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UN Commission on Human Rights endorses Indonesian military impunity

The following press release was issued jointly by TAPOL and the Catholic Institute for International Relations

22 April 2002

A Statement on East Timor by the Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights made last Friday has been condemned by the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, because its supports Indonesia's flawed process of justice for East Timor. The Statement welcomes the recent start of trials in Jakarta, but ignores the fact that the authorities have made little meaningful progress in bringing to justice military personnel responsible for the appalling violence in East Timor before, during and after the popular consultation in 1999.

A CIIR spokeswoman described the Statement as

"An insult to the innocent victims of the Indonesian military's brutality in East Timor, and, as far as the standard-setting of the Commission on Human Rights is concerned, a huge set-back to those who want to see governments held more accountable for gross violations".

TAPOL said:

"We are dismayed that the Commission has chosen to welcome a process which is unlikely to provide justice for East Timor and will do little to enhance the rule of law and to end impunity in Indonesia."

The trials in Jakarta, before a specially-established ad hoc human rights court, have been criticised by Indonesian lawyers and NGOs as "show trials" and as paying "mere lip service" to the implementation of human rights. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, in her report to the Commission, called for the international community to reconsider the possibility of establishing an international tribunal for East Timor. CIIR and TAPOL fully support this recommendation.

The Chairperson's Statement takes no account of the fact that the jurisdiction of the ad hoc court is restricted to crimes committed in April and September 1999 in only 3 of East Timor's 13 districts. This means that there will be no accountability for many serious crimes committed at other times and in other areas and that the much of the evidence of the systematic nature of the violence will remain suppressed.

The Statement welcomes the agreement of the Indonesian and East Timorese authorities to strengthen co-operation on judicial matters. It ignores the fact that Indonesia has so far refused to co-operate, most notably in refusing to transfer to East Timor suspects indicted there for crimes against humanity.

The Statement also ignores the omission from the list of suspects of top-ranking officers implicated in the violence, such as former armed forces commander-in-chief, General Wiranto and intelligence chief Zacky Anwar Makarim. Many other critical issues are not addressed by the Statement [see Note for Editors].

ENDS

For further information, contact: Catherine Scott, CIIR, on 020 7354 0883 (W) or 01206 766256 (H) or Paul Barber, TAPOL, on 01420 80153

Note for Editors:

Other issues not addressed by the Chairperson's Statement include the lack of transparency in the selection of judges and prosecutors for the ad hoc court, the inexperience and lack of independence of the judges, the absence of an effective witness protection programme, the flaws in the Law on Human Rights Courts under which the suspects are charged and the Law's failure to provide adequate safeguards for fair trials.

The Statement also fails to press Indonesia to fulfill its responsibilities towards East Timorese refugees in Indonesia, which now number in the region of 60,000. Those responsibilities include disarming and disbanding pro-Indonesian militias, ensuring that the refugees' humanitarian requirements are met in full, ensuring that the refugees are able to make a free and informed choice as to their future domicile and facilitating the repatriation of those who wish to return to East Timor in accordance with international standards.

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