Jakarta – The UN authority in East Timor said on Friday it was "incredulous" at reported remarks by former Indonesian military chief Wiranto that bloodshed there in 1999 was allegedly sparked by an unfair independence ballot.
Barbara Reis, spokeswoman for the UN administration in East Timor, urged Wiranto to show more regret at the actions of pro-Jakarta militias who, with backing from elements in the Indonesian military, went on a killing spree after the territory voted to break from Indonesian rule.
On Thursday, Wiranto pointed the finger at the UN for the rampages after giving testimony to a Jakarta court trying suspects over the carnage. The UN organised the August 1999 ballot.
"If the reports of what Wiranto said are in fact true, it's simply incredulous that a man who was the overall commander of security in East Timor at that time is willing to blame the ballot for the total and systematic destruction of East Timor and ignore his own failings of leadership," Reis said.
"I would expect more humility and regret rather than reaching for cheap and patently false excuses," she told Reuters by telephone from the East Timor capital Dili.
Some Indonesian officials have long muttered about UN bias during the August 1999 vote, although then-Foreign Minister Ali Alatas soon after pronounced the ballot generally fair. The UN has insisted the vote was fair. It has also estimated more than 1,000 people were killed before and after the ballot.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Wiranto said: "There is a burning question, why did chaos break out? Sadly there was one trigger which we did not count on – unfairness in implementation of the ballot." Wiranto did not name the United Nations directly.
He was military chief when the machete-wielding militias rampaged after the vote result was announced. The run-up was also marred by violence, most blamed on the militias.
Indonesia opened its first trials into the Timor violence at the special human rights court on March 14, but Wiranto's absence from a list of 18 suspects was slammed by rights groups and added to scepticism that Jakarta will bring those responsible for the bloodshed to book.
In early 2000, an Indonesian commission of inquiry linked Wiranto to the East Timor chaos and included him in a list of 33 names submitted to the attorney-general for investigation. Wiranto has denied any wrongdoing and on Thursday praised those under his command at the time in East Timor.