Rights trial begins amid strong public skepticism
Rights trial begins amid strong public skepticism
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The country's long-delayed human rights trial commences on
Thursday amid public skepticism that justice will be done to
those responsible for gross human rights violations in East Timor
in 1999.
One police general and a senior official are to stand trial on
Thursday for their role in a massacre at a church in Suai where
at least 26 people were killed, including three Catholic priests,
in September 1999. They are all charged with crimes against
humanity, including genocide, which carries a maximum penalty of
death.
The Suai church massacre is the first of a series of trials
for 18 suspects accused of gross human rights violations in East
Timor in 1999. The 18 suspects include three Army generals and
one police general. Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who was the chief of the
Indonesian Military (TNI) when the bloodshed occurred, is not
included on the list.
The government had initially planned to commence the rights
trial in September 2001, but due to technical reasons it was
pushed back to November. Without a reason given, the date was
pushed back again to December and then Jan. 15, 2002, before it
was finally moved to March 14, 2002.
A corrupt judicial system, ill-equipped state prosecutors and
judges as well as a severe lack of understanding of human rights
among Indonesians have raised doubts that justice will prevail in
the country's first ever human rights trial.
"There are too many loopholes that could prevent the
effectiveness of the trial, such as the skill of the judges, the
law, as well as the independency of judges from elements of
power," Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
chairman Hendardi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"It is better to be not too optimistic with the upcoming human
rights tribunal, considering its many shortcomings," the
secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM), Asmara Nababan said, pointing out the weaknesses of
Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Trials, the recruitment process
of both judges and prosecutors as well as their competency in
human rights issues.
Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Trials, which serves as the
legal basis for the proceedings, excludes the possibility of
using any other legal means then the country's Criminal Code,
which has fundamental weaknesses when dealing with gross human
rights violations -- that is, it lacks, among other things,
international standards on admissible evidence, testimonies and
medical evidence.
In addition, the judges and the state prosecutors for the ad
hoc trials were selected quietly, depriving the public the chance
to scrutinize their track record and affiliations.
None of the 17 ad hoc judges are known to be involved in human
rights issues. As all of them are university lecturers, they are
not known for their experience in litigation and due legal
process. The chances are they will view human rights issues
purely as an academic exercise.
At least one of the ad hoc judges has in the past provided
legal advice to generals implicated in human rights violations in
East Timor, while another is a retired army lieutenant colonel.
But even among the 12 career judges, most of them, if not all,
have no experience in dealing with human rights issues.
On the prosecution side, two of the 24 ad hoc state
prosecutors appointed by the Attorney General's Office are active
military officers.
Bearing these factors in mind, the outcome of the ad hoc
trials is predictable.
The stakes are very high for the country. The United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights' special rapporteur Leandro
Despouy told President Megawati Soekarnoputri last January that
the international community would be observing the proceedings of
the human rights tribunal closely. He also said that his office
would send international observers to monitor the proceedings and
hinted that the cases would be taken to international courts if
the entire process did not meet international standards.
Indonesia was unable to stop the post-ballot violence in East
Timor, which killed dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of innocent East
Timorese, destroyed up to 80 percent of the infrastructure in the
former Portuguese colony and drove over 200,000 East Timorese
into refugee camps in West Timor. At least 120,000 East Timorese
are still living in makeshift refugee camps in West Timor.
An investigation conducted by a government-sanctioned team
concluded in 1999 that TNI was directly or indirectly involved in
extrajudicial executions in East Timor after the Aug. 30 self-
determination ballot.
"If there is a strong enough commitment from the government
and the House of Representatives to uphold human rights, this
(the rights trial) could be a good lesson for the country and a
basic step in strengthening Law No. 26/2000," Nababan said.
Violent incidents to be brought to court
* Attack on proindependence leader Manuel Carrascalao's house in
Dili, which killed at least 12 people, on April 17, 1999
* A massacre of refugees in a church in Liquica in April 1999
* Attack on the home of Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo on
Sept. 6, 1999
* A massacre in a church in Suai where 26 people died on Sept. 6,
1999.
* The killing of a group of nuns and civilians in Los Palos on
Sept. 25. The killing of nine people, including an Indonesian
journalist.