Rights court set to hand down sentence
Rights court set to hand down sentence
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The country's landmark human rights tribunal will announce on
Wednesday its first verdict regarding crimes against humanity
during, before, and after the 1999 UN-administered independence
vote in East Timor.
Former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares will be
the first of the 18 people brought to trial for alleged crimes
against humanity to have his fate determined.
Prosecutors have demanded a near minimum sentence of 10 and a
half years jail for Abilio for failing to prevent the violence
surrounding the vote for independence. The crime carries a
maximum penalty of death, according to Law No. 26/2000 on Rights
Tribunals.
The UN estimates that at least 1,000 East Timorese were killed
during the widespread violence.
The court also plans to announce the verdict of Brig. Gen.
Timbul Silaen, the former East Timor police chief, on Thursday.
Like Abilio, Timbul also faces 10 and a half years imprisonment.
Indonesia has come under international pressure to address
human rights abuses involving the military. Most of the 18
charged are military officers. The ad hoc human rights court was
initiated to avoid an international tribunal.
The violence not only tarnished the country's image but also
led to an arms embargo and suspended military-to-military
relations between Indonesia and the U.S. and its allies.
At home, the establishment of the rights tribunal under a
Presidential Decree also drew criticism, ranging from the
recruitment process of its judges to the court's failure to hear
from a large number of witnesses. Only two victim have testified
so far.
On top of that, the tribunal raised eyebrows for failing to
bring Gen. (ret) Wiranto, the former Armed Forces chief believed
to be responsible for his subordinates' crimes, to justice.
Ahead of Wednesday's verdict, East Timor President Xanana
Gusmao, a former pro-independence leader, sent a letter to the
presiding judge urging that "Abilio should not be singled out as
the one responsible" for the 1999 mayhem.
A similar letter was sent by another pro-independence leader,
Manuel Viegas Carrascalao, to judges trying Timbul's case, saying
the police had taken all steps to protect the East Timorese,
including him, when pro-Jakarta militia attacked his house on
April, 17, 1999.
Komariah Emong, one of the judges trying Abilio's case, said
the judges would take Gusmao's appeal into consideration.
While Andi Samsan Nganro, one of the judges handling Timbul's
case, said that "what we (the judges) will decide has nothing to
do with these letters".