Sydney Morning Herald
January 29, 2002
Judge's Wiranto link raises eyebrows
By Lindsay Murdoch, Herald Correspondent in Jakarta
An Australian-educated Indonesian lawyer has been appointed to a special
court to judge crimes committed in East Timor in 1999 despite having
represented the former armed forces chief General Wiranto in a national
human
rights commission inquiry.
But the lawyer, Rudi Rizki, said his academic and legal background would
ensure he served impartially and independently on the long-delayed court,
which some human rights activists have criticised before its first sitting.
The United Nations Human Rights Commission is stepping up pressure on
the
Government in Jakarta to ensure the court meets international standards
when
judging 18 suspects, including three generals and the former
Jakarta-appointed governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares.
The commission's president, Leandro Despouy, said the court proceedings
would
be closely monitored by international observers and that "people
must be
judged by national law, but this must also conform to international law".
The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, also called on Indonesia to fulfil
an
earlier promise to hand over suspects and evidence to UN officials in
East
Timor so they can pursue separate trials of those accused of atrocities.
The United States has indicated it will link the conduct of the prosecutions
over atrocities in East Timor to the resumption of arms sales to Indonesia.
The outcome of the trials could also affect future aid pledges from other
countries.
Mr Rizki said he believed that intense public scrutiny, particularly
from
overseas, and the integrity of the judges would ensure that military officers
and other accused would be prosecuted diligently.
"This court must be able to reach the most responsible persons,
not only the
low ranks or field executors," said Mr Rizki, one of 18 non-career
judges
approved by President Megawati Sukarnoputri to sit on the court, which
is
scheduled to convene within days.
Mr Rizki said he played a passive role in a legal team that represented
General Wiranto after a National Human Rights Commission inquiry accused
him
of human rights crimes in East Timor in 1999. He also worked in a team
appointed by the Attorney-General to study the commission's inquiry that
two
years ago accused 116 people of being involved in crimes during Indonesia's
bloody retribution over East Timor's vote for independence.
Human rights activists have criticised the Attorney-General's office
for
failing to include General Wiranto and other prominent soldiers and
militiamen among those who will face prosecution in the court's first
sittings.
General Wiranto said he feared that the special court would be biased
and
manipulated.
General Wiranto led Indonesian forces when military-backed militia engaged
in
a campaign of post-ballot violence and destruction in East Timor. Now
retired
but still active in Indonesian politics, he said he fears the special
court
will be biased and manipulated.
Activists and several leading Jakarta lawyers have expressed concern
over
secrecy surrounding the appointment of judges to the court, their relative
inexperience, lack of specific training, and the low pay they will receive,
which is the equivalent of $US100 ($194) a month plus $US450 for each
case
they hear.
Among the cases scheduled to be heard by the court are church massacres
in
the East Timor towns of Liquica and Suai.