Military attempts to shift E. Timor blame onto UN

Military attempts to shift E. Timor blame onto UN

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be trying to use the on-
going ad hoc human rights trial to wash its hands of gross human
rights violations in East Timor, blaming the United Nations and
civilian authorities for the bloody terror campaign in the
territory in 1999.

Taking the witness seat on Thursday, former Udayana military
commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and former Wiradharma military
subdistrict commander Brig. M. Noer Muis accused the United
Nations Mission in East Timor (Unamet) of provoking a massive
rampage in the former Indonesian province following the 1999
ballot.

Former TNI chief Gen. (retired) Wiranto, who testified before
the same court last week, also blamed the UN for killings.

Wiranto repeated his allegations during the launching of his
book, "Goodbye East Timor, An Effort to Tell the Truth, Wiranto's
Testament", (Selamat Jalan Timor Timur, Pergulatan Menguak
Kebenaran, Penuturan Apa Adanya Seorang Wiranto), saying that
"there are a few people who are proud to see Indonesia as the
second country in the world, after Yugoslavia, where a rights'
tribunal is being held to try military and police personnel,
ignoring their dedication to their country."

Meanwhile, Adam Damiri and Noer Muis said that Unamet's
decision to speed up the announcement of the vote result from
Sept. 7 to Sept. 4 sparked anger among pro-integration East
Timorese, who felt they were cheated.

The Unamet-declared victory for the pro-independence group on
Sept. 4, 1999, came after some 344,508 of the 438,890 East
Timorese elected for independence. At the time, the total East
Timorese population was about 441,227 people.

Both Adam and Muis testified as witnesses during a six-hour
cross-examination in the court, where Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen,
former East Timor police chief, is on trial on charges of
committing gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

Silaen has been charged under Article 9 of Law No. 26/2000 on
Rights Tribunals with the killing of civilians in separate
locations in East Timor, including the Liquisa incident on April
6, 1999, and attacks by pro-Jakarta militias on the residences of
pro-independence leaders, Manuel Viegas Carrascalao and Leandro
Isaac, on April 17, 1999.

Silaen is also charged with being responsible for gross human
rights violations perpetrated during separate attacks on Sept.6
by militias, along with military and police personnel. The
attacks were on the St. Ave Maria Church in Suai, where at least
27 people died, and on the residence of Bishop Carlos Felipe
Ximenes Belo in Dili.

"Rather than giving a positive response to the report by the
pro-Jakarta group over the cheating by Unamet, they (Unamet)
decided to move forward the announcement of the results from
Sept. 7 to Sept. 4.

"Unamet treated the pro-Jakarta East Timorese unfairly by
recruiting only pro-independence people as its local staffers.
This, of course, affected the ballot process," Adam, the
incumbent operational assistant to the Indonesian Military's
(TNI) chief of general affairs, told the court.

When Presiding Judge Andi Samsan Nganro asked Adam who was the
Unamet official that decided to speed up the announcement of the
ballot results, Adam said: "Ian Martin ... he was the Unamet
chairman."

Meanwhile, Muis defended Silaen, saying that the defendant
"had done everything he could to stop the violence, including
saving Belo's life during the Sept. 6 attack on his residence by
flying him in a police helicopter to Bacau from Dili, prior to
his evacuation to Darwin, Australia, the next day."

Muis was officially assigned as the commander of the now
defunct Wiradharma military subdistrict from Aug. 13, 1999 to
March, 30, 1999 when TNI Headquarters decided to dissolve it.

According to Muis, the pro-Jakarta group launched an attack to
Belo's residence as the result of information they had received
that several ballot boxes were being stored in his house. This,
of course, was against the rules, Muis told the court.

Responding to Judge Andi's demand for supporting documents to
prove Unamet's cheating, Muis said that the votes of at least
142,578 East Timorese were not counted due to the loss of about
89 ballot boxes. Unamet staffers had also intimidated East
Timorese people deemed to be pro-Jakarta.

"Maybe that number was not enough to influence the result ...
but still, Unamet ignored the pro-Jakarta group," Muis said.

The trial adjourned until April 18 to hear other witnesses.

Earlier in the day, the same court hearing the case against
former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares decided to
adjourn the trial until April 17 and April 18 as the witnesses
had failed to appear before the court.