Probe into human rights abuses in E. Timor start

JAKARTA (JP): Three military officers serving in East Timor during last year's violence will appear for questioning at the Attorney General's Office on Monday, their lawyer said on Sunday.

Mohammad Assegaf, one of the lawyers representing Army senior officers, confirmed with The Jakarta Post that his clients were to face questioning as witnesses in the human rights abuse investigation that has implicated several Indonesian Military top brass.

The summonses were addressed to Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, the former chief of Udayana Military Command overseeing Nusa Tenggara and East Timor; and the last two chiefs of East Timor Military, Command Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Col. M. Noer Muis.

"They will appear at the Attorney General's Office as expected," Assegaf said.

The office has not yet named any suspects in the alleged human rights violations that occurred after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence in the UN-supervised ballot on Aug. 30, 1999.

Spokesman for the office Yushar Yahya said on Friday that the questioning was aimed at finding the suspects behind the violations. He added that two former top officials from the East Timor provincial administration would also face questioning on Monday.

The summonses were the first after two weeks of a joint investigation conducted by military and police officers, home affairs ministry officials and experts.

The investigation is following the report of the government- sanctioned Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) in East Timor which was submitted by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to the office on Jan. 31.

The rights commission said the inquiry confirmed rumored strong links between the military and pro-Jakarta militias, who were blamed for most of the violence in East Timor. It also said there was proof of efforts to conceal and destroy the evidence.

The inquiry's executive summary detailed several major incidents which occurred between January 1999 and October 1999, and recommended the office investigate 33 people, including former TNI chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto.

Assegaf said the team of lawyers representing the TNI officers had received summonses for their three other clients to testify on Thursday.

The military officers in question are former Army intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim; former deputy Army chief Lt. Gen. Johny Lumintang; and Maj. Gen. (ret) Garnadi, the former aide to the then coordinating minister for political affairs and security Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung.

Reports have said Garnadi signed a contingency plan, which including systematic destruction in East Timor, should the proindependence camp win at the ballot box. The reports have been denied.

Johny, who is now the governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas), has recently had a suit filed against him by two U.S.-based human rights groups on behalf of several victims of the East Timor mayhem.

"They have confirmed their appearances," Assegaf told the Post.

The lawyers will be divided into small teams, each of them focusing on certain officers. (01)