Wiranto may be charged with 'omission'

Wiranto may be charged with 'omission'

JAKARTA (JP): A government-sanctioned inquiry said on
Wednesday that Gen. Wiranto could be charged with "omission" for
allowing violence and destruction to continue in the ravaged
territory of East Timor after the Aug. 30 self-determination
ballot.

Albert Hasibuan, chief of the Commission for the Investigation
of Human Rights Abuses in East Timor, alleged that Wiranto had
knowledge of the violence in the territory but did not do enough
to prevent it from continuing.

Wiranto, who is now coordinating minister for political
affairs and security, was the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander
and defense minister at the time.

"I believe that Wiranto could be charged with omission or
failure to take action," Albert told The Jakarta Post.

"He knew what was happening there, but he allowed the violence
to continue and by this (inaction) more killings and destruction
took place."

The commission, formed in late September, in its midterm
report last week said the military was either directly or
indirectly responsible for the violence.

Wiranto is among a number of Army generals to be questioned by
the commission later this month. Wiranto has appointed former
justice minister Muladi and a number of lawyers as his legal
consultants.

Albert, however, said on Wednesday that prointegration militia
leaders Eurico Guterres and Joao da Silva Tavarres would be
questioned first to verify the militia's alleged links to the
military.

"We think that the militia members' account will be
instrumental to us in confirming TNI's alleged involvement in the
violence," Albert said.

He said TNI Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. had promised during a
meeting with the commission last week that the military would fly
the militia leaders from East Nusa Tenggara to Jakarta.

Albert added that during the meeting Widodo gave the
commission a booklet containing the results of the military's
investigation into the East Timor violence.

Albert claimed, however, that the military had "turned facts
around" in its investigation.

For example, he noted that the military claimed the incident
in the East Timor town of Suai was triggered by a gunfight
between prointegration militias and proindependence supporters.
However, according to Albert, witnesses said militias had
attacked refugees seeking shelter in a church.

"It's obvious that it tends to scale down the seriousness of
the violence, the death toll and the destruction level in East
Timor," Albert said.

The commission said earlier that TNI was allegedly involved in
the militia attack on the Suai church on Sept. 6 in which at
least 26 people were killed.

The chief of the UN commission's inquiry into East Timor
violence, Sonia Picado, said earlier this week that after
comparing notes with Indonesian counterparts, both inquiries had
found traces of evidence that the Indonesian TNI was responsible
for the violence.

The UN commission on Wednesday met here with Indonesian
foreign minister Alwi Shihab.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alwi
stressed that Jakarta's compliance to work with the UN commission
was based on its desire to cooperate and not due to the UN human
rights commission's resolution, which Indonesia rejects.

The statement also stressed that the commission's visit here
"was not to investigate but to consult with the Indonesian side".

Alwi further asserted that "any attempt to take action against
those found responsible for human rights violations must take
into account the strategic interests of establishing good
relations and cooperation between Indonesia and East Timor in the
future".

Alwi stated on Tuesday that Indonesia would not allow its
generals to be tried overseas. (byg)