduled to read their demands.
Sentencing is expected on June 19.

The other trial, of Rusdin, is also entering the last phases.
(emb)