Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be trying to use the on-going ad hoc human rights trial to wash its hands of gross human rights violations in East Timor, blaming the United Nations and civilian authorities for the bloody terror campaign in the territory in 1999.
Taking the witness seat on Thursday, former Udayana military commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and former Wiradharma military sub-district commander Brig. M. Noer Muis accused the United Nations Mission in East Timor (Unamet) of provoking a massive rampage in the former Indonesian province following the 1999 ballot.
Former TNI chief Gen. (retired) Wiranto, who testified before the same court last week, also blamed the UN for killings. Wiranto repeated his allegations during the launching of his book, "Goodbye East Timor, An Effort to Tell the Truth, Wiranto's Testament", (Selamat Jalan Timor Timur, Pergulatan Menguak Kebenaran, Penuturan Apa Adanya Seorang Wiranto), saying that "there are a few people who are proud to see Indonesia as the second country in the world, after Yugoslavia, where a rights' tribunal is being held to try military and police personnel, ignoring their dedication to their country."
Meanwhile, Adam Damiri and Noer Muis said that Unamet's decision to speed up the announcement of the vote result from September 7 to September 4 sparked anger among pro-integration East Timorese, who felt they were cheated.
The Unamet-declared victory for the pro-independence group on September 4, 1999, came after some 344,508 of the 438,890 East Timorese elected for independence. At the time, the total East Timorese population was about 441,227 people.
Both Adam and Muis testified as witnesses during a six-hour cross-examination in the court, where Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen, former East Timor police chief, is on trial on charges of committing gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.
Silaen has been charged under Article 9 of Law No. 26/2000 on Rights Tribunals with the killing of civilians in separate locations in East Timor, including the Liquisa incident on April 6, 1999, and attacks by pro-Jakarta militias on the residences of pro-independence leaders, Manuel Viegas Carrascalao and Leandro Isaac, on April 17, 1999.
Silaen is also charged with being responsible for gross human rights violations perpetrated during separate attacks on September 6 by militias, along with military and police personnel. The attacks were on the St. Ave Maria Church in Suai, where at least 27 people died, and on the residence of Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo in Dili.
"Rather than giving a positive response to the report by the pro-Jakarta group over the cheating by Unamet, they (Unamet) decided to move forward the announcement of the results from September 7 to September 4.
"Unamet treated the pro-Jakarta East Timorese unfairly by recruiting only pro-independence people as its local staffers. This, of course, affected the ballot process," Adam, the incumbent operational assistant to the Indonesian Military's (TNI) chief of general affairs, told the court.
When Presiding Judge Andi Samsan Nganro asked Adam who was the Unamet official that decided to speed up the announcement of the ballot results, Adam said: "Ian Martin ... he was the Unamet chairman."
Meanwhile, Muis defended Silaen, saying that the defendant "had done everything he could to stop the violence, including saving Belo's life during the September 6 attack on his residence by flying him in a police helicopter to Bacau from Dili, prior to his evacuation to Darwin, Australia, the next day."
Muis was officially assigned as the commander of the now defunct Wiradharma military subdistrict from Aug. 13, 1999 to March, 30, 1999 when TNI Headquarters decided to dissolve it.
According to Muis, the pro-Jakarta group launched an attack to Belo's residence as the result of information they had received that several ballot boxes were being stored in his house. This, of course, was against the rules, Muis told the court.
Responding to Judge Andi's demand for supporting documents to prove Unamet's cheating, Muis said that the votes of at least 142,578 East Timorese were not counted due to the loss of about 89 ballot boxes. Unamet staffers had also intimidated East Timorese people deemed to be pro-Jakarta. "Maybe that number was not enough to influence the result ... but still, Unamet ignored the pro-Jakarta group," Muis said.
The trial adjourned until April 18 to hear other witnesses. Earlier in the day, the same court hearing the case against former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares decided to adjourn the trial until April 17 and April 18 as the witnesses had failed to appear before the court.