Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Charges that Indonesian troops committed gross rights violation during East Timor's 1999 vote for independence were "senseless and crazy", the country's military chief at the time told a truth commission on Saturday.
Retired general Wiranto's remarks were made before the Commission of Truth and Friendship, set up by Indonesia and East Timor to delve into what happened during the independence vote in August 1999.
Wiranto was armed forces commander and defence minister at the time of the vote. Rights groups say he was at least morally responsible for the mayhem and should face justice. Wiranto has always denied this, saying he did his best to stop the violence.
"It is clear that there was no policy to attack civilians, there were no systematic plans, no genocide or crimes against humanity. Neither was there an act of omission," Wiranto said.
He said the violence before and after the vote was due to years of hostility between pro-Indonesian groups and independence supporters, as well as conflicts dating back to the Portuguese colonial era.
The United Nations estimates that about 1,000 East Timorese died during the post-vote mayhem, which was blamed largely on pro-Jakarta militias backed by elements of the Indonesian army. Indonesian officials say only about 100 people were killed.
Wiranto said Jakarta had made a great sacrifice to allow East Timor to vote on whether to break away from Indonesia and security forces were not well prepared to cope.
"It was extremely difficult for Indonesian security forces to guarantee a peaceful and successful referendum with only three months of preparation," said Wiranto, dressed in a dark suit.
"But what have we received? No praise, no appreciation or gratitude, but accusations that Indonesia committed crimes. This is senseless and crazy," he said.
'No evil agenda'
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 at the end of Portuguese rule and annexed the territory later that year, maintaining a heavy and sometimes harsh military presence.
Wiranto denied that the military had funded, trained and armed pro-Jakarta militia groups who went on a deadly rampage.
"If we had an evil agenda to scuttle the referendum, there would not have been a referendum and there would not have been an independent East Timor," Wiranto said.
East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to split from Indonesian rule but some pro-Jakarta voters and officials argued that the referendum had been rigged by the United Nations, although independent observers concluded the ballot was largely fair.
Wiranto, who stood unsuccessfully in Indonesia's 2004 presidential poll and is set to run again in 2009, said he tried to reconcile conflicting camps by initiating a peace pact between pro-Indonesian groups and independence supporters in May 1999.
At the hearing he screened a video showing him making an impassioned plea for peace to Timorese groups at the signing of the peace pact, attended by the country's two bishops.
He also denied that troops forcibly moved hundreds of thousands of East Timorese to Indonesia's West Timor and engaged in a scorched earth campaign. "For many people who supported Indonesia, they did not see a future after independence. They had to leave and they burned their own houses because they did not want them to fall into the hands of those whom they considered their enemies," he said.
The truth commission has no power to punish those responsible or recommend prosecution. Militia leader Eurico Guterres, the only person jailed in Indonesia for the violence, is serving a 10-year sentence.