TNI respects KPP HAM's findings

TNI respects KPP HAM's findings

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Monday it
fully respected the findings of the government-sponsored
Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) in
East Timor.

TNI chief spokesman Air Force Rear Marshall Graito Usodo,
however, stressed that the report's allegations of TNI personnel
being involved in the campaign of violence and destruction in
East Timor last year must first be proven in court.

TNI had, from the beginning, viewed the enquiry as a legal
process to uphold justice, and therefore the finding must be
respected, he said.

"But the generals (implicated in the report) must be given a
fair hearing to determine whether or not they are guilty," said
Graito, who last week took up the post which had traditionally
been held by an Army officer.

He also appealed to the public to uphold the premise of
presumption of innocence in spite of the commission's report.

Announcing the results of the four-month inquiry on Monday,
the commission named Gen. Wiranto and five other generals among
those who should be investigated further in connection with the
mayhem which erupted in East Timor in September.

Wiranto, currently coordinating minister for political affairs
and security, was TNI chief at that time.

The other five generals named in the report are former
military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim; the
former chief of the Udayana Military Command (which oversaw East
Timor) Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri; former East Timor military chiefs
Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Brig. Gen. Noer Muis; and former
East Timor Police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen.

TNI respected the commission because it was established in
September as a fortress to preempt a plan to set up an
international tribunal on the mayhem in East Timor, Graito
recalled. "The last thing we want is for outsiders to interfere
in our internal matters," he said.

He also said TNI would study the report and act on the
recommendations. He did not elaborate.

Gen. Wiranto, whose retirement from active military service
has been signed by President Abdurrahman Wahid, declined to
comment on the report.

"We should wait for the legal process," he said as quoted by
Antara in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, where he was accompanying
Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on a two-day visit.

A formidable team of lawyers, retained to represent Wiranto
and the other TNI officers, had threatened to sue the commission
for libel if its report mentioned names before they were tried
and convicted. They said the mentioning of their clients' names
would damage the generals' reputation.

The team of lawyers, led by Adnan Buyung Nasution, is expected
to officially respond to the commission's report on Tuesday.

But Erman Umar, a member of team, told The Jakarta Post he
personally would respect the commission's findings and said there
would be a lengthy legal process to prove the allegation of the
involvement of the generals.

He said the lawyers, nevertheless, would look into the
possibility that the commission had violated the principle of
presumption of innocence by going public with the names.

"It is the courtroom which decides whether the generals are
guilty or not. Even if the Attorney General has now received the
report, it doesn't mean that an investigation will immediately be
launched," he said.

Erman also said there might not even be a trial if the
investigation by the Attorney General's Office failed to come up
with evidence to build a solid case for the prosecution.

"It's just too early to reject the recommendations," he said.

TNI deputy commander Gen. Fachrul Rozi refrained from
commenting on the report, saying he would rather wait until he
learned of the government's official response.

"No comment. For sure, TNI will follow up any statement made
by the government," Fachrul said in Lembang, West Java.

He declined to comment on the proposal that an international
tribunal be established after a separate United Nations inquiry
found evidence of the involvement of TNI personnel.

"TNI's stance will also depend on the country's attitude
toward the proposal," he told reporters. (emf/43)