Ex-Indonesian Pres: Govt Never Sanctioned Timor Violence
Associated Press
March 20, 2003
JAKARTA (AP)--Ex-president B.J. Habibie told a human rights court Thursday
that the bloodshed which swept across East Timor after its independence
referendum in 1999 was the work of criminals, not the result of any order
from his administration.
Habibie, who took over from Indonesia's longtime dictator Suharto in
1998,
allowed the referendum on self-determination in the province that had
been
occupied by Indonesian troops in 1975.
His testimony appeared to deal a blow to the case of former East Timor
military chief Gen. Tono Suratman, who is on trial for failing to prevent
the
rampage by Indonesian troops and their militia proxies that killed nearly
2,000 before the arrival of international peacekeepers.
It contradicts Suratman's defense argument that he was just carrying
out
orders from his bosses in Jakarta.
"If there was any link to Jakarta, there would have been a written
or
unwritten order to carry this out," Habibie said.
"But in fact, the opposite occurred. We prepared systematic measures
to
prevent (violence). What happened there was the result of criminal actions
and whomever committed them should be put on trial," the former president
said.
Habibie, who has lived in Germany since being voted out of office in
1999,
rarely visits Indonesia. He has testified via teleconference links in
corruption cases involving officials of his administration.
The Timor rights trials in Jakarta have come under fire for acquitting
11 of
the 18 officials on trial for crimes against humanity.
Only five defendants have been convicted of prison terms, ranging from
three
to 10 years, including Noer Muis who replaced Suratman in East Timor.
They
all remain free pending appeals of their cases. The trials of two military
generals are ongoing.
Human rights activists have criticized the trials as a sham, saying they
were
convened in order to defuse an international drive to set up a U.N. war
crimes trial for East Timor akin to those for ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
East Timor gained full independence in May, after a period of transitional
rule by the United Nations following Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation.
Habibie also defended his decision to back the referendum, saying he
wanted
to give the Timorese an option between remaining part of Indonesia or
becoming independent.
"We discussed the matter, and the decision was made to respect the
universal
values of human rights," Habibie said. "Therefore, we gave the
East Timorese
people the opportunity to decide their own fate."