Jokowi: War criminal Wiranto is not fit to be Indonesia coordinating minister

Graphic via LBH Jakarta

Indonesian President Jokowi has abandoned all pretense to concern about accountability and justice for human rights crimes. Sign ETAN's petition opposing Wiranto as coordinating minister. 

On July 27, 2016, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo appointed indicted war criminal Gen. Wiranto Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs. A presidential spokesperson told the Jakarta Post that Wiranto "well-tested and was experienced in resolving various assignments, especially during the transition period from the New Order to the Reform era in the late 1990s." In 2003, he was indicted by a UN-backed court for his role in the security -force violence during Timor-Leste's independence referendum.

Wiranto is responsible through acts of omission and commission for the gravest violations of human right in East Timor and Indonesia.  Read more here.

See also statement by ETAN, Tapol, Watch Indonesia!: Appointment of General  Wiranto as Minister confirms the deep-rooted impunity in Indonesia

10 Years after Timor's Independence, Where Is the Justice?

10 Years after Timor's Independence, Where Is the Justice? Contact: John M. Miller,  john @ etan.org May 16, 2012 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) congratulated the people of Timor-Leste as they prepared to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the restoration of their country's independence on May 20. "This important milestone is the result of the persistent struggle and great suffering of the people of Timor-Leste," said ETAN's National Coordinator John M. Miller. "ETAN is proud to have played our part in supporting Timor's self-determination and now independence." "The nation faces many challenges. With independence, its people are in a position to decide its future rather then have Indonesia impose its will on them," he added. Timor's independence was prevented for nearly 25 years by the U.S. and other governments' support for Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation. Yet, no senior officials of any country have been held accountable for the horrific human right violations and war crimes that took place.   Human rights violators from elsewhere have been prosecuted, often long after their crimes were committed. But Indonesia and others continue to obstruct holding accountable those who facilitated and carried out crimes during the occupation. "The U.S., other governments and the United Nations must commit themselves to achieve justice for the victims and their families." said Miller. "ETAN will not rest until justice is done." "Human rights violators from elsewhere have been prosecuted, often long after their crimes were committed. But Indonesia and others continue to obstruct holding accountable those who facilitated and carried out crimes during the occupation," he added. “Ongoing impunity for the systematic Indonesian military and police crimes prevents the people of Timor-Leste and Indonesia from consolidating their democracies and moving on with their lives. While Timor-Leste is now independent, its people will not be able to overcome their tragic past without justice for what was done to them and their families,” said Miller. Neither Congress nor the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama have responded to the recommendations of Timor-Leste's Commission for Truth, Reception and Reconciliation, although many of them are directly addressed to the U.S. and other governments. These include the Commission's call for an international tribunal to try perpetrators of crimes against humanity during the Indonesian occupation, reparations from Indonesia and other countries that supported the occupation, and restrictions on foreign assistance to the Indonesian military. "The U.S. and others should press President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately release all information that can help identify and locate those who were disappeared during the occupation,” said Miller. The recent conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for his support of rights violators in Sierra Leone should sound a note of caution for members of the Obama and former US administrations. This ruling provides a precedent for prosecuting those who arm, train and politically support those who commit the worst abuses, even if they do not directly organize or carry them out. "The Obama administration should restrict U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until the Indonesian generals and political leaders who organized and directed numerous crimes against humanity during the 24-years of illegal occupation are credibly tried," Miller added. Instead, the Obama administration is considering the sale of deadly Apache attack helicopters to the Indonesian military. Background As detailed in declassified documents released by the National Security Archive and elsewhere, on December 6, 1975, then-U.S. President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger gave Indonesian dictator Suharto a green light to invade East Timor, which his military did the next day. The U.S. supplied 90 percent of the weapons used during the invasion. From Ford to President Clinton, successive U.S. administrations consistently backed Indonesia's occupation, providing Jakarta diplomatic cover and billions of dollars in weaponry, military training, and economic assistance.  During more than two decades of occupation of Timor-Leste, Indonesian soldiers committed serious crimes with impunity, taking as many as 184,000 Timorese lives and torturing, raping and displacing countless others. Timor-Leste became independent in 2002. Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation researched and documented the nation's experiences during the occupation. The Commission's comprehensive 2,500-page report recommended establishment of an international criminal tribunal and also advocated that countries (including the U.S.) which backed the occupation and corporations which sold weapons to Indonesia during that period should pay reparations to victims. The Commission urged the international community not to support Indonesia's military until it was thoroughly reformed and respectful of human rights. Last year, ANTI (Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal) demanded that the United Nations Security Council "cut the chain of impunity in Timor-Leste and other countries by establishing a credible International Tribunal in order to judge the principal perpetrators of serious crimes and crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation." The UN-supported serious crimes process filed a number of indictments of a number of Indonesian officials and East Timorese militia leaders for crimes against humanity committed during the referendum on independence in 1999. ETAN was formed in reaction to the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, when hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were gunned down by Indonesian troops carrying U.S.-supplied weapons. On May 20, ETAN members will be honored by the Timorese government with the Laran Luak medal for its contribution to the liberation of Timor-Leste. The U.S.-based organization, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last December 10, advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information see ETAN's web site: http://www.etan.org.

see alsoHuman Rights, Accountability & Justice page ETAN at 20: Reflections and Reminiscences

ETAN on front page of Dili Weekly

ETAN/WPAT's original release 

See also Radio Australia coverage

New Kopassus Number 2 helped form militia in East Timor in 1999

The TNI has promoted U.S.-trained Col. Widyotomo Nugroho to Deputy Commander of Kopassus. Nugroho took IMET courses in intelligence. 

