PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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The following letter was sent by TAPOL to UK Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien on 20 June 2002

See also press release dated 20 June 2002

Mike O'Brien MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1

Dear Mr O'Brien,

I write on behalf of TAPOL in response to the recent decision by the Indonesian authorities not to prosecute those suspected of involvement in the killing of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes in East Timor in September 1999. At the time, he was reporting for the Financial Times.

We are concerned that this decision is indicative of Indonesia's lack of commitment to bringing to justice the perpetrators of gross human rights violations in East Timor and endorses Indonesian military impunity. We urge the British Government to condemn it and to work with its Dutch and EU partners to ensure that justice is done.

The Chairperson's Statement on East Timor made at this year's session of the UN Commission on Human Rights made a specific reference to the Sander Thoenes case. It encouraged the Government of Indonesia to take further steps in the investigation of the murder and expressed the hope that the perpetrators would be brought to trial. Clearly, Indonesia does not regard itself bound by the Chairperson's Statement and cannot therefore be trusted to fulfil its commitment in the Statement to bring to justice those responsible for other gross violations.

Sander Thoenes was only one of hundreds killed in East Timor in 1999 and hundreds of thousands killed, tortured or imprisoned during the 23 years of Indonesia's military occupation, but as a result of investigations carried out by UN and Dutch officials, his murder is regarded as one of the best documented cases and a test case of Indonesia's seriousness in bringing to trial members of the Indonesian military. The Dutch investigation concluded that Mr Thoenes was shot in the back by Battalion 745 Second Lt. Camilo dos Santos as he lay on his side after he had fallen off a motorbike and been dragged a short distance from the road.

The claim by Indonesia's Attorney General that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute and that a key witness is unreliable is not credible. It is clear that there is more than enough evidence to bring the case to trial and if there are doubts about the witness's reliability, they should be tested in court. The Dutch Government has stated that there is no reason for the case to be closed.

We would suggest that Indonesia's reluctance to proceed with this case is connected to the fact that it exposes the role of army officers in systematic abuse against civilians (Sander Thoenes was one of twelve civilians allegedly killed by Battalion 745 in three days in September 1999 during its withdrawal from East Timor). It is significant that the accused in the current ad hoc trials in Jakarta are charged with failing to control their subordinates and no one has yet been charged with planning or orchestrating the violence in East Timor. A recent briefing by the International Crisis Group condemned the limited mandate of the ad hoc court, the weakness of the indictments and the way they have been presented by the prosecution to portray the events of 1999 as resulting from a civil conflict between two violent East Timorese factions in which the Indonesian security forces were essentially bystanders. Clearly this process is not aimed at establishing the truth of what happened in East Timor. It is not a means to justice, but a denial of justice for the people of East Timor.

We would be grateful if you will let us know what steps the British Government intends take to ensure that the killers of Sander Thoenes are brought to justice and what is the Government's assessment of the Jakarta trials to date.

We would also ask you to review the Government's policy of supporting weakened Chairperson's Statements on East Timor at the Commission on Human Rights. These statements are compromise mechanisms used on the basis that Indonesia will meet its agreed commitments. If Indonesia is not prepared to meet those commitments - as it has shown in the Sander Thoenes case - the statements are worthless and stronger measures must be considered. We would appreciate your views on this.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Barber

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