Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – Six years after the Indonesian army and allied gangs waged a scorched-earth campaign in East Timor, a UN-appointed panel concluded that Jakarta's prosecution of suspects was seriously flawed.
In a 149-page report to the Security Council obtained by Reuters, the panel said Indonesian forces and local militia leaders should be tried before an international tribunal if Jakarta does not agree to conduct prosecutions within six months under international supervision.
Alternatively, the panel of three legal experts said the 15-member Council should consider referring cases to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"The commission finds that prosecutions before the Ad Hoc Court were manifestly deficient," the report said, referring to the special tribunal Jakarta set up for crimes against humanity in East Timor, which broke away from Indonesia in 1999.
"There was little commitment to an effective prosecution process, which was marred by numerous lacunae in the conduct of investigations, protection of witnesses and victims, presentation of relevant evidence, lack of professionalism and ethics and rigorous pursuit of truth and accountability of those responsible," the panel reported.
Sham process The New York-based Human Rights Watch praised the report and said the Security Council had an obligation to ensure justice. "Indonesia's trials for crimes in East Timor speak for themselves: the process was a sham," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director. "The UN experts' report shows the Security Council that it's time to put its weight behind a credible justice process."
The panel – P.N. Bhagwati of India, Yozo Yokoto of Japan and Shaista Shameem of Fiji-was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in February and filed a report on May 26. The findings reached Security Council members this week and have not been reviewed yet.
Few believe the council will create a new tribunal. About 1,500 civilians were killed, others were raped and tortured and 250,000 were made homeless when the Indonesian army and proxy militia razed a good part of East Timor.
Most of the violence occurred after an August 1999 UN-organized independence referendum for the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia ruled for 24 years. Australian troops halted the rampage and a UN administration and peacekeepers followed. The territory became independent in May 2002.
One conviction
A Serious Crimes Unit and special panels established by the United Nations in East Timor issued indictments against 391 people. Among them were the former Indonesian defense minister, Wiranto, six high-ranking army commanders and the former governor of East Timor.
Indonesia then established an "Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for Timor-Leste in Jakarta. The Indonesian attorney general indicted 18 military and police personnel, two government officials and a militia leader but no high-level suspects. Of the 18 who were tried, only the gang leader was convicted.
These prosecutions, the commission concluded, were flawed, "due to a lack of commitment on the part of the prosecution" as well as a lack of expertise, experience and training.
East Timor and Indonesia have established a Commission of Truth and Friendship, which has not yet begun work. The panel praised the concept but said it was not a substitute for a credible judicial process.