East Timor

Selected Media Coverage of Lumintang Lawsuit (late 2001)
note: some are outside links

early 2001 coverage of court hearing
additional media coverage (2000)
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ETAN: Court Issues $66 Million Judgment Against Indonesian General Lumintang for E Timor Violence

Rights body alleges AGO-TNI 'deals' in E. Timor cases (Jakarta Post, Mar 25)
Attorneys and Legal Scholars Call for International Tribunal
(February)
Solidarity and International Justice
from Lao Hamutuk Bulletin (October)
Judgments Over-Easy-- Executions Rare
(Tempo, Oct 10)
US judge slaps US$66 million in damages on Indon general (AFP, Oct 4)
Johny denies responsibility over mayhem in East Timor (Jakarta Post, Oct 6)
Indonesia to ignore US court ruling against top general  (SMH, Oct. 6)
General ordered to pay out over Timor abuses
(Independent, Oct 6)
Democracy Now! in Exile interviews attorney Anthony DiCaprio (Oct 5)
(Real Audio)


From Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in East Timor
; E/CN.4/2002/39 page 7-8

21. As far as UNTAET is aware, the first judgement which explicitly identified the role of the Indonesian authorities in the human rights abuses committed in East Timor during 1999 appears to be the default judgement pronounced on 4 October 2001 in the United States Federal Court in a civil lawsuit against General Johny Lumintang, who was, at the relevant time, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Armed Forces and is currently Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence. The Federal Court judge stated that General Lumintang, "along with other high-ranking members of the Indonesian military, planned, ordered and instigated acts carried out by subordinates to terrorize and displace the East Timorese population and to destroy East Timor's infrastructure following the vote for independence". General Lumintang was not present at the court hearings. The six plaintiffs or their estates were granted significant punitive and compensatory damages under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789, which allows non-citizens to sue for acts committed outside the United States. While there may be difficulties in enforcing the judgement, NGOs have hailed it as an important step forward in seeking redress for the crimes committed in 1999.

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