Jakarta – The country's long-delayed human rights trial commences on Thursday amid public skepticism that justice will be done to those responsible for gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

One police general and a senior official are to stand trial on Thursday for their role in a massacre at a church in Suai where at least 26 people were killed, including three Catholic priests, in September 1999. They are all charged with crimes against humanity, including genocide, which carries a maximum penalty of death.

The Suai church massacre is the first of a series of trials for 18 suspects accused of gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999. The 18 suspects include three Army generals and one police general. Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who was the chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI) when the bloodshed occurred, is not included on the list.

The government had initially planned to commence the rights trial in September 2001, but due to technical reasons it was pushed back to November. Without a reason given, the date was pushed back again to December and then January 15, 2002, before it was finally moved to March 14, 2002.

A corrupt judicial system, ill-equipped state prosecutors and judges as well as a severe lack of understanding of human rights among Indonesians have raised doubts that justice will prevail in the country's first ever human rights trial.

"There are too many loopholes that could prevent the effectiveness of the trial, such as the skill of the judges, the law, as well as the independency of judges from elements of power," Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) chairman Hendardi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"It is better to be not too optimistic with the upcoming human rights tribunal, considering its many shortcomings," the secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Asmara Nababan said, pointing out the weaknesses of Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Trials, the recruitment process of both judges and prosecutors as well as their competency in human rights issues.

Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Trials, which serves as the legal basis for the proceedings, excludes the possibility of using any other legal means then the country's Criminal Code, which has fundamental weaknesses when dealing with gross human rights violations – that is, it lacks, among other things, international standards on admissible evidence, testimonies and medical evidence.

In addition, the judges and the state prosecutors for the ad hoc trials were selected quietly, depriving the public the chance to scrutinize their track record and affiliations.

None of the 17 ad hoc judges are known to be involved in human rights issues. As all of them are university lecturers, they are not known for their experience in litigation and due legal process. The chances are they will view human rights issues purely as an academic exercise.

At least one of the ad hoc judges has in the past provided legal advice to generals implicated in human rights violations in East Timor, while another is a retired army lieutenant colonel. But even among the 12 career judges, most of them, if not all, have no experience in dealing with human rights issues.

On the prosecution side, two of the 24 ad hoc state prosecutors appointed by the Attorney General's Office are active military officers. Bearing these factors in mind, the outcome of the ad hoc trials is predictable.

The stakes are very high for the country. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' special rapporteur Leandro Despouy told President Megawati Soekarnoputri last January that the international community would be observing the proceedings of the human rights tribunal closely. He also said that his office would send international observers to monitor the proceedings and hinted that the cases would be taken to international courts if the entire process did not meet international standards.

Indonesia was unable to stop the post-ballot violence in East Timor, which killed dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of innocent East Timorese, destroyed up to 80 percent of the infrastructure in the former Portuguese colony and drove over 200,000 East Timorese into refugee camps in West Timor. At least 120,000 East Timorese are still living in makeshift refugee camps in West Timor.

An investigation conducted by a government-sanctioned team concluded in 1999 that TNI was directly or indirectly involved in extra-judicial executions in East Timor after the August 30 self-determination ballot.

"If there is a strong enough commitment from the government and the House of Representatives to uphold human rights, this (the rights trial) could be a good lesson for the country and a basic step in strengthening Law No. 26/2000," Nababan said.

Violent incidents to be brought to court:

• Attack on pro-independence leader Manuel Carrascalao's house in Dili, which killed at least 12 people, on April 17, 1999
• A massacre of refugees in a church in Liquica in April 1999
• Attack on the home of Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo on September 6, 1999
• A massacre in a church in Suai where 26 people died on September 6, 1999.
• The killing of a group of nuns and civilians in Los Palos on Sept. 25. The killing of nine people, including an Indonesian journalist.