UNTAET urged to present victim witnesses at trial

UNTAET urged to present victim witnesses at trial

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's first human rights trial is facing another test of
credibility as state prosecutors have repeatedly failed to
present victim witnesses to the court.

Spokesman of the Attorney General's Office Barman Zahir said
on Wednesday state prosecutors of the ongoing ad hoc human rights
trial were still awaiting a response from the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) on whether or
not it could send victim witnesses to Indonesia.

According to Barman, UNTAET had asked for more time to find
and send four victim witnesses to testify against senior civilian
officials and military and police personnel accused of
perpetrating gross human rights violations in East Timor.

"The administration cannot find the witnesses right away
because they are now living outside East Timor's jurisdiction. It
needs time ... and we're still waiting," Barman told The Jakarta
Post.

Victim witnesses from East Timor were asked to give court
testimony on April 23, but none showed up. The judges then asked
the prosecutors to present the witnesses on April 30, but again
nobody came.

UNTAET is one of the international institutions that has
called for the prosecution of those responsible for gross human
rights violations in East Timor after its population decided to
break away from Indonesia in a UN-organized referendum in 1999.

A total of 18 senior civilian officials and military and
police personnel, including three Army generals, are standing or
will soon stand trial on charges of gross human rights
violations, including genocide.

Indonesia and UNTAET signed a memorandum of understanding in
2000, under which UNTAET allowed ad hoc prosecutors to question
witnesses residing in Indonesia's former 27th province.

According to Barman, some witnesses are now living in
Australia.

State prosecutors have, since last month, tried to produce
housewife Dominggos dos Santos Mouzinho -- who is known to be the
relative of a victim -- to testify before the court, but to no
avail.

The presence of victim witnesses would lend much-needed
credibility to the ongoing human rights trial, which started on
March 15 under strong public skepticism over the quality of both
prosecutors and judges.

Meanwhile, judges adjourned on Wednesday former East Timor
governor Abilio Soares' trial due to the absence of a key
witness.

State prosecutors told the court that Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri
could not attend the hearing because he had been invited to a
meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the palace.

Damiri is one of 18 suspects in the 1999 East Timor rights
abuse cases. He was to testify as former chief of the Udayana
Military Command, which oversaw East Timor. He is currently
operational assistant to the Indonesian Military chief for
general affairs.

Damiri's testimony has been rescheduled to May 8.