Ex-Indonesian military chief supports Timor rights trial
JAKARTA, Jan 15 (AFP) - Former Indonesian armed forces chief General
Wiranto said Tuesday he supports a special tribunal for senior military
officers accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.
"We fully support it (the tribunal) as long as it is carried out
in a fair,
honest, and open manner so that the truth will prevail," Wiranto
was quoted
by the state Antara news agency as saying.
"We respect human rights and issues related to them. We want the
issue to
be resolved properly," he said.
Wiranto led the armed forces when military-backed East Timorese militia
led
an orgy of killings and destruction in the months surrounding East Timor's
break from Jakarta's rule in 1999.
He is not among the suspects despite suggestions by human rights groups
that he was morally responsible for the violence.
The militia gangs killed hundreds of people, burnt towns to the ground,
destroyed 80 percent of the half-island's infrastructure and forced or
led
more than a quarter of a million villagers into Indonesian-ruled West
Timor.
Wiranto however said he feared that the ad hoc courts, which may start
sitting next month, would be "biased and manipulated".
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has named judges for the tribunal, which
is
expected to be closely watched by the international community.
Three army generals, a police general and several middle-ranking officers
are among the 18 suspects who are facing trial for alleged gross rights
violations.
Among them are Major-General Adam Damiri, who headed the Bali-based Udayana
military command overseeing East Timor in 1999; Brigadier-General Suhartono
Suratman and Brigadier-General M. Nur Muis; former commanders of the Dili
military; Colonel Yayat Sudradjat, the former head of the much-feared
Tribuana Task Force, and former East Timor police chief Brigadier-General
Timbul Silaen.
The United Nations dropped demands for an international tribunal to try
offenders after Indonesia promised to hold its own hearings.
The United States refuses to lift its embargo on most military-to-military
contacts until offenders are brought to book.