Skepticism greets UN mission
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Observers cast doubt on Tuesday over the ability of the UN- sanctioned Commission of Experts (COE) to bring the perpetrators of the 1999 atrocities in East Timor to justice.
They said the UN mission could instead actually disrupt the efforts by a reconciliation commission jointly established by Indonesia and East Timor to heal past wounds.
Agung Yudhawiranata of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) said the UN and the international community had been facing what he termed "technical and psychological" difficulties in pushing the COE to work optimally as they lacked political support from both Indonesia and East Timor, which have set up the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) to promote reconciliation between the two countries.
"The COE's credibility has been at stake as it is not fully backed up by Indonesia and East Timor. And its position has become more difficult since the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor and the Indonesian rights tribunal failed to bring the perpetrators of the 1999 mayhem to justice," he said.
COE members Justice Prafullachandra Natwaral Bhagwati from India, Prof. Yozo Yokota from Japan and Dr. Shaista Shameen from Fiji are scheduled to start their three-day mission on Wednesday to evaluate the judicial process against members of the Indonesian military and officials charged with involvement in the 1999 violence in East Timor.
During their visit here, they are slated to meet with the ad hoc rights tribunal's prosecutors and judges to obtain documents on the human rights cases.
Johnson Panjaitan, a member of the team of lawyers representing human rights victims in East Timor, said he and many other lawyers and activists were not only skeptical about the UN mission, but also afraid of the consequences of being outspoken in calling for the trial of the Army generals believed to have been responsible for the crimes against humanity in East Timor.
"It looks unlikely that the UN experts will recommend another ad hoc tribunal or call on the International Court of Justice to try the human rights perpetrators because besides all this being costly, the experts will find it difficult to work independently and objectively simply because they lack support from Indonesia and East Timor," he said.
Johnson said his team had long doubted Indonesia's willingness and ability to carry out a thorough investigation into the gross human rights abuses.
"We were skeptical ever since General Wiranto, who should have been held responsible for the rights violations, became involved in the presidential election last year, while many other generals and officers were acquitted of all charges, and even got promoted," he said.
He also expressed disappointment with East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, who he once represented when on trial here, as well as former Indonesian presidents Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri for their failures to press for fair and objective trials.
According to Johnson, the most important thing at present was to encourage the victims of the atrocities to seek justice.
Kusnanto Anggoro, a military analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the ad hoc tribunal has failed to force the Indonesian Military (TNI) to push through its much touted internal reform.
"In fact, the reform process within the TNI has stagnated and it has retained its colonial style. This means there will be no changes as regards its stance on human rights violations, as shown by the way it treats Aceh and Papua," he said.