Probe into human rights abuses in E. Timor start

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)