PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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20 June 2002

Indonesia's lack of commitment to justice for the victims of atrocities in East Timor has been made clear by last week's decision by the Attorney General not to prosecute the alleged killers of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes who died in September 1999, says TAPOL in a letter today to British Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien.

TAPOL says the decision endorses Indonesian military impunity and urges the British Government to condemn it and work with its Dutch and European Union partners to ensure that justice is done.

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 the Indonesian military to trial. The Dutch investigation concluded that Mr Thoenes was shot in the back by members of Battalion 745 after he had fallen off a motorbike in Dili, the capital of East Timor. He was reporting for the Financial Times at the time.

The Attorney General's claim that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute and that a key witness is unreliable is not credible. 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, says TAPOL. The Dutch Government has stated that there is no reason for the case to be closed.

TAPOL suggests that Indonesia's reluctance to proceed with the 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.

The Sander Thoenes case was referred to in the Chairperson's Statement on East Timor made at this year's session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. This latest development demonstrates that Indonesia does not regard itself bound by the Chairperson's Statement and cannot be trusted to fulfil its commitment in the Statement to bring to justice those responsible for other rights violations, says TAPOL.

TAPOL has asked the Minister to explain why Britain is prepared to support weakened Chairperson's Statements at the Commission if they are rendered worthless by Indonesia's refusal to honour its commitments. It calls for stronger measures to be taken.

ENDS

The full text of TAPOL's letter to Mike O'Brien is available at http://tapol.gn.apc.org/let020620.htm

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