Results of Timor probe announced

Results of Timor probe announced

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights said
yesterday that military personnel violated basic rights during a
recent operation in East Timor that left six villagers dead.

The commission's chairman, Ali Said, said in a news conference
here yesterday that its fact-finding team, during its recent
investigation visits to the province, concluded that six people
were killed in the operation conducted on Jan. 12.

The team had visited the former Portuguese colony twice to
investigate the incident, which took place in Liquisa regency,
west of the province's capital of Dili.

He said the military believed the six civilians were
supporters of the GPK, or "peace-disturbing gang", even though
their real status had never been identified. GPK is government
short-hand for the Fretilin separatist group which seeks East
Timorese independence from Indonesia.

He was accompanied by nine members of the commission,
including deputy chairs Miriam Budiardjo and Marzuki Darusman,
and secretary-general Baharuddin Lopa.

"The military personnel intimidated and tortured the six
people in order to extract confessions," Ali told the news
conference, at which many foreign correspondents were present.

Ali said the military personnel, who took part in the
operation, "acted in a manner so discriminate that they had
endangered the lives of civilian people."

Marzuki said that the six victims were unarmed during the
incident.

He also said that the military unit had also denied the
relatives of the six East Timorese to their right for information
regarding the incident. "The victims' bodies were treated
inhumanely by the military men," he said.

Ali added that the patrol team from the Liquisa Military
District Command, who conducted the operation in the Gariana
village, violated operational procedures.

Asked whether the violations took place during an armed clash
with the gang, Marzuki Darusman, a commission member who took
part in the investigation, said "we cannot yet disclose
(findings) to the press because the commission has not reported
the results of the investigation to the government."

He added that the commission would continue with its probe
into the case.

"There will be other visits to East Timor by the commission,"
Ali said.

Ali declined to say what recommendations would be submitted to
President Soeharto. "The government is supposed to follow up on
the commission's findings," he said.

The commission's fact-finding team was in East Timor from Feb.
16 through Feb. 20 and then Feb. 24 until Feb. 26. The team
included Ali Said, Marzuki Darusman, Muladi, Djoko Soegianto, and
Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, who is an indigenous East Timorese.

Contradiction

The human rights commission's findings were in contradiction
to the recent investigations into the incident carried out by the
Armed Forces (ABRI) special fact-finding team.

ABRI had said that troops deviated from procedures during the
operation but it insisted that two of the killed East Timorese
were anti-government guerrillas and the rest were sympathizers.

Yesterday, spokesman for the Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Syarwan
Hamid, declined to comment on the commission's findings.

"I will not make any comment, but the findings will be used as
comparative input for the Officers' Honors Council," Syarwan told
The Jakarta Post by phone yesterday afternoon.

Army Chief of Staff General R. Hartono on Monday established
an Officers' Honorary Council (DKP) to take up on the ABRI
investigation and recommend actions. The 36-member council, led
by Army Inspector General Maj. Gen. Mudjani Syukur, includes 20
officers of brigadier and major general ranks.

Hartono has promised that all those guilty will be punished.

The Director of Information of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Irawan Abidin, said he was not surprised with the
contradictory findings of the two reports.

"I was not surprised ... that certain nuances were different
in the findings between the Human Rights commission and the
Officers' Honorary Council," he told the Post.

"The commission has based their findings with respect to human
rights while the DKM has based their findings on military
procedures in the field," he said, adding that the commission's
report would be useful for the work of the DKP. (imn/rms/mds)