The Masters of Terror (MOT), which mispells his name as Wioyotomo Nugroho, says he served as SGI intelligence head in 1998 and possibly early 1999 in East Timor, where took "an active role in setting up the militia," SGI centers served as torture houses during the Indonesian occupation.

James Dunn in a report to the UN wrote that Nugroho "exercised a key responsibility in the TNI/militia command structure and his role be much worse than 23 years ago.’ Militia witnesses allege that he issued orders to kill. Is accused of sexual attack on Timorese woman.'

Allan Nairn told the U.S. Congress on September 30, 1999, that "Nugroho, who was the on the ground coordinator for the militias in the initial months of their operation," was a graduate "of U.S. IMET and intelligence training." 

This is the complete MOT entry follows

U.S. Must Not Resume Training Indonesia’s Killers

May 5, 2010

Kristin Sundell

The US Must Not Resume Training Indonesia’s Killers

There is something unnerving about hearing orders for your execution. Even more unnerving is the news that amid reports of continuing killings and abuses, President Barack Obama wants to resume US training for the Indonesian military unit that threatened my life and enjoys impunity in the killings of countless Indonesians and East Timorese.


On Aug. 31, 1999, I was serving as a UN-accredited election monitor in East Timor, which had just voted to end decades of Indonesian military occupation. Referendum day had gone relatively smoothly, in spite of the Indonesian military’s efforts to derail the ballot through terror and intimidation. In the wake of the vote, the armed forces and their Timorese militia proxies moved to implement their fallback plan — drive out international observers and raze East Timor to the ground.


That morning, a Timorese friend rushed to our house and played an intercepted radio conversation among Kopassus, the Special Forces unit of the Indonesian Army, and local militias:


Kopassus: “It is better we wait for the result of the announcement [of the ballot] ... Whether we win or lose, that’s when we’ll react.”


Also Kopassus: “Those white people [referendum observers] ... should be put in the river.”


Militia commander (passing the order): “If they want to leave, pull them out [of their car], kill them and put them in the river.”


Kopassus: “They need to be stopped.”


Militiamen: “It will be done.” “I’ll wipe them out, all of them.” “I’ll eat them up.”


We escaped, hitching a ride with United Nations staff as they evacuated. In the following days, East Timor was nearly destroyed, with 75 percent of its infrastructure demolished and more than a thousand civilians killed.


The Kopassus forces were long recipients of extensive US assistance, as were the rest of the armed forces during the reign of President Suharto.


The US Congress finally acted to curb training for the Indonesian Army in 1992, after it was filmed massacring more than 400 East Timorese as they peacefully demonstrated against the occupation. But training for Kopassus quietly continued at US taxpayer expense and without congressional notification.


Eight years later, Kopassus forces directed the Indonesian military’s campaign to subvert East Timor’s independence vote and to destroy the territory. In response, US president Bill Clinton severed military ties with Indonesia in September 1999.

The administration of former President George W Bush resumed many forms of military assistance in the name of counterterrorism, restoring full military ties in 2005. But training for Kopassus remained off limits because of a 1997 law that barred US training for foreign military units with a history of human-rights violations unless the government in question is taking effective measures to bring those responsible to justice. 

Oppose U.S. cooperation with Kopassus Sign the petition

Now Obama wants to resume training for Kopassus, despite the presence of many soldiers within its ranks who are guilty of severe human-rights violations. After orchestrating the violence in East Timor, the killing of West Papuan traditional leader Theys Eluay and the kidnapping and disappearances of student democracy activists in 1997 and 1998 without adequately holding those responsible to account, Kopassus should clearly be ineligible for US training. When the Bush administration proposed restarting training of Kopassus in 2008, the State Department’s legal counsel ruled that the 1997 law prohibited re-engagement.


And the crimes of Kopassus continue. A recent report by journalist Allan Nairn alleges that Kopassus members helped coordinate an assassination program, authorized by “higher-ups in Jakarta,” targeting members of a political party in Aceh Province. At least eight activists were killed in an attempt to pressure the party not to discuss independence for the province.


The Obama administration says it only wants to train soldiers who were not members of Kopassus at the time of earlier abuses, but this makes no sense in light of the recent killings in Aceh. Restrictions on military assistance provide important leverage for accountability and reform. That’s why Indonesian rights groups support the ban on assistance alongside international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.


