Media Release
10 Reasons Why Indonesian Courts Will Not Bring Justice to E Timor
For Immediate Release
Contact: John M. Miller,
(718)596-7668; 917-690-4391 (mobile)
14 March 2002 -- In January 2000, the United
Nations International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor and the
Indonesian government's own human rights commission both found the
Indonesian military responsible for crimes against humanity committed in
East Timor in 1999. The UN commission called for the establishment of an
international tribunal. The Indonesian government balked at the
possibility of international trials and in response promised to establish
its own Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor. After numerous delays,
prosecutions are expected to begin today in Jakarta.
The East Timor Action Network, along with most Indonesian and
East Timorese human rights groups, does not expect these trials to be
thorough or impartial or to provide justice for the people of East Timor. Here
are 10 reasons why:
1. The Court’s limited jurisdiction covers only April and
September 1999 and only three of East Timor’s 13 districts -- Suai,
Liquicia and Dili. Numerous serious crimes committed in 1999 in East Timor
will not be prosecuted. This piecemeal approach makes impossible
prosecution of overall coordination by Indonesian security forces and
political officials at the highest levels to disrupt the UN consultation,
terrorize the East Timorese people before the vote and punish them for
voting overwhelmingly in favor of independence. Many of these officials
are not even listed as suspects.
2. The crimes were committed in East Timor, a territory never
internationally recognized as Indonesian. They were committed against
a UN mission created by the Security Council and involved assaults on both
East Timorese and UN personnel. East Timorese staff of the UN mission were
murdered in the aftermath of the ballot.
3. The Indonesian military (TNI) remains extremely powerful and
continues to operate with impunity. Many members of the military
accused of crimes against humanity and other abuses in East Timor continue
to hold prominent positions and receive promotions. While the military may
allow a few token prosecutions as a public relations effort to create the
illusion of TNI reform and to re-establish military ties with the U.S.,
meaningful prosecutions of high-ranking officials are unlikely to be
tolerated. As head of the team deciding prosecutions for crimes in East
Timor, Indonesia’s Attorney General M.A. Rahman recommended that only
low-ranking officers be prosecuted.
4. The Court will not address crimes committed before April 1999.
Most of the more than 200,000 East Timorese killed by Indonesian forces
died in the first decade after the 1975 invasion. Since 1975, thousands
were raped, imprisoned and tortured. With courts in East Timor overwhelmed
and severely under-resourced, and Indonesia refusing to extradite
suspects, despite an
agreement with the UN administration, victims and their families are
unlikely to see justice unless an international tribunal is created.
5. Indonesian prosecutors have not targeted any of the many
systematic crimes committed against women in 1999, including rape and
sexual slavery, as well as widespread forced sterilization during many
years of the occupation.
6. East Timorese witnesses are unlikely to testify. They have
been traumatized by decades of Indonesian occupation and, given the
military and police refusal to ensure security during the UN ballot
period, are distrustful of Indonesian commitments to protect them. The
last minute issuance of untested witness protection regulations will not
reassure anyone.
7. While Indonesia's constitution bars retroactive prosecution,
Indonesia's legislature stated that this constitutional provision will not
apply to past violations of internationally-recognized human rights heard
by Ad Hoc Human Rights Courts. An appeals court may well rule that the
constitution is paramount and overturn any convictions.
8. Many of the judges are unqualified, with little or no trial
experience or knowledge of international human rights standards. Some have
close ties to the Indonesian military.
9. Indonesian courts are notoriously corrupt and susceptible to
political pressure. The U.S. State Department's Country Report on
Human Rights Practices described Indonesia's judiciary as riddled with
"pervasive corruption" and "subordinated to the
executive."
10. In the rare instances when low- or mid-level soldiers or militia
were prosecuted, Indonesian courts have given light punishments for the
most heinous human rights abuses. After the November 12, 1991 Santa
Cruz massacre in East Timor, a Military Honor Council sentenced some low
ranking soldiers to between eight and 18 months in prison. Several
higher-ranking officers were "punished" by being sent abroad to
study. On the other hand, East Timorese human rights activists who
participated in the Santa Cruz protest and a Jakarta demonstration
protesting the massacre were imprisoned for up to 15 years. More recently,
militia members who confessed to brutally killing three UN refugee workers
in West Timor initially received sentences of 10-20 months after they were
convicted for inciting mob violence not murder. These were increased to a
maximum of seven years only after an international outcry.
see ETAN's
UN Press Conference with Filomena Barros dos Reis (2/26/02)
see also: Justice for East Timor Will Not Come
from Indonesian Indictments (2/26)
see also: Newly Appointed Indonesian Judges Will
Not Provide Long-Delayed Justice for East Timor (1/15)
Indonesian
ad-Hoc court news
TAPOL:
Case for international tribunal overwhelming
Note: For those without a fax application on their computer - CallCenter
V3.5.8, is a Native 32-bit Voice Telephony software application integrated with fax and
data communications... and it's free of charge! Download from http://www.v3inc.com/ |