TAPOL press release
FLAWED INDICTMENT OF EAST TIMORESE MILITIA LEADER AN 'AFFRONT TO JUSTICE'
2 July 2002 - Flaws in the indictment of notorious militia leader, Eurico
Guterres, are the clearest indication yet of Indonesia's lack of commitment
to justice for the victims of human rights atrocities in East Timor, says
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.
"The indictment is hopelessly inadequate by any objective legal
standards.
Indonesia is clearly intent on suppressing the truth of what happened
in
East Timor. The international community must not allow it to get away
with
this shameful affront to justice," says Paul Barber of TAPOL.
Guterres went on trial last Thursday in the Jakarta ad hoc human rights
court charged with the crimes against humanity of murder and assault in
relation to an attack on the home of independence leader, Manuel
Carrascalao, in Dili on 17 April 1999 in which 12 East Timorese were
brutally murdered.
Despite being recorded on film earlier that day inciting thousands of
militiamen to 'capture and kill if you need' independence supporters who
had 'betrayed integration [with Indonesia]', including the Carrascalao
family, Guterres is not charged with ordering, inciting or participating
in
the attacks. He is charged only with command responsibility for his
failure to control his subordinate militias [see note 1].
The attack on the Carrascalao home and an attack on the home of
independence leader Leandro Isaac on the same day (which is referred to
in
the indictment but is not the subject of any charges) are presented by
the
prosecution as isolated incidents which resulted from the militias feeling
'out of sorts' with the pro-independence supporters. There is no mention
of Guterres's alleged responsibility for other violent attacks which took
place on the same day and on other occasions.
More importantly, the indictment appears to be designed to ensure that
Guterres is acquited. There is no attempt to link the attacks on the
Carrascalao and Isaac homes with the wider context of violence orchestrated
by the Indonesian military and its militia proxies and no facts are alleged
which could give rise to a finding that the attacks on the two homes were
part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population,
an
essential element of crimes against humanity.
It is clear that the Indonesian authorities are now treating international
demands for justice with contempt. They are using the Jakarta trials to
present Indonesia's own perverse version of events, which portrays the
violence in East Timor as either part of a civil war between the
pro-Indonesia and pro-independence factions or as a reaction to the bias
of
the UN by militias acting beyond the control of the security forces.
The Attorney General and his team of prosecutors are complicit in this
outrageous deception. Indonesian human rights groups and lawyers have
consistently raised concerns about the competence of the prosecutors while
the appointment of the current Attorney General, MA Rahman, in August
last
year was described as "a victory for the army lobby" by one
observer [see
note 2]. Before his appointment as Attorney General, MA Rahman led the
investigation team which was heavily criticised for not including former
armed forces commander in chief, General Wiranto, and other high-ranking
officers, in its list of suspects involved in human rights crimes in East
Timor.
The response of the international community to this flawed process has
been shamefully weak. In the case of the US, the administration's desire
to resume military relations with Indonesia is undoubtedly a factor in
its
support for the trials.
"The international community must open it eyes to the fact that
this
process is a travesty of justice, which will only serve to strengthen
Indonesian military impunity, with terrible consequences for those who
continue to suffer from military repression in places such as Aceh and
West
Papua. An alternative international judicial process is now an urgent
necessity," says TAPOL.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
1. Eurico Guterres has also been charged with crimes against humanity
in
relation to the attacks in Dili on 17 April 1999 by the Special Panel
for
Serious Crimes in East Timor in an indictment issued on 18 February 2002.
That indictment alleges individual criminal responsibility as well as
command responsibility and contains allegations concerning a widespread
or
systematic attack against civilians.
2. Hendardi, Chairperson of the Indonesian Human rights and Legal Aid
Association [AFP, 15 August 2001]