Silaen's appointment slammed
Silaen's appointment slammed
JAKARTA: Rights groups on Tuesday criticized the appointment of a police officer accused in the 1999 East Timor violence as the new chief in restive Papua province, saying it showed that security forces cared little about human rights or justice.
Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen was named on Monday as the new head of police in Papua, where a small band of separatist guerrillas is battling Jakarta rule. He headed the police in East Timor when it voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1999 after 24 years of brutal Jakarta rule.
Silaen was acquitted by an Indonesian court in 2002 on charges he failed to prevent the violence. The tribunal, which convicted just six of 18 Indonesian officials accused in the bloodshed, has been widely dismissed as a sham.
Since then, a UN-led team of prosecutors in East Timor has indicted Silaen, and several other Indonesian officials, over their alleged role in the violence.
Hendardi, who heads the Human Rights and Legal Aid Association, said the appointment sends a message to police and military critics that senior officers would never be punished for alleged rights abuses in East Timor.
"This is to show the public that the military did nothing wrong in East Timor. It means they do not care about justice," said Hendardi, who goes by a single name. "The perpetrators (of the violence) are being rewarded," he said.
All the six Indonesian officials convicted by the Jakarta tribunal remain free on appeal, and most continue to hold high- ranking positions in the police and army.
Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, the highest ranking officer convinced in the violence, has played a key role in Jakarta's latest bloody offensive against separatists in Aceh province
Police in Jakarta defended Silaen's appointment.
"The Indonesian police has put its full trust in him to carry out his duties in Papua," said spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko. "The charges of human rights abuses in East Timor have been dropped by the Indonesian court. We are satisfied with that." --AP