Comment/E Timor: Lies Exposed But the Truth is Still Elusive Fri, 4 Feb 2000 09:33:45 -0500 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Joyo@aol.com Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday, February 2, 2000 Lies exposed but the truth is still elusive COMMENT by LINDSAY MURDOCH in Jakarta The lies have finally been exposed to the Indonesian public. The findings of a government commission of inquiry puncture the official line that last September's militia violence in Timor was spontaneous and uncontrollable. According to the report, the military and its militia surrogates in East Timor engaged in a well-planned campaign of mass killing, torture, forced deportation, rape and sexual slavery. The military had actively tried to cover up its "crimes against humanity". The report found that General Wiranto, now a senior minister under President Abdurrahman Wahid, "fully acknowledged and realised" the extent of the violence and destruction but failed to take action. As the then armed forces commander, the report said, he "should be the one to take the responsibility". It also dismissed denials that there was any link between the military and the militia groups. The militias were "directly and indirectly being armed, trained, supported, and funded by the civilian apparatus, military and police," it said. The authors, a small group of human rights investigators attached to Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, ignored threatening telephone calls and letters to reveal the truth about the State-sponsored terror in East Timor. The 2,000-page report has been handed to the Attorney-General, Mr Marzuki Darusman, a respected human rights advocate. The task he faces in bringing some of the country's most powerful people to justice appears daunting, if not impossible. Since their withdrawal from East Timor, most of the alleged masterminds of the bloodshed have been promoted, and are being defended by highly paid lawyers. The military's first public reaction to the report appeared restrained. The military's spokesman, Air Vice-Marshall Graito Usodo, said: "We support and respect the credibility of the [commission] which serves as our wall to prevent the international community's intervention in our domestic human rights problems". So far, the threat of an international tribunal has forced the military to at least be seen to be co-operating with the investigations. But nobody should be fooled into thinking they will not do everything possible to frustrate Mr Darusman's prosecutions to protect its own. And even President Abdurrahman Wahid is already talking of a pardon for Wiranto if he is found guilty. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytpac-02.04.00-09:33:42-6763