Wiranto denies TNI role in East Timor mayhem
JAKARTA (JP): Gen. Wiranto, chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI) until October, denied on Saturday accusations that the military played a role in September in the campaign of terror and mass destruction in East Timor.
"There was never any policy to conduct genocide, a massacre or mass rapes in East Timor," the new coordinating minister for political affairs and security said at the Bina Graha presidential office.
On the "scorched earth" campaign that followed the Aug. 30 ballot in East Timor, Wiranto said the attack could have been due to "deviations in the field".
He pledged to cooperate with any investigation looking into the mayhem, adding that he had been involved with all policies made by the government of then president B.J. Habibie in the seven months leading up to the vote in East Timor.
Wiranto said that regardless of whether he was summoned or not, it was his duty to explain to the Indonesian public about the true nature of events in East Timor. He said he had significant knowledge about the area due to his involvement in the territory since 1976.
He said however that as of Saturday morning he was yet to receive a request from the independent inquiry to question him about the East Timor violence.
The Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Abuses in East Timor (KPP HAM) has requested a meeting with Wiranto and five other top Army and police generals, which it said were responsible for overseeing security in East Timor in September.
KPP HAM chairman Albert Hasibuan has singled Wiranto out for "omission", which allowed the unbridled campaign of terror by pro-Indonesia militias in East Timor. Virtually every building in the territory was torched and hundreds of thousands of East Timorese were forced to flee their villages.
The accusation of the rape of East Timorese women was made by a United Nations inquiry team, which is also looking into the violence in East Timor and the possibility of setting up a war crimes tribunal that could arraign Indonesian generals.
The National Human Rights Commission, which oversees KPP HAM activities, said it had written to Wiranto and five other generals requesting their clarification on TNI involvement. The meeting with Wiranto is slated for later this week.
Wiranto, who remains in active military service, called the media conference on Saturday, using the presidential office facility to respond to the accusations leveled against himself and TNI.
He said he regretted that KPP HAM members had made the public accusations about TNI before speaking with him and pro-Indonesia militias in East Timor.
Wiranto and the five other generals named by KPP HAM have retained the services of the country's top lawyers to represent them in the inquiry.
The other generals are Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, former East Timor Military commanders Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and Maj. Gen. Tono Suratman and former Ministry of Defense expert staff member Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
The defense team, led by lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, announced on Saturday findings resulting from a three-day visit to East Nusa Tenggara, during which the team spoke with East Timorese refugees.
The team failed to enter East Timor, with Buyung accusing the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) of obstructing justice.
Buyung said the violence which erupted in East Timor in September was not an isolated incident but was an expression of disappointment by East Timorese who felt that the UN-sponsored ballot was unfair, Antara reported from Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.
Buyung also said the team did not find evidence of the forced evacuation of East Timorese. "They left because they felt that their life had been threatened."
He said the destruction was carried out by, among others, migrants living in East Timor who feared their properties would be taken over.
Concerning a mass grave uncovered by KPP HAM inside the Indonesian border, Buyung said the bodies were victims of conflict between East Timorese and that there was no evidence of a third party's involvement.
The KPP HAM team found 26 bodies from the brutal terror campaign, including the corpses of four priests. The team learned from survivors that the Indonesian Military assisted in transporting the bodies out of East Timor.
Buyung said his own team's findings would be used as material to defend the generals.
Meanwhile in Dili, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) said on Saturday that it would welcome Buyung and his delegation, but added that the defense team must provide adequate advance notice.
"It simply is not true that UNTAET or INTERFET has denied Buyung access. We told him he was welcome to come, but that he had to give us more than 24 hours notice," UNTAET human rights head Sidney Jones said in a statement received in Jakarta.
She said that the difficulties of transport, accommodation and security in East Timor were such that visits took time to arrange.
"When Buyung comes to East Timor and sees the extent of destruction, he will have a better appreciation of why instant access is not possible," Jones said. (emb)