Men in military uniform buried massacre victims: Witness
The Jakarta Post
[online]
May 7, 2002
Three witnesses told
the Human Rights Tribunal on Tuesday that they saw a
number of people in military uniform burying victims of a massacre in
a mass
grave in Metamauk village in Wemasa, Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, in 1999.
One of the three
witnesses, former company commander of the East Nusa
Tenggara's Mobile Brigade police first Insp. Sudarminto, said that 27
bodies
were buried in the grave, including those of three Catholic priests, and
were
victims of the Sept. 6, 1999 massacre at St. Ave Maria Church in Suai,
Covalima regency, East Timor.
Sudarminto testified
that the mass burial was done in the presence of former
Suai military commander Lt. Col. Sugito -- one of the five defendants
accused
of committing gross human rights violations.
Sudarminto said that
he went to the grave site after being informed by
subordinates that a convoy of cars driven by military personnel was passing
through their territory in Wemasa.
"I, along with
my subordinates, arrived at the location a few minutes later.
But suddenly an unidentified man in a military uniform approached and
told me
not to go any closer to the location.
"I only heard
later that it was the burial for about 27 East Timorese killed
after the massacre at the St. Ave Maria Church," Sudarminto said.
Tuesday's hearing
was part of the ongoing trial of four mid-level military
officers and one policeman accused of rights violations in the massacre,
in
which at least 27 people were killed, including Catholic priests Tarsisius
Dewanto, Hilario Madeira and Francisco Soares.
Sugito and four other
defendants -- former Covalima regent Col. Herman
Sedyono, former Suai military commander Lt. Col. Liliek Koeshadianto,
former
Suai military command's chief of staff Capt. Achmad Syamsuddin and former
Suai Police precinct chief Lt. Col. Gatot Subiaktoro -- are charged with
violating Articles 7, 9, 37 and 42 of Law No. 26/2000 on human rights
violations.
The crimes carry maximum sentences ranging from 10 years in jail to death.
Asked whether the
uniform was only worn by military personnel, Sudarminto
said: "All I know is that only military personnel wear uniforms with
stripes." (tso)