No human rights violations in East Timor, says General Wiranto
Dili (AsiaNews) – The Indonesian army was not responsible for human rights violations during clashes that occurred in East Timor in the period leading up and following the 1999 referendum on independence, said today retired Indonesian General Wiranto during a session of the Indonesian-East Timor Truth and Friendship Commission in Jakarta. The two countries set up the commission to shed light on the bloody events eight years ago that caused the death of 1,500 people and the flight of another 250,000.
In his version of events, the former defence minister and army commander said that the violence was the result of local groups lining up on opposite sides of the independence question.
“This is clear by the fact that today there are still hostile factions in East Timor,” the former general said.
He told the members of the commission that the United Nations had backed his and then Indonesian President Habibie’s decision to impose martial law in the island in order to stop the violence that followed the announcement of the results of the referendum. As far as he is concerned, the army acted within the law.
However, the United Nations and human rights groups have accused Wiranto and other Indonesian military personnel of killing, deporting and persecuting pro-independence East Timorese during the 24 years of Indonesian occupation and the period that followed the referendum.
The Catholic Church has also blamed the Indonesian army for attacking Christians but also Church property.
Speaking before the commission in late April, Mgr Carlos Belo, bishop of Dili from 1996 to 2002, said that pro-Jakarta militias and army soldiers were involved in torturing civilians.
He said that he saw with his own eyes Indonesian soldiers destroy the bishop’s residence “where thousands of people had found refuge.”
A 2005 report by an independent commission revealed that 183,000 people have died during Indonesia’s occupation, 70 per cent killed by Jakarta’s security forces or Indonesian-trained Timorese militias.
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