Analysts expect 'show trial' for notorious militia leader
South China Morning Post
June 4, 2002
VAUDINE ENGLAND in Jakarta
Paramilitary leader Eurico Guterres, notorious for his leadership of the
East
Timorese Aitarak, or Thorn militia, has been charged with crimes against
humanity along with six others.
His case will now join the three already underway in an ad hoc human
rights
court in Jakarta as part of Indonesia's efforts to fend off international
demands for a war crimes tribunal.
Guterres' indictment was expected, due to his inclusion on a list compiled
by
Indonesian investigators early this year, but is interesting because of
his
continuing close links with Jakarta's ruling elite.
He leads a paramilitary group connected to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and is regarded by many
Indonesians as a patriot and hero for his role in trying to fend off East
Timor's vote for independence in 1999.
The attorney-general's office announced the seven new indictments yesterday,
bringing the count to 25 people charged so far. They include the
Indonesia-appointed last governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares, and the
police and armed forces commanders of the time.
The charges all relate to the massacres and widespread terror inflicted
on
the East Timorese before and after the UN-administered ballot in August
1999
that led to the full declaration of independence on May 20.
Guterres was a flamboyant leader in the carnage, with primary responsibility
for violence in the capital, Dili. With his distinctive long hair and
a crowd
of armed and aggressive gang members, he was often seen strutting the
streets
of Dili. A native East Timorese, he saw his father killed by Indonesian
troops but became a fervent defender of Indonesian occupation of East
Timor.
But analysts and close observers of the rights trials say anyone hoping
his
indictment might bring an end to his career will be disappointed.
Experience from the three cases already underway suggest the Indonesian
prosecutors are trying hard not to win their cases, they say.
The first witnesses and victims of the violence were only heard in court
last
week, after a series of sessions in which the defendants were allowed
to
state their innocence and blame any wrongdoing on the United Nations instead.
"It's an unusual logic to bring in all the people first who would
destroy the
prosecutors' case, long before hearing any witness testimony," said
a member
of a Western embassy's trial monitoring team.
Others believe the most likely outcome of all the trials will be acquittal,
despite copious evidence of the violence inflicted by Indonesian troops
and
Jakarta-backed militias.
This is because the definition of a crime against humanity requires proof
of
planned, widespread and systematic abuse of human rights.
"This issue has not even been touched yet in the trials," said
Marcus
Mietzner, a Jakarta-based expert on the military.
Court discussion has reduced the violence to an alleged outburst of "rioting"
by East Timorese that required the troops and militia to restore calm.
Details of exactly who in Jakarta initiated, guided and funded what appeared
to be a well-planned and comprehensive programme of intimidation, terror
and
killings have been studiously ignored.