Wiranto would do well to stand down

Wiranto would do well to stand down

As a soldier, Indonesia's Gen. Wiranto has sworn to protect
his country. The best way he can do that now is to resign his
cabinet post and fight the charges he was instrumental in the
carnage visited on East Timor in court before his recalcitrance
tears apart Indonesia.

The general is only delaying the inevitable. The National
Human Rights Commission stated in its report that contrary to the
army's insistence that the killings in East Timor were a
spontaneous backlash by local people and soldiers angered by the
vote for independence, the violence was systematically planned
and carried out by Indonesian security forces with the knowledge
of the armed forces leadership. H.S. Dillon, a member of the
inquiry, even told the press that there was evidence that Gen.
Wiranto was involved in the setting up of the anti-independence
East Timorese militias.

The world community is solidly behind Mr. Wahid. The U.S.
States Department said it fully backed "the principle of civilian
control of the military which is one of the pillars of democratic
governance". In a show of support, foreign lenders on Wednesday
granted $4.7 billion in aid to the Wahid government through the
World Bank. And Jean-Michel Severino, the bank's vice-president,
said that no aid whatsoever would be forthcoming if "governance,
democracy and human rights goals" were not realized in Indonesia.

As the armed forces chief at the time, Gen. Wiranto cannot
escape responsibility. It does him no good, and could possibly
tear apart his country, if he insists on fighting Mr. Wahid. He
could do Indonesia a great service by resigning from the cabinet,
fight his case in court and refrain from stirring up passions in
the armed forces. East Timor can only be laid to rest if justice
is served, otherwise national reconciliation will be impossible
and Indonesia will not be able to move forward on the democratic
path it has chosen.

-- The Bangkok Post