The New York Times

Monday, February 1, 2000

Jakarta's Military Chiefs Accused of Crimes

By SETH MYDANS

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 31 -- An Indonesian human rights panel today accused top military officials, including the former armed forces commander, of involvement in "crimes against humanity" in East Timor and handed the case to the attorney general for formal investigation.

The accusation against the once untouchable military leadership intensified a high-stakes campaign under President Abdurrahman Wahid to reduce the political power of the armed forces and to make it answerable for its abuses.

"Facts show the civilian and military apparatus, including the police, cooperated with the militias to create an atmosphere that supported crimes against humanity," said Djoko Sugianto, one of the members of the government panel investigating the violence that took place in East Timor in the period before and after a referendum on independence from Indonesia.

"These were in the form of mass killings, torture, kidnapping, violence against women -- including rape and sexual slavery -- forced evacuations and total destruction of property.

The panel's chairman, Albert Hasibuan, said that Gen. Wiranto, the former armed forces chief, is culpable because he was in that position during the violence in East Timor last year. "He knew what happened, but did not take effective measures to handle or prevent the violence," Mr. Hasibuan said.

The Indonesian military has been condemned around the world for its role in the violence that followed a referendum on Aug. 30 in which the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence.

The military invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and it has been widely accused of human rights abuses ever since as it has fought an endless war to subdue an armed independence movement.

When former President B. J. Habibie, ignoring warnings of potential violence, announced early last year that he would allow a referendum, the military set about to undermine it by forming the militias.

The general made no public comment about the report today. On Sunday he said, "We should just await the process of investigation." He has claimed in the past that he lost control of his men on the ground because of their emotional commitment to East Timor.

Analysts here disagree over whether he was culpable "by omission," as one panel member put it, or whether he was actively involved in creating, funding and commanding the militias that carried out most of the violence and destruction.

The general has had an uneasy relationship with President Wahid, who took office in November and then removed the general as armed forces commander but gave him the influential cabinet position of coordinating minister for security affairs.

The president's efforts to curb military power have caused rising discontent among officers. In recent weeks, rumors that he would remove General Wiranto have mingled with rumors that the military might strike back with some sort of coup.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, where he is attending an economic conference, Mr. Wahid said today that he would carry out his promise to dismiss the general if he was cited in the report, The Associated Press reported.

"He should resign at once," Mr. Wahid said.

"As soon as I get back home I will call him and I will ask for his resignation because he is implicated by this report."

Speaking at a joint news conference here with human rights investigators, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said today that state prosecutors would investigate the allegations. But he did not say when any charges might be brought.

The United Nations also issued a report on East Timor today calling for an international tribunal to try military and militia leaders for the East Timor violence.