The Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), a regional solidarity organization that campaigns on issues affecting the peoples of the region, expresses its gravest concern over the continued presence of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian as commander of the Jayapura sub-regional military command (Korem 172) in West Papua. Siagian's presence is not only a threat to legitimate human rights defenders and political activists in West Papua but it is also indicative of the Indonesian government's insincerity in its avowed commitment to justice and the long overdue military reforms.

"It is beyond comprehension that a government who promised military reforms would appoint an officer indicted twice of crimes against humanity to command a post in Jayapura," Gus Miclat, the regional coordinator of APSOC, said.

The UN-backed Special Panel for Serious Crimes of Dili, the capital of Timor Leste, indicted Siagian on 3 February 2003 ('the Cailaco indictment) and on 10 July 2003 ('the Maliana indictment'). He is charged for the following crimes against humanity: torture, murder, persecution, and deportation or forcible transfer of a civilian population. The creation of the Bobonaro militia system that became one of the most repressive in the whole of East Timor was also attributed to him.

Observers fear that the international community may see a replay of mass slaughter in Papua with the assignment of Siagian in the area. As reported, Siagian last May allegedly threatened to "destroy" anyone who "betrays"

Indonesia in response to the Papuan activists who demanded a review of their history. The statement is reminiscent of Col. Siagian's statement in Maliana as military commander of the Bobonaro district of East Timor. As commander of the Bobonaro District Military Command (Kodim 1636), Maliana in pre-independence East Timor, Col. Siagian was quoted to have threatened to kill East Timorese independence supporters, which appeared to have directly led to a number of deaths among Timorese civilians.

To date, Siagian is just one of the military officers accused of serious crimes in Timor Leste who continue to serve in important and sensitive positions in the Indonesian military. In 2003, Timbul Silaen was appointed chief of police in Papua despite being indicted on charges arising from his occupation of the same position in East Timor in 1999. For his part, Major-General Adam Damiri, former military commander of the East Timor region, was involved in military operations in Aceh. Last April, Major General Noer Muis, the former military commander in Timor Leste, co-directed the controversial joint military training with the United States.

Reacting to the call by various civil society organizations for Indonesia to extradite Siagian to Timor Leste, the spokesperson for the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Dino Kusnadi, told Australian media that the "indictment has no jurisdiction over Indonesia." If this is how the Indonesian government appreciates the situation, it is well to remind them that the charges against Siagian and others are under the jurisdiction of the UN-backed Special Panel for Serious Crimes and, therefore, classified as crimes of universal jurisdiction by which no amount of alibi can neither disprove or hide the crime.

It is disheartening to know that Indonesia has displayed its lack of respect for the rule of law and has instead the tendency to perpetuate the cycle of impunity. The litmus test of the Indonesian government's commitment to justice and military reforms is whether it has the political will to recall the highly controversial Siagian from Jayapura and extradite him to Timor Leste to face trial.

"The Indonesian government must move with dispatch and act on the demands of the Papuans and the international community to recall the highly-controversial Col. Siagian from Jayapura and extradite him to Timor Leste to face trial," APSOC said, adding that "failure to do so will only expose its insincerity in keeping its promises of military reforms and its avowed commitment to justice."

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