Reopening East Timor cases possible, says AGO

Reopening East Timor cases possible, says AGO

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office is looking into the possibility of
building new cases against the military officers widely believed
to have been responsible for the atrocities that occurred before
and after the East Timor referendum in 1999.

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said on Tuesday that there
was still a chance that prosecutors could build new cases and
name new suspects for crimes against humanity in the former
Indonesian province.

"I will study the cases first. However, there is a possibility
that the cases will be reopened, and we will look at the relevant
procedural law," he told reporters here.

Abdul Rahman was responding to a demand from two human rights
groups, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) and Imparsial, which called on his office to
find new suspects for the human rights abuses in East Timor.

Kontras and Imparsial said in a joint statement that the acquittal
of former East Timor governor Abilio Soares of human rights
violations coincidentally opened up a new legal avenue for
bringing those responsible for the bloodshed to justice.

"None of military officers were found guilty after all legal
recourses had been exhausted and now the Supreme Court has
acquitted Abilio. This means that no institution has been held
accountable for the mayhem. This is not possible. Therefore, the
prosecutors have to look for new suspects," Rachland Nashidik of
Imparsial told a press briefing here.

Rachland said that they could name former military chief Gen.
(ret) Wiranto as the prime suspect in a new case. "Wiranto was
the person named as being responsible for the human rights abuses
in East Timor by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM)'s special investigation team before his name was removed
from the list by then Attorney General Marzuki Darusman," he
said.

He said the Komnas HAM finding and the testimony given by
Soares during the human rights trials to the effect that the
military was responsible for the violence in East Timor could
serve as new grounds for prosecuting Wiranto.

Wiranto was the military chief and minister of defense during
the mayhem in which 1,000 East Timorese civilians are believed to
have been killed before and after the August 1999 UN-sponsored
referendum.

Most of the violence was committed by militia groups linked to
the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Wiranto was in East Timor prior to the referendum, and said he
was there for the purpose of "doing everything in my power to
prevent an outbreak of violence".

In recent days, Wiranto has held meetings with the President,
and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security
Affairs Widodo A.S., but declined to disclose what was discussed
during the meetings.

Rachland said Abdul Rahman must break the cycle of impunity by
initiating proceedings against Wiranto, even if that would cause
problems with the President.

"The new Attorney General must prove that he is better than
his predecessor in dealing with human rights violations," he
said.