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EU response to Timor verdicts 'wholly inadequate', says TAPOL

Alternative international judicial process urgently required

22 August 2002

A European Union Declaration, issued yesterday, on the first verdicts of Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court for East Timor is today strongly criticised by TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, for failing to call for a credible response to the flawed proceedings.

The Declaration rightly expresses a number of concerns about the trials, but addresses the problem simply by urging the Indonesian authorities to ensure that future proceedings take place in conformity with the rule of law and international standards.

"The trials have demonstrated that there is no realistic prospect of Indonesia providing meaningful justice for East Timor. The EU's response is wholly inadequate and sadly misguided. More of the same flawed justice is not the answer," says TAPOL spokesperson, Paul Barber.

"Far from representing progress, the trials are a retrograde step for Indonesian justice. They have done immense harm to prospects of ending impunity and enforcing the rule of law in Indonesia. The EU's failure to demand an alternative process plays into Indonesia's hands and sends a message that the international community is not concerned to ensure accountability," says Barber.

He adds: "The verdicts are a devastating blow to the thousands of East Timorese victims who are desperate for justice to ease the pain of their suffering."

The ad hoc court last week acquitted six Indonesian army and police officers of crimes against humanity, including those charged in relation to the horrific Suai Church massacre on 6 September 1999. The court convicted the sole East Timorese defendant, the former Governor of East Timor Abilio Soares, and sentenced him to three years imprisonment, seven years less than the legal minimum of ten years.

The trials of 11 other suspects are continuing and are following a similarly flawed pattern. Whatever the outcomes, it is clear that justice will not be done. The many reasons for this include:

• The failure of prosecutors to present evidence of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population of East Timor, an essential element of crimes against humanity;
• The failure of prosecutors to present evidence of the role of the security forces in masterminding and directing the violence and in orchestrating the pro-Indonesia militias;
• The failure of prosecutors to charge suspects with direct involvement in serious crimes, charging them instead with crimes of omission associated with their failure to control subordinates;
• The wording of indictments and the presentation of evidence in a way which falsely portrays the events as part of a conflict between two violent East Timorese factions in which the security forces were essentially bystanders;
• The tendency of prosecutors to act as if they are representing the accused, for example in blaming the violence on false allegations of incompetence and bias by the UN;
• The failure of the prosecutors to present significant testimony of victims, witnesses, UN officials and observers, thereby depriving the court of a substantial amount of vital evidence;
• The inadequacy of the protection for witnesses and the intimidatory atmosphere of the courtroom and its environs;
• The absence of indictments of high-ranking officers, such as former armed forces commander, General Wiranto, intelligence chief, Zacky Anwar Makarim, former security minister, Feisal Tanjung, current intelligence chief AM Hendropriyono and current armed forces spokesperson, Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin;
• The restriction of the court's jurisdiction to crimes committed in April and September 1999 and to just three of East Timor's thirteen districts.

The case of Eurico Guterres exemplifies the flawed nature of the ongoing process. Guterres is charged with crimes against humanity in relation to an attack on the home of independence leader Manuel Carrascalao in Dili on 17 April 1999 in which 12 East Timorese were murdered. Despite being recorded on film inciting thousands of militiamen to 'capture and kill if you need' independence supporters', Guterres is not charged with ordering, inciting or participating in the attack. He is charged only with command responsibility for his failure to control his subordinate militias. There is no mention of Guterres's alleged responsibility for other violent attacks which took place on the same day and on other occasions. There is also no attempt to link the attack on the Carrascalao home with the wider context of violence. No facts are alleged which could give rise to a finding that the attack was part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population.

These problems are primarily the result of a lack of political will at the highest level in Jakarta to address the responsibility of the Indonesian security forces for gross violations of human rights in East Timor. The Attorney General and his team of prosecutors are playing a key role in allowing senior military personnel to evade justice. Their conduct of the trials epitomises the weaknesses of the Indonesian judicial system. Indonesian human rights groups and lawyers have consistently raised concerns about the competence of the prosecutors while the appointment of the current Attorney General, MA Rahman, in August last year was described as "a victory for the army lobby" by Hendardi, the Chairperson of the Indonesian Human Rights and Legal Aid Association.

TAPOL believes it is now time for the British Government and its EU partners to acknowledge that the current process will only serve to strengthen Indonesian military impunity and that a alternative international judicial process is urgently required. TAPOL calls upon them to re-consider the recommendation of the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor to establish an international criminal tribunal and to look at ways in which the serious crimes process in East Timor can be strengthened and prolonged so that all those indicted there, including those living in Indonesia, are brought to trial.

ENDS

The full text of the EU Declaration is available at http://ue.eu.int/pressData/en/cfsp/71922.pdf

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