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.