UNHCR raps RI for failing to punish killers of its staff
UNHCR raps RI for failing to punish killers of its staff
JAKARTA (Agencies): A senior UN refugee official rapped Indonesian legal authorities on Monday for failing to properly punish the "cold-blooded murder" of three of its staff.
But Soren Jessen-Petersen, Assistant United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said Jakarta, in a "fundamental policy change," now clearly wants the return of an estimated 80,000 East Timorese refugees from Indonesian West Timor.
Jessen-Petersen, speaking at the end of an eight-day visit to Jakarta, West and East Timor, said he was "very disturbed and very distressed" that the high court had now confirmed "ridiculously low sentences" on those convicted in connection with the murders.
In September 2000 a mob of frenzied East Timorese militiamen stoned, stabbed and beat to death three unarmed UNHCR workers -- an American, a Croatian and an Ethiopian -- in the border town of Atambua in Indonesian West Timor. Their bodies were set on fire.
A Jakarta court in May found six men not guilty of their murder and instead convicted them of inciting mob violence. It sentenced them to jail terms of between 10 and 20 months.
Jessen-Petersen told a media conference he raised the case of "cold-blooded murder" with Attorney General M.A. Rachman and also the sentences, which he called a "mockery of justice."
"I was very disturbed by what I heard. The concerted impression we got was that there was very little he could do (about the confirmation of sentence).
"We don't agree with that. We believe it is the responsibility of the Indonesian authorities to take this all the way, to see that justice is done," Jessen-Petersen said, as quoted by AFP.
"The impression we got from that meeting is that it is not happening ... so among many, many very encouraging meetings with the authorities, there was (that) one disturbing meeting with the attorney-general."
An estimated quarter of a million people fled or were forced into West Timor in the wake of East Timor's overwhelming vote on Aug. 30, 1999 for independence after 24 years of enforced Indonesian rule.
Meanwhile, Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), also warned on Monday about the possibility of an international court interfering with the national court if they consider that Indonesia was not serious in trying the suspects.
"Similar to the case of trying war criminals from the former Yugoslavia, the international court can issue an order to arrest prime suspects and try them outside of their country," Hendardi told the Jakarta Post by phone from Pontianak.
Hendardi also expressed concern over the lack of transparency in the appointment of judges and prosecutors in charge of handling the trial.
"They should be proposed by the President and approved by the House of Representatives (DPR)," he said.
Munir, another human rights campaigner, said that such a prediction is unlikely to be carried out.
He said instead of intervening in the trial, foreign countries, particularly the U.S. and European countries, are likely to favor an ad hoc trial.
"They have their own interests regarding their bilateral relationship with Indonesia as Indonesia is the key country in the Southeast Asian region. Moreover the U.S. needs to maintain their bitter-sweet relations with Indonesia to bridge their message to other countries," Munir, former coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), explained.
According to him, the coming ad hoc trial is just a formality to fulfill the mounting demand to hold such a trial for East Timor rights violators.
Indonesia is yet to be ready to conduct a true trial by trying the main person who is considered responsible for such a crime, saying that it would hit several aspects in the country.
"Legally, we could not dismantle the case thoroughly by pursuing the most responsible person for the crime. Politically, there would be resistance from people inside the country who would be disadvantaged if the case was dismantled," Munir told the Post later in the day. (09)