UN and Justice

A few days go an East Timorese journalist asked the new of the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste Ameerah Haq about the UN's commitment to justice for serious crimes committed in Timor. Haq's response focuses on the UN helping to strengthening Timor-Leste's institutions, ignoring the more direct role the UN should play in supporting justice and accountability for serious crimes committed in Timor from 1975 on - such as pressure on Indonesia to turn over suspects or on Timor-Leste not return them (Mertenus Bere anyone) or the UN taking over the function of holding trials at an international tribunal.

The relevant excerpts from the transcript follow.

And thirdly, as the new leader of the UN Mission here in Timor-Leste what do you see, I mean what is your view on the UN’s commitment to bring the perpetrators of serious crimes to justice? There is a contradiction between the UN commitment and our government in this matter.

Ameerah Haq: 

...The recommendations of the TAM [Technical Assessment Mission - now in Dili] will go before the Security Council, which will result in another mandate for the Mission. And those recommendations as always will contain the work that the UN will continue to do on justice, on rule of law, and on human rights. And with respect to all of these there will continue to be the position that there must be no impunity for serious crimes against humanity. The work of all the institutions of justice here will continue to be part of the mandate of UNMIT as they have been doing.

And there is a great deal to be done on legislation, on policy, on capacity building; we are working very closely with the Prosecutor General’s office and all the other organs. But again there I think I go back also to what I said in my initial commentary: that I think you know there is a great role not only for the media but also non-governmental organizations to play with respect to advocacy on these issues.

the full UNMIT transcript is here.

As to "non-governmental organizations... advocacy on these issues" -- it will certainly continue.

Photo: Ameerah Haq (third from left) arrives in the Timorese capital, Dili, to take up her post. UN Photo/Martine Perret

New Human Rights Watch report on TNI's businesses

Human Rights Watch has published a new report on the Indonesian miltiary's (TNI) businesses. The report makes clear that efforts to reform the TNI - in this case its business empire - are severely compromised. In sum:

"Five years after the government of Indonesia committed to end the money-making ventures of the Indonesian armed forces, the promise of reform remains unfulfilled. New reform measures will perpetuate military businesses, rather than eliminate them."

The report, Unkept Promise: Failure to End Military Business Activity in Indonesia, chronicles the government stalling that has delayed implementation of the flawed 2004 law, which was supposed "to shut down or take over all TNI businesses by October 16, 2009" -- flawed because "it did not clearly cover illegal and informal businesses." (For example, "protection payments for security services, criminal enterprises, and corruption.")

The regulations implementing the law are so weak that they

do not require the military to give up its businesses, but merely provide for a partial restructuring of the entities—military cooperatives and foundations—through which it holds many of its investments. The government formed an inter-ministerial team on November 11 to oversee the limited transformation of TNI businesses. However, this team has no clear authority over the TNI or its businesses, lacks independence, is not required to report publicly on its work, and faces no deadline to complete its work. Instead, the government’s actions at best set in motion a new process to gradually assert greater government oversight, but not ownership, over TNI business activities. Nor do the new measures address accountability for human rights violations and economic crimes associated with military business activities.

 The report includes with a set of recommendations.

see also Human Rights Watch's earlier report Too High a Price: The Human Rights Cost of the Indonesian Military’s Economic Activities (June 2006).

Indonesian General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin Not Fit for Civilian Defense Post

Contact: John M. Miller, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), +1-718-596-7668;

The appointment of Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin as Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Defense undermines human rights accountability and civilian control of the military, said the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).

"This is Suharto redux, leaving the military in charge of itself" said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Sjamsuddin appointment clearly demonstrates that the 'reformer' President Yudhoyono would rather reward former military colleagues than hold them accountable. This sets back the limited efforts to bring the Indonesian military under civilian control."

"Sjafrie is a poster boy for the argument that U.S. military training does noth instill respect for human rights in Indonesian officers, especially those belonging to Kopassus," said Miller. The Obama administration is currently considering resuming training of Kopassus.

General Sjamsuddin has spent most of his career in Indonesian military's brutal Kopassus special forces. Trained in the U.S. in 1985 and Australia in 1993, he is accused of coordinating several of the most notorious events in East Timor, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and the post-referendum violence in 1999. He was military commander in Jakarta at the time troops opened fire on protesters in May 1998.

Human rights groups in Indonesia have protested Sjamsuddin appointment citing his human rights record. They also point out that the appointment violates Indonesian law, which prohibits the promotion of active duty soldiers to political posts.

"Sjamsuddin not only defends the military's system of territorial command, he has little understanding of the need for civilian supremacy over the military," said Miller.

read the rest here

Gus Dur and East Timor

From Gus Dur and the Military Monster by John Roosa in the Spring 2000 Estafeta

The limitations of Gus Dur's powers in the face of the military's many-headed Hydra are nowhere more apparent than in Indonesia's policy towards East Timor. During his three-hour visit to Dili on February 28, Gus Dur hugged Xanana Gusmão, laid a wreath in honor of the victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, apologized for the scorched earth campaign of last year, and signed an accord for improving relations between the two countries. Only days later, the Indonesian military sent its East Timorese militia across the border to kill more civilians and burn down more buildings. The militias have made cross-border raids almost every day since early March. Despite public disavowals, both the militias and the military are certainly responsible. Gus Dur has denounced these raids but has been so far powerless to stop them. The military, through its militia Cerberuses, are still holding East Timorese hostage in camps in West Timor, months after insistent demands for their release from Gus Dur, the UN, and dozens of international political figures.

Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, left, shakes hands with East Timorese leader "Xanana" Gusmão during their meeting at the presidential office in Jakarta April 28, 2000. At center is Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab. (AP Photo/Muchtar Zakaria)

For the West Papua Advocacy Team's farewell to Gus Dur see the West Papua Report for January 2010

West Papua Report for Jan. 2010 available

http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2010/10012wpap.htm

This is the 68th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm.

Summary

The police killing of renowned pro-independence leader Kelly Kwalik is reminiscent of the Kopassus murder of Papuan leader Theys Eluay and has prompted calls for an investigation of police conduct. The death of former President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose Presidency was brought to an end by an undemocratic show of force by the military, is widely mourned, especially in West Papua. A formal rendering of the history of Indonesia's annexation of West Papua published by the U.S. State Department is significantly flawed. A Papuan forestry official has warned that Indonesian decentralization/autonomy policies threaten West Papua's forests. A senior Papuan official condemns the Indonesian Government's failure to protect the rights of Papuan women who fall victim to development schemers and their Indonesian military enforcers. West Papua is the epicenter of an HIV/AIDS crisis.

Gus Dur