No more safe haven for Wiranto
No more safe haven for Wiranto
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The failure of Indonesia's rights tribunal to bow to
international demands for the prosecution of the alleged
perpetrators of human rights abuses in East Timor prompted the
indictment of several high-ranking officers, including former
military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto.
Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law expert from the
University of Indonesia, said the indictment of the seven
officers and the former governor of East Timor meant that should
they travel outside of Indonesia they faced the possibility of
arrest and extradition to East Timor.
Wiranto and the other seven men could be arrested by Interpol
if they travel overseas. They would then face extradition to East
Timor if the country where they were arrested had an extradition
agreement with the former Indonesian territory.
Munir, a cofounder of the National Commission for Missing
Person and Victims of Violence, said East Timor's indictment of
the eight men was the result of the dissatisfaction with
Indonesia's failure to bring to justice all those responsible for
crimes against humanity before and after the August 1999 UN-
sponsored referendum in East Timor.
He said the ad hoc rights tribunal set up by Indonesia to try
those accused of abuses in East Timor should have handed down
prison terms of at least 10 years for the perpetrators, as
mandated by Law No. 26/2000 on ad hoc human rights tribunals.
In Kuala Lumpur, President Megawati Soekarnoputri said
Indonesia was not obliged to send Wiranto to East Timor because
the countries did not have an extradition treaty.
"We have to be very careful in responding to such demands. So
far the government has yet to receive any official request from
them (East Timor)," the President said on Wednesday during a
press conference in Malaysia, where she was attending the
recently concluded Non-Aligned Movement summit.
"We also have to see whether such a request is legally
possible as we do not have any arrangements to send our citizens
to stand trial there (in East Timor)," the President said.
Megawati said she met with East Timor's President Xanana
Gusmao on the sidelines of the summit and "he did not mention
anything about any request to arrest Indonesian officials. We
only discussed how we could improve our relations as neighbors".
East Timor indicted on Tuesday former Indonesian Military
chief Wiranto, along with several other high-ranking military
officers and the ex-governor of East Timor.
Those indicted besides Wiranto were Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar
Makarim, Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, Maj. Gen. Adam Rachmat Damiri,
Col. Suhartono Suratman, Col. Mohammad Noer Muis, Lt. Col. Yayat
Sudrajat and former governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares.
Several of those indicted are among the 18 military and police
officers who have faced trial in Jakarta for their alleged
involvement in the violence.
But both Hikmahanto and Munir said the indictment did not
violate the principle of nebis en idem, or double jeopardy,
should "East Timor consider the ongoing trials in Jakarta to be
unwilling and unable to bring these perpetrators to justice".
Late on Wednesday, Wiranto held a press conference to
pronounce his innocence and say he did everything in his power to
prevent the violence in East Timor before, during and after the
1999 ballot by promoting reconciliation between pro-Jakarta and
proindependence groups.