Cloud Over Army Role In East Timor
The rumours started four years ago. SAS troops in conflict with
an Indonesian-backed militia group near Suai on October 6, 1999
had overstepped the rules of battle. They had tortured East Timorese
militiamen, the rumours said. They had kicked corpses. They had
taken photographs of bodies as trophies. One militiaman had been
executed. Eleven months later, the Australian Defence Force opened
an investigation into 19 allegations of misconduct, ithout saying
what they were.
Last April the chief of the army, Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy,
said the investigation was complete. There had been no execution.
Thirteen of the allegations were unsubstantiated. Four were substantiated
and required improvements in management. One serviceman was disciplined
over workplace and gender harassment, apparently during the investigation.
Another was charged with mistreating a corpse. Lieutenant-General
Leahy declined to
release the report.
Disquiet persisted. Investigators complained that they received
no co-operation from the SAS. Under pressure the army released details
of the allegations that an Australian soldier's suicide was related
to events in Suai; that a militiaman's arm was "unnecessarily
amputated"; that prisoners were forced to look at dead colleagues.
The serviceman's trial over the corpse-kicking charges was delayed,
then abandoned, as witnesses backed away from their statements.
In October the army announced that an internal review by the serviceman's
commander had cleared him. This week, Lieutenant-General Leahy apologised
to the serviceman for the length of the investigation and the procedures
followed during it.
So here we are. Allegations serious enough to warrant a 3 1/2-year
investigation were made, but the full report of the investigation
was never released. The only charge brought was dismissed as witnesses
wilted and sought levels of anonymity the court would not grant.
None of the allegations was ever tested in court. The review said
to clear the
serviceman was conducted in secret. There is not the slightest hint
of openness or transparency in any of this.
