Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – A Melbourne-educated Indonesian lawyer has been appointed to judge crimes committed in East Timor in 1999 despite having represented former armed forces chief General Wiranto and having helped prepare the prosecutions.
Rudi Rizki told The Age his academic and legal background meant he would serve impartially and independently on the long-delayed special court that some human rights activists have criticised even before it has sat.
The United Nations Human Rights Commission this week stepped up pressure on the government in Jakarta to ensure the court meets international standards when judging 18 suspects, including three Indonesian generals and former Jakarta-appointed governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares.
Commission president Leandro Despouy said the international observers would closely monitor the court and "people must be judged by national law, but this must also conform to international law".
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on Indonesia to fulfil an earlier promise to hand over suspects and evidence to UN officials in East Timor so they can pursue separate trials of those accused of atrocities.
The United States has indicated it will link the conduct of the prosecutions over East Timor atrocities to the resumption of military aid sales to Indonesia. The outcome of the trials could also affect future aid pledges from other countries.
Mr Rizki said he believed that intense public scrutiny, particularly from overseas, and the integrity and professionalism of the judges would ensure that Indonesian military officers and other accused would be diligently prosecuted.
"This court must be able to reach the most responsible persons, not only the low ranks or field executors," said Mr Rizki, one of 18 non-career judges approved by President Megawati Sukarnoputri to the court, scheduled to sit within days.
Mr Rizki said he played a passive role in a legal team that represented General Wiranto after a National Human Rights Commission inquiry accused him of human rights crimes in East Timor in 1999.
Mr Rizki also worked in a team appointed by Indonesia's Attorney-General to study the commission's inquiry that two years ago accused 116 people of being involved in crimes during Indonesia's bloody retribution over East Timor's vote for independence.
Human rights activists have criticised the Attorney-General's office for failing to include General Wiranto and other prominent soldiers and militiamen among those who will face prosecution in the court's first sittings.
General Wiranto led Indonesian forces when military-backed militia unleashed an orgy of killings and destruction after a majority of East Timorese voted in a UN referendum to break away from Indonesia.
Now retired, General Wiranto has said he fears the special court will be biased and manipulated.