Andrew McNaughtan – The truth is out – officially. A year ago, when the Indonesian military's covert campaign to hold East Timor through coercion was taking shape, it was almost unimaginable that an Indonesian inquiry would ever have the power and the will to publish its damning report about what happened in East Timor.
Yet it has, despite a year of denials and obfuscation from the Indonesian authorities, military and other parties, including the Australian Government. In the circumstances, the forthrightness and courage of the Indonesian commission is as commendable as President Abdurrahman Wahid's willingness to confront the issue.
It is also encouraging that the UN commission of inquiry also held the military as responsible – even though it is hard to imagine that it could have reached any other conclusion. But this also raises a number of questions, such as who will be brought to trial and by whom should they be tried?
President Wahid says that he sees the issue as involving individual culprits within the TNI rather than an institutional TNI responsibility. Yet what occurred was clearly State sponsored (the TNI, under dwifungsi, has a formal role in determining State policy) and was not the work of individuals or unruly rogue elements.
The East Timorese people were not adequately protected by the international community and the UN. In their moment of need, they were abandoned as one UN post after another was withdrawn and the people were left in the clutches of their murderous enemies. In September, as had been widely predicted, the Indonesian military and their militias sacked East Timor, looting and burning towns and villages across the country. Hundreds and probably thousands were murdered at this time. We may never have reliable numbers because the TNI cleaned up crime scenes and disposed of much of the evidence.
If this was the work of individuals or rogues, where is the evidence that any sections or individuals within the TNI opposed what happened? Already President Wahid may be signalling a convenient political accommodation with the TNI. And then we hear from President Wahid that General Wiranto should be tried but pardoned if found guilty.
The Indonesian legal system has not previously been known to be either independent or effective and any proposed trial would occur against the background of a high-stakes political game to determine Indonesia's future. In these circumstances there is a risk that the whole matter will become a political football within the context of Indonesian domestic politics and justice will not be served.
The crimes committed in East Timor are an international issue, whether the world likes it or not. The issue is really the responsibility of the UN and the international community. After all, the fact that Indonesia's forced military annexation was contrary to the UN Charter, and therefore denying Indonesia sovereignty, was the essential issue all along.
The ballot took place as a result of an agreement between Portugal and Indonesia under the auspices of the UN. The UNAMET mission was an international mission to allow belatedly the East Timorese people their self-determination. The international nature of the issue was confirmed by the circumstances of the vote for independence.
The UN and the international community failed to put in place adequate safeguards and then abandoned the East Timorese to their living hell when things got rough. They now have a major obligation to see that justice is done.
If the international community and in particular the UN and UN Security Council do not provide strong support for effective trials they will be signalling that they are impotent to act or are not interested in their obligations.
It would signal that they are not concerned about crimes against humanity committed under their noses and directed against people whom they should have protected. If they are unwilling to back strong action they ultimately undermine the credibility of international justice.
Of course, it is said that international, particularly Western, pressure will only give the TNI a nationalist xenophobic card to play in their struggle to maintain influence within Indonesia and avoid prosecution. It is said that this approach could strengthen the TNI and ultimately be detrimental to peace and democracy throughout the archipelago. A resurgence of the TNI would be contrary to the interests of East Timor. It is also said that an international war crimes tribunal would be blocked by China and Russia's veto on the UN Security Council.
Perhaps in the broader context it is best to defer to the admirable determination being shown by President Wahid and the progressive democratic forces who intend to transform Indonesia. It would be a clear sign of fundamental change and progress within Indonesia if President Wahid's Government could successfully bring to trial and then punish members of its own military – men who have until now enjoyed almost complete impunity.
It must be remembered, however, that the outcome must satisfy international standards and especially give East Timorese victims a sense that justice has been done. The world should be prepared to give Indonesia's fledgling democracy full backing and support to deal with this. But if the political pressures and realities in Indonesia are such that the outcome is not internationally credible, the international community must be ready and willing to step in.
Australia should assist a democratic transition in Indonesia (and break with its tradition of supporting the Indonesian armed forces) by making available all relevant intelligence from signals intercepts and other sources to any legitimate court proceedings, whether Indonesian-based or international.
It would certainly be a significant and historic outcome – and one tinged with irony – if an Indonesian inquiry into the crimes of the TNI in East Timor ultimately became a catalyst for the development of a more free, just and democratic Indonesia.
[Dr Andrew McNaughtan is convener of the Australia East Timor Association in NSW and spokesperson for the East Timor International Support Centre (ETISC) in Darwin.]