'Troops erred in Liquisa incident'

'Troops erred in Liquisa incident'

CILODONG, Bogor, West Java (JP): The army has acknowledged
that troops deviated from standard procedures in the incident
which took place on Jan. 12 in Liquisa, East Timor, in which six
East Timorese were killed.

Army Chief of Staff, General Raden Hartono, said yesterday
that the troops, who were on a routine patrol of the Liquisa
area, had deviated from standard procedures during the operation.

However, Hartono refused to give details of the errors made.

The National Commission for Human Rights announced recently
that it had found that the troops had violated basic human rights
when they killed the six villagers.

Hartono, who was speaking to reporters after attending a
celebration of the 34th anniversary of the Army Strategic Reserve
Command, said: "Every soldier who is sent to a battle zone should
comply with military procedures."

He said that in the military, it is always officers who are
held responsible for such incidents, rather than privates.

He said a seven-officer team of the Officers' Honor Council
had left for Dili, East Timor, yesterday to further investigate
the case, or to follow up the findings of a preliminary
investigation conducted by a team from the Armed Forces (ABRI)
early last month.

The ABRI team, who conducted an investigation at the site of
the tragedy, announced later that the troops had deviated from
standard procedures during the operation, but insisted that two
of the deceased were rebels and the rest were sympathizers.

"The second team will further investigate what errors were
committed, how they occurred and who committed them," he said.

April

He said he expected the team would report to him by early
April. Hartono said that, on the basis of the report, he would
conclude whether the error had been committed intentionally or
not.

"If the error was serious, those responsible will be sent to
the military tribunal but, if not (serious), they would only be
disciplined by their commanders," he said.

Hartono said the team would investigate how the victims were
killed and how they were buried.

"It is also possible for the team to exhume the bodies of the
victims in the course of its investigation," he said.

However, Hartono said that the six victims were not civilians
and that the fatal incident had not been a violation of human
rights.

"Seen from the military's point of view, those killed in the
bloody clash were members of the Fretilin armed separatist
group," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) hailed
the Human Rights Commission's findings yesterday, saying that
they should be revealed to the public in detail, in order to
promote the observance of basic rights in East Timor.

"The government should also establish an independent national
team to investigate the incident; to complete the findings of the
investigations conducted by the Commission and ABRI," the
statement said.

The YLBHI said further that any military officers found guilty
in relation to the incident should be brought before the military
tribunal. (rms)