Indonesia was expected to accept the findings of a truth inquiry yesterday that blames the government for crimes against humanity during East Timor’s independence vote in 1999.
But Indonesian lawmakers have rejected calls for those responsible for the mayhem, which left some 1,400 people dead and thousands displaced, to be hauled before the International Criminal Court.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos-Horta, were expected to accept the long-awaited Commission of Truth and Friendship report on the island of Bali.
The report, a leaked copy of which was obtained by AFP, says the Indonesian army, police and government encouraged and even participated in crimes including murder, forced displacement, illegal detention and rape.
“Viewed as a whole these attacks constituted an organized campaign of violence,” it said, adding that Indonesia bears “institutional responsibility.”
“Individuals from the [pro-Indonesia] militia, police, local civilian administration and TNI [military] participated in various phases of this campaign of violence and political repression conducted against civilians,” it said.
An estimated 1,400 people were killed when local militias backed by the Indonesian military rampaged through East Timor as the latter voted to break away from Indonesia, which invaded in 1975.
If confirmed and accepted, the joint-commission’s findings will be the first time Indonesia has acknowledged its responsibility for gross human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in its former province.
So far, no Indonesian military commander or government official has ever been successfully prosecuted over the violence, which Jakarta has blamed entirely on the local militias.
“We reject any plan to bring the case to international justice,” Member of Parliament Sutradara Ginting of the defense and foreign affairs committee, told ElShinta radio yesterday. “The commission’s goal is not to find who’s right and wrong ... it’s for enhancing friendship.”
The only person ever jailed over the violence, militia leader Eurico Guterres, was cleared of involvement by Indonesia’s Supreme Court in April.
Former Indonesian armed forces chief Wiranto, indicted by UN prosecutors in 2003 for crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the violence, is tilting for a second run at Indonesia’s presidency in next year’s elections.
The commission, set up in 2005, does not name names and has no prosecution powers. It was boycotted by the UN, which has already pinned the violence on Indonesia.
“Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia’s invasion and occupation of East Timor must be identified and prosecuted,” a coalition of East Timor human rights groups said in a joint statement. “If Indonesia truly wants closure and full acceptance by the international community ... there is no alternative but an end to impunity through individual as well as institutional accountability.”
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