Former E Timor Police Chief Charged With Rights Abuses

DILI, East Timor (AP)--East Timor indicted a former police chief on Friday for failing to prevent his officers from taking part in the wave of killings that followed the country's break from Indonesian rule in 1999.

The indictment brings to 378 the number of Indonesian police and military and militia members charged over the violence that left 1,500 Timorese dead and the half-island in ruins.

Prosecutors charged Hulman Gultom, an Indonesian citizen who was district police chief in the capital, Dili, from June 1998 until September 1999, with crimes against humanity.

The indictment alleges he failed to prevent his officers from taking part in a string of incidents that left 15 dead, including an attack on church diocese office in Dili and the residence of Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.

Gultom has fled East Timor and is now believed to be in Indonesia , prosecutors said.

Some 280 other indicted suspects are also believed to be in Indonesia - including failed Indonesian presidential candidate Gen. Wiranto, who was the country's military chief in 1999.

Indonesia is under no obligation to hand over the suspects and has said it won't respond to earlier indictments. East Timor hasn't aggressively pushed to have the defendants turned over, saying good relations with its large neighbor is more important.

Courts in Jakarta were set up to prosecute senior Indonesian officers accused for the violence, but rights groups have widely criticized the trials as failures. All 16 police and military officers charged have been acquitted, while two ethnic East Timorese civilians were found guilty.

On 10 December 2004 the Serious Crimes Unit filed an indictment charging Lieutenant Colonel Hulman Gultom, the former Dili District Police Chief [KAPOLRES] with the Crimes Against Humanity charges of Murder, Deportation or Forcible Transfer of the Population and Persecution. The accused is at large and believed to be in Indonesia.

Hulman Gultom was the District Police Chief of Dili between June 1998 and September 1999. The indictment alleges that during this period he exercised command and control over all police officers [POLRI] stationed in the district and that he failed to prevent or to punish those responsible for the violence that happened before and after the popular consultation.

Hulman Gultom is charged with superior criminal responsibility for the murder of 15 people as well as superior and individual criminal responsibility for the deportation or forcible transfer of the population from Dili District between 5 and 9 September 1999. Gultom is also charged with superior and individual criminal responsibility for persecutory acts against independence supporters in Dili district.

The 5 May 1999 agreement between Indonesia, the UN and Portugal provided in part: "The police [would] be solely responsible for the maintenance of law and order." Despite this obligation, the indictment describes a number of incidents in which the Dili police under Gultom's command failed to take any necessary or reasonable measures to prevent violence. It is alleged that Hulman Gultom participated in the Aitarak militia inauguration ceremony held outside the Governor's office in Dili that led up to the attack on the Carrascalão house on 17 April 1999. Other crimes described in the indictment include the attack on the Dili Diocese and on Bishop Belo's residence in September 1999. It is further alleged that for a number of the crimes, POLRI officers were either the direct perpetrators or facilitated crimes committed by militia forces.

To date, the Serious Crimes Unit has filed 91 indictments charging 378 individuals with some accused charged in multiple indictments. Cases have been completed through trial for 76 accused persons, with 74 convicted of one or more charges.

Support ETAN, make a secure financial contribution at etan.org/etan/donate.htm

Back to December menu
November
World Leaders Contact List
Human Rights Violations in East Timor
Main Postings Menu