Wiranto testifies in Jakarta
JSMP/IPJET Jakarta 4/4 2002 -- The Ad Hoc Human Rights court continued
hearings this morning against the former Governor of East Timor, Abilio
Soares and the former head of the Police force (POLRI) in East Timor,
Timbul Silaen. The courtroom was packed with military and police officers,
and militia members, including Eurico Guterres. Demonstrators inside the
courthouse waved banners that included 'Timbul Silaen, we are with you'.
Members of the United Front of Indonesia wore new black t-shirts that
said 'Victim of the Deception of the United Nations'.
In the case of Soares, the court rejected challenges by the defence to
the jurisdiction of the court and the indictment. The court ruled that
retroactive use of criminal legislation was not necessarily inconsistent
with international law, citing the practice that has developed since Nuremburg
and Tokyo, as illustrated by the practice at the ICTY and ICTY, and cited
cases from Israel and France. But it held that it was up to an Indonesian
constitutional court to decide whether the law relied upon in the indictment
against Soares violates the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
As no such court currently exists, the court rejected the defence arguments
and ordered that the hearing continue.
The prosecution informed the court of its plans to summon five witnesses
for the next trial session: the four former Bupatis of the districts of
Cova Lima, Dili, Aileu and Bobonaro and Timbul Silaen, the former KAPOLDA.
The defence asked for a clarification of the status of the former Bupati
of Cova Lima, Lt. Col. Herman Sedyono, as the first witness to be called,
since according to the Indonesian criminal procedure code the first person
must be a victim. According to the defence, the witnesses were victims
of Portugal and the United Nations. This was enthusiastically received
by those in the public gallery, who clapped and cheered. The court declined
to make a ruling, deferring the matter for its judgement. Sedyono is currently
being tried before the same court in relation to the Suai Church massacre.
In the other case heard today, the prosecution called General Wiranto,
the former head of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) and Minister of
Defence - as its first witness against Timbul Silaen. Again to noisy public
acclaim, the defence requested a clarification on whether Wiranto should
be classified as a victim, as it had done in relation to Herman Sedyono.
The court, however, insisted he be called as a witness.
Throughout his testimony, Wiranto argued that the situation in East Timor
in 1999 could not be seen in isolation. According to him, the East Timorese
people had been fighting each other 'for 23 years', and the Indonesians
had sought to provide protection and ensure peace and security. Yet Wiranto
also claimed that for 23 years, the Indonesian armed forces had been fighting
insurgents. Wiranto alleged that he warned the then President Habibie
of the dangers of the choice given to the East Timorese, citing the complicated
nature of the chosen document, which he felt uneducated persons would
not understand. He feared the confusion would lead to an 'emotional reaction'
from whichever side lost the vote. Nevertheless, his job was to implement
his instructions from the President and Indonesia's international obligations.
Wiranto repeatedly told the court that his personal role in 1999 was to ensure that the UN organized referendum agreed to by the government of Indonesia was a success. Describing the task as 'mission impossible', he described a 16 point list of efforts he personally had made to ensure that the objectives were fulfilled. These included negotiating a ceasefire/peace agreement between the two East Timorese factions on 21 April 1999, organizing a surrender of weapons on 9 July 1999 and meetings with pro-independence and pro-autonomy groups. He also told the court that he had made "passive preparation" and contingency planning for a worst case scenario. Despite such preparation, Wiranto claimed that the level of "emotional response" from the pro-autonomy camp after the result of the referendum was announced on 4 September came as a total surprise to everyone. He claimed this was due to the perceived unfairness and dishonesty of the process. Wiranto stated that he had received reports of electoral fraud and that he had forwarded these to President Habibie. This was greeted with cheers and shouts from the public gallery. According to Wiranto, when these complaints were forwarded to the United Nations, the world body acknowledged the existence of fraud, but claimed this did not affect the validity of the decision.
Wiranto stressed that after the 5 May 1999 agreement, it was not the TNI (army) but the police that was responsible for the security in East Timor in 1999. This was a key requirement of the agreement, but Wiranto acknowledged that he continued to provide assistance to the police, that he received regular reports and that he often contacted the KAPOLRES (accused Silaen) to discuss the situation and to issue instructions to him. Wiranto claimed not to know of individual incidents of police and military indiscipline, but acknowledged that there were probably some isolated incidents. He claimed these were taken care of. When asked about incidents in April 1999 (the Liquica Church attack and the massacre at the house of Manuel Carrascalao), Wiranto claimed to established an investigatory commission headed by an Inspector General. The commission reported that no TNI members had been involved in the incidents.
According to Wiranto, the police continued to be responsible for law
and order until the chaos that followed the announcement of the result.
The situation was so extreme and anarchic that authority for security
had to be handed back to the TNI on 5 September 1999. Wiranto made it
clear that both the police and TNI carried out their orders in accordance
with their instructions and should not be blamed. Again to loud cheers
from the public gallery, Wiranto stated that the fact that the Referendum
was held proved that the police and armed forces had done their job in
securing the environment for the Referendum. Wiranto ended his testimony
by stating that "I hope this is a fair and honest process to find
the truth".
Both trials were adjourned until 11 April 2002. Adam Damiri and Nuir Muis
are to appear as witnesses in the Timbul Silaen case.