Megawati Sukarnoputri was right. In a pre-independence day address, the Indonesian president rejected intervening in a series of court decisions that have resulted in the acquittal of four security officials in trials related to violence in East Timor in 1999, as well as that of a military officer charged over an incident in 1984 in Indonesia that resulted in 23 deaths.
Miss Megawati correctly noted that politicians shouldn't interfere with the judiciary. While the West long has urged judicial independence in the developing world, it needs to accept it when courts there don't rule the way it might wish. Still, it must be acknowledged that the decisions leave unfinished business; but here Miss Megawati offers a prudent option.
After the East Timor decisions from an appeals court emerged, the New York-based Human Rights Watch called for the United Nations to create an international tribunal. Miss Megawati, instead, backed establishing a truth-and-reconciliation commission, such as did post-apartheid South Africa. There are two reasons why the tribunal should be opposed and why Miss Megawati's offer makes sense.
The first relates to the fact that, though we admit that criticisms of the recent acquittals have resonance, Indonesia ultimately must take responsibility for the actions of its own people. After all, unlike Rwanda, for example, Indonesia has a judicial system that can be roused to function, and, importantly, is reforming itself. Even if some found the acquittals disappointing, interfering there would be counterproductive to establishing norms of independence and would upset ongoing reforms elsewhere in the legal system. And just as bad would be for Indonesia to roll over for the UN, implicitly admitting that it sees no hope for its own courts.
In the absence of legal closure over the East Timor violence, the truth commission Miss Megawati backs would allow Indonesians an avenue to confront that episode and decide what to do. It is another way for Indonesians to take responsibility.
The second reason to oppose a UN tribunal and support a truth commission is, quite simply, because East Timor thinks so. In an interview with the Reuters news agency on August 9, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said: "The government of East Timor does not contemplate lobbying for an international tribunal to try the crimes of 1999 because we know this would undermine the existing relations" between Dili and Jakarta. Instead, Mr. Ramos supports the idea of a truth and reconciliation commission of some form. When there is such a degree of agreement between the two directly involved parties to move on, it doesn't reflect well on the international community to try to stand in the way.