RI 'should accede to United Nations, extradite 17 people'
RI 'should accede to United Nations, extradite 17 people'
Tertiani ZB Simandjuntak and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Human rights activists urged the government on Wednesday to
extradite 17 former militia members and military personnel
indicted in East Timor for crimes against humanity there, saying
the charges against them did not involve ordinary crimes.
Usman Hamid of the National Human Rights Inquiry Team (KPP
Ham) said that no extradition treaty was needed for gross human
rights violations.
"Indonesia should fulfill the United Nations' request and hand
over those men to international prosecutors because these are no
ordinary violations ... it is not a matter of one or two or three
murders," Usman said.
Munir of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) concurred with Usman, highlighting the fact
that Indonesia had no choice but extradite those indicted.
"An extradition treaty between East Timor and Indonesia is not
needed in the case of such extraordinary human rights violations.
Moreover, the United Nations is working towards officially
requesting that Indonesia extradite the 17 men," Munir said.
A memorandum signed in April 2000 by Indonesia and UNTAET
stipulated that both parties shall "afford to each other the
widest possible measure of mutual assistance in investigations or
court proceedings." However, the memorandum falls short on
provisions for extradition.
According to Munir, the Indonesian government and military
were afraid that the 17 indicted, if extradited to East Timor,
would reveal the TNI's role in recruiting, training and arming
militia members before, during and after the UN-sponsored
referendum in East Timor in 1999.
"Indonesia and the TNI fear that once extradited, the men will
talk of how TNI, as an institution, and its generals, had
created, developed and trained pro-Jakarta militias, fully armed
them and funded them," Munir said.
"The TNI is just protecting its own generals involved in the
killings and needs to shrug off the responsibility of having
conducted gross human rights violations in East Timor."
A statement from the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) said the charges included
"murder, persecution and other inhumane acts."
The UNTAET press office stated on Wednesday that it would be
willing to share "all of the evidence" that its investigators had
gathered on the case with Indonesia.
"At the same time, our investigators are ready to go to trial.
We would like Indonesia to hand over the 17 accused so we can
proceed with that trial," UNTAET said in a statement sent to The
Jakarta Post.
Meanwhile, the human rights tribunal ad hoc prosecutors are
scheduled on Thursday to file the first of three indictments in
respect of the 1999 East Timor human rights violations with the
Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal at the Central Jakarta District
Court.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Barman Zahir said on
Wednesday that the three separate indictments involved seven of
the 19 suspects believed to have played important roles in the
1999 mayhem in East Timor. He refused to give the names of the
suspects or specify the charges laid against them.
Barman added that the remaining nine indictments were still
being kept on hold given the limited number of ad hoc judges and
the courtrooms available, especially considering that each of the
cases needed to be heard by five judges.
He also added that UNTAET had pledged cooperation in producing
witnesses who are residing in East Timor. Such cooperation would
be based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2000.
Indonesians indicted in East Timor
1) Eurico Guterres, Aitarak militia leader;
2) Manuel Sousa, district-level commander in BMP militia;
3) Joas Sera, district-level vice commander in BMP militia;
4) Floriano da Silva, district-level commander in BMP militia;
5) Marculino Soares, district-level commander in BMP militia;
6) Tome Diogo, TNI intelligence officer;
7) Jose Mateus, TNI member;
8) Antonio Gomes, TNI member;
9) Antonio Bescau, TNI member;
10) Antoninho Martins, TNI member;
11) Teofilo da Silva Ribeiro, TNI member;
12) Abilio Lopez da Cruz, TNI member;
13) Jorge Viegas, TNI member;
14) Mateus Metan, BMP member;
15) Domingos Bondia, BMP member;
16) Fernando Sousa, BMP member;
17) Armindo Carrion, BMP member.