Lindsay Murdoch – Indonesia has dropped prosecutions against six people who have been under investigation for more than 12 months over crimes against humanity in East Timor, including the notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres.
The attorney-general's office confirmed yesterday that a presidential decree issued last week restricted it to prosecuting only 12 of 18 cases it had prepared for a special court to be set up in Jakarta. The decree signed by President Abdurrahman Wahid stipulates the court can hear only cases of crimes committed after the August 30, 1999, ballot to decide East Timor's future.
Most of the atrocities under investigation had been committed before the ballot.
The Age reported on Tuesday that the Indonesian military pressured Mr Wahid to approve a ballot cut-off date so that its soldiers and officers could not be put on trial for crimes committed during Indonesia's brutal 25-year occupation of East Timor.
Mr Mulyohardjo, a spokesman for the Attorney-General, yesterday backed away from an earlier denial that the decree would result in cases under investigation being dropped.
"Yes, because of what is stipulated in the presidential decree, we're going to set aside some of the cases, meaning they will not be brought before the court," he said. Mr Mulyohardjo said he could not say which cases would be set aside, but only 12 would proceed.
One long-planned prosecution, of Eurico Guterres, relates to the massacre of 12 people at the home of pro-independence leader Manuel Carrascalao in April, 1999, five months before the ballot. Television footage showed Guterres ordering his men to attack and "kill if necessary" members of the Carrascalao family.
United Nations officials and human rights activists have described a six-month jail sentence imposed on Guterres by an Indonesian court on Monday as a "slap on the wrist". The charge related to inciting violence in Indonesian West Timor. Guterres, 26, is expected to be released in a couple of weeks after time served under house arrest is taken into account.
The cut-off date will also mean that those responsible for the May, 1999, massacre of up to 60 people at a church in the town of Liquica will go unpunished.
Even before Mr Wahid signed the decree, an original list of 22 suspects named by the Attorney-General's office sparked outrage from human rights activists.
The list excluded high-ranking Indonesian officers identified by Indonesian and UN investigations as being responsible for the violence, including former armed forces commander General Wiranto, Major-General Zacky Anwar Makarim and Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned last year that the UN would consider setting up an international tribunal to hear East Timor cases if Indonesia did not punish those responsible for an estimated 1200 deaths and the destruction of most buildings in East Timor.
Mark Dodd reports from Dili that UN and East Timorese human rights officials reacted with dismay to the restricted terms of the hearings. Analysts there said the narrow terms of reference and restricted jurisdiction of the Indonesian court would be likely to increase pressure for an international tribunal on East Timor war crimes.
The head of the UN transitional administration in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, expressed disappointment at the decision and said he would seek clarification from the office of the Indonesian Attorney-General.