UN indicts Wiranto for 1999 East Timor crimes
UN indicts Wiranto for 1999 East Timor crimes
Agencies, Jakarta
The United Nations indicted on Tuesday former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, along with six other high-ranking officers and East Timor's ex-governor for crimes against humanity during the territory's bloody independence vote in 1999.
"The accused have all been charged with crimes against humanity for murder, deportation and persecution," Associated Press quoted a UN statement issued in the East Timor capital of Dili on Tuesday.
The statement said the alleged crimes "were all undertaken as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population of East Timor and specifically targeting those who were believed to be supporters of independence for East Timor".
Wiranto has long been considered by some the person most responsible for the bloodletting that swept the former Indonesian territory when its citizens voted for independence in a UN- sponsored referendum.
The Indonesian government, legal experts and lawyers, however, dismissed the indictment against the officers and the former East Timor governor, most of whom have been tried by an Indonesian ad hoc human rights court for the same charges.
The indictment also charges six officers who were responsible for security in East Timor and ex-governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares with funding, training and arming pro-Jakarta militias that joined the Indonesian Military in killing nearly 2,000 people and forcing 250,000 Timorese to flee their homes before and after the referendum.
Along with Wiranto, those indicted are Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, Maj. Gen. Adam Rachmat Damiri, Col. Suhartono Suratman, Col. Mohammad Noer Muis, Lt. Col. Yayat Sudrajat and Soares.
Several of those indicted on Tuesday are among the 18 military and police officers who have faced trial in Jakarta for their alleged involvement in the violence. Soares has been sentenced to three years, but remains free on appeal, while Damiri and Suratman's trials are still ongoing. Sudrajat has been cleared of all charges.
Tuesday's indictment accuses the men of involvement in 280 killings in 10 separate attacks, including a church massacre in Liquica, an attack on a rally in Dili and an attack on a church compound in Dili.
The Jakarta Post reported from Kuala Lumpur that Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda denounced the indictment, saying the UN had no international jurisdiction to try non-East Timorese citizens.
"The court that deals with past human rights abuses in East Timor is basically a national process and not at all an international tribunal ... they do not have international jurisdiction. Legally they do not have the capacity to reach non- East Timorese citizens," Hassan said on the sidelines of the Non- Aligned Movement summit in the Malaysian capital.
The minister called on the UN and East Timor to respect the ongoing rights trials taking place in Jakarta.
"I think the legal process taking place in East Timor has limitations. It is not an issue for us," Hassan remarked.