Associated Press

January 15, 2004

Indonesian General Running For Pres Denies Rights Abuses

JAKARTA (AP)--Indonesia's former military chief, now a top presidential candidate, on Thursday sought to portray himself as a man of peace despite having been indicted for human rights abuses in East Timor, saying he would end Asia's longest-running civil war if elected.

"If I become president, I would order a speedy halt to the military operations in Aceh," Gen. Wiranto said, referring to Indonesia's westernmost province where a military offensive against separatist rebels has killed more than 1,300 people since a peace deal collapsed in May.

Wiranto, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, is seeking to become the candidate for the Golkar party of former dictator Suharto, whose 32-year rule ended amid a pro-democracy groundswell in 1998.

Speaking to foreign reporters, Wiranto took credit for Indonesia's democratic transformation, saying that as military chief he could have sent in tanks to crush the anti-Suharto rebellion but instead sided with the people.

A year later, however, Wiranto was implicated in widespread human rights abuses by the military during and after a pro-independence referendum in East Timor in 1999. U.N. prosecutors in East Timor have indicted him and several other Indonesian generals, charging them with "command responsibility."

Wiranto denied responsibility and said that if anything he worked to prevent bloodshed in East Timor during the referendum in which much of the territory was destroyed and hundreds lost their lives.

"A commander in chief should not always be held accountable for what his military personnel have done," Wiranto said. He compared East Timor to the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam committed by U.S. forces, saying then-commander Gen. William C. Westmoreland wasn't at fault.

Indonesia has refused to extradite Wiranto or any of several hundred former officers and soldiers charged with war crimes in East Timor. Wiranto said the U.N. indictment wouldn't harm his ability to interact with the international community if elected president.

Wiranto is top contender for the Golkar nomination because his main rival, parliamentary speaker Akbar Tanjung, has been convicted of corruption and is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on his appeal.

Though Golkar was discredited after Suharto's ouster, it has since regained much of its political clout amid widespread economic malaise and is expected to make a strong showing in parliamentary elections set for April 5.

The Golkar candidate could become the leading challenger to President Megawati Sukarnoputri in July 5 presidential balloting.

Wiranto helped end a previous military offensive in Aceh in 1999 and at the time publicly apologized to Aceh's people for abuses committed during the crackdown. Rebels in the province have been fighting for independence ever since Dutch colonialists invaded the territory in 1870.

"I said each killing will generate vengeance and this vengeance will generate a desire to kill again," Wiranto said, explaining his decision to seek a settlement in Aceh.

"I am a military man and I don't like bloodshed."

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