TNI formed East Timor militias: Eyewitness

TNI formed East Timor militias: Eyewitness

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After two months of hearings by the East Timor ad hoc human
rights trial, held in the absence of eyewitnesses from East
Timor, an East Timorese finally took the stand on Wednesday to
testify about the military's support for pro-Jakarta militia
groups at the time.

Testifying against former Liquica officials being tried for an
attack on a church on April 6, 1999, Antonio da Concesau Santos
told the court that he saw militia groups gather in the Liquica
military subdistrict headquarters before the assault was
launched.

The church, he said, was sheltering more than 1,500
proindependence supporters after their pro-Jakarta rivals forced
them from their homes and onto the streets.

Now a police officer in East Timor, Antonio was a clerk to the
Liquica Church besides being a member of the National Police at
the time of question. The church's priest, Rafael dos Santos, is
his uncle.

"The Besi Merah Putih (BMP) militia was established by the
Armed Forces (former name of the Indonesian Military/TNI)... I
saw it myself... I saw them gathering in the military command
headquarters before attacking the church."

The church is located near the military compound.

Antonio said he saw soldiers "holding M-15 rifles standing
around the church compound during the attack", but he failed to
clearly specify whether they participated in the attack, which
resulting in the deaths of 22 people.

"The attack was launched by East Timorese," he said, adding
that the Mahidi and Halilintar militias joined the BMP in the
attack.

Reportedly, at least 30 people were killed during the attack,
mostly women and children, and their bodies thrown into the sea
and a lake.

The defendants --former Liquica military commander Lt. Col.
Asep Kuswani, former police chief Lt. Col. Adios Salova, and
former regent Leonito Martins-- rejected Antonio's testimony.

The three are charged with failure to prevent human rights
abuses and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Antonio arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday along with Timor Leste
Attorney General Longhinus Monteiro, who was here to meet his
Indonesian counterpart M.A. Rachman at the latter's office.

The two agreed to renew the Memorandum of Understanding to
ensure that the difficulties in producing witnesses would not
obstruct the trial of alleged human rights attrocities in East
Timor.

"Attorney General M.A. Rachman accepted my proposal to set up
a video link should the witnesses refuse to come to Jakarta due
to fears for their personal security. For those who are willing
to come, we'll do our best to get them here," Monteiro said.

In separate hearings, human rights ad hoc prosecutors are to
summon victims Manuel Viegas Carrascalao and his daughter Maria
Christina Carrascalao to testify against former Dili Police chief
Adj. Sr. Comr. Hulman Gultom.

The first hearing in the case against former East Timor
military command chief Brig. Gen. Noer Muis was delayed until
next week because the defendant was attending the burial of his
father in Aceh.