Hopes slim to try Timor rights abusers

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 07/17/2008 10:10 AM | Headlines

Hopes of prosecuting those responsible for the 1999 violence in East Timor look slim after both Indonesia and Timor Leste refused to follow up on a truth commission report with legal measures.

This refusal was echoed by the House of Representatives, which also accepted the report and supported the government's decision to close any possibility of trying the alleged perpetrators in domestic and international courts.

"We don't want legal action anymore after this. We should focus on embracing better future relations," chairman of the House's Commission I on defense and foreign affairs Theo Sambuaga said Wednesday.

The Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) report blamed the Indonesian government, military and police for gross human rights violations in 1999 in then East Timor (now Timor Leste).

International law experts similarly expressed pessimism Wednesday over the possibility of trying Indonesian military and civilian officials involved.

Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia said it was impossible for any party to use the CTF report as grounds to take legal action to permanent courts like the International Criminal Court (ICC) or an ad hoc tribunal like those in Rwanda or Yugoslavia.

"We can't use the ICC because the Timor Leste incidents occurred before the establishment of the ICC, and Indonesia has not ratified the Rome Statue," he said.

Trying the perpetrators through an ad hoc human rights court would also be difficult, he said, because it would require a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution.

Rudi Rizki, a legal expert at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, underscored the key roles of the government's support in the establishment of a tribunal court and difficulties in getting such a UNSC resolution to prosecute perpetrators.

"Getting a UNSC resolution will be very much on power plays at the Security Council," he said.

Due to international pressure, Indonesia established a rights tribunal in 2001 to try those accused of perpetrating the 1999 violence, which claimed over 1,000 lives before, during and after the independence vote in Timor Leste.

The court, which tried 18 military officers and civilians for the violence, failed to satisfy human rights groups and the international community as all of the suspects were eventually acquitted.

Timor Leste also tried to prosecute perpetrators through the UN-backed Serious Crime Unit (SCU) process. The SCU subsequently issued an arrest warrant for former Indonesian military chief Gen. Wiranto and other Indonesian generals.

However, then president Xanana Gusmao intervened and dropped Wiranto's name from the dossier.

Rudi warned that any of those involved in crimes against humanity could be arrested overseas when they left Indonesia.

"According to the universal jurisdiction principle, a country could try a citizen from other countries if he or she committed a crime against humanity, as when Spain captured (ex-Chile junta leader) Augusto Pinochet," he said.

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