Obama’s family ties and experience living in Indonesia as a boy give him a special connection to Indonesia and its people. Rather than push US training for the military unit that threatened my life, he should support human rights and justice in the nation.

Kristin Sundell served as a UN-accredited observer of East Timor’s vote for independence as part of the International Federation for East Timor Observer Project. She currently lives in Bandung.

more on Kopassus from ETAN's website

Audio: If you leave us here we will die

listen now | download audio

A conversation with Geoffrey Robinson - former political affairs officer with the United Nations mission in East Timor (UNAMET) and current history professor at UCLA - talks about his new book with ABC Radio National's Late Night Live host, Phillip Adams. Robinson talks about "the thinking within the UN and the international community at the time," and provides "a vivid personal account of what he witnessed in East Timor. Robinson also addresses the enduring question of how best to seek justice for the crimes of the past."


His new book ""If You Leave Us Here, We Will Die": How Genocide Was Stopped in East Timor" was recently published by Princeton University Press. 

Some interesting reading

Amnesty International: We Cry for Justice - Impunity persists ten years on in Timor-Leste

Global Voices: East Timor: Celebrating Global Solidarity for Freedom

Victims of East Timor atrocities still await justice

Film puts spotlight on failure by James Dunn

Reporting 1999 - Getting it wrong, getting it right

The article below, circulated to the east-timor list, contains many errors. Given China's large role in Timor-Leste, it worrisome that a reporter visiting Dili could get so many things wrong, both about current events and about history. I've interspersed some corrections below, and hope that anyone in contact with Xinhua or the journalist can pass them on.

-- Charlie


At 10:05 PM 8/13/2009, you wrote:

Timor-Leste to become role model for post-conflict countries: president

< http://www.chinaview.cn/index.htm>www.chinaview.cn

2009-08-13 19:46:52

DILI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta said here on Thursday that Timor-Leste will become a peaceful country that hopefully can be a role model for the countries that had been going through conflicts and violence in their history.

Speaking at a session to commemorate the referendum day on Aug.30, 1999 whose result split the territory from Indonesia, the president said that each citizen of Timor-Leste has the obligation to prevent the violence from occurring again.

The referendum did not "split" Timor-Leste from Indonesia, as it had never legally been part of Indonesia.

"It would be the test for all of us. I hope that peace will grow among us and develop well among the public," the president said.

With peaceful condition, the government and the people of Timor-Leste will have the chance to develop the country and bring prosperity to its people, Jose said.

Thousand of Timor-Leste people were killed during and after the referendum day following bloody conflicts committed by militants who supported the separation and the other one who supported to stay intact in Indonesian territory.

The great majority the more than 150,000 Timorese victims were killed during the first ten years following Indonesia's invasion in 1975, although about 1,400 more were killed during 1999. Nearly all of the victims were civilians or pro-independence people, while nearly all of the perpetrators were Indonesian military or police, or militia groups they created and directed. There were no "bloody conflicts committed by militants who supported the separation" during and after referendum day -- the massive mayhem and destruction during September and October was entirely done by Indonesian military and their militia proxies.

Timor-Leste also saw a tough crisis in 2006 that almost toppled down Jose Ramos Horta's presidency.

In 2006, Jose Ramos Horta was Foreign Minister. He became interim Prime Minister after the crisis toppled the Prime Ministership of Mari Alkatiri. Ramos-Horta wasn't elected President until mid-2007.

The referendum was the result of Indonesian and Portuguese governments' and was held to determine whether Timor-Least would remain as a part of Indonesia, as a Special Autonomous Region, or separate from Indonesia.

The referendum was the mechanism to implement Timor-Leste's legal and moral right to self-determination, as specified in Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It was delayed by 24 years because of Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation, which was never recognized by the international community.

The referendum was organized and monitored by the United Nations Mission in Timor-Least.

"Least"?

In 2002, Timor-Leste was declared as an independent country.

Timor-Leste declared its independence on 28 November 1975 Actual independence wasn't achieved until 20 May 2002, due to Indonesia's invasion and the lack of international political will before 1999 to do anything about it other than pass resolutions.

***********************************************************
Charles Scheiner - ETAN and Lao Hamutuk

ETANers to Gather in Timor-Leste for Vote Anniversary

Members of the U.S.-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) will gather in Timor-Leste later this month to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the country's historic vote for independence.

"In Dili we will demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Timorese people," said John M. Miller, ETAN's National Coordinator. "We will join with Timorese and international activists to look back at the East Timorese struggle for independence and to evaluate the new nation's course since those momentous events. We will explore with our Timorese friends how we can best support Timor-Leste in the future."

"We will also strongly reaffirm our commitment to justice and accountability for the years of crimes against humanity committed by Indonesia with U.S. government backing," he added.

Read the rest here.

ETAN is participating in international solidarity events organized by Klibur Solidaridade Timor-Leste / Timor-Leste Solidarity Group, as well official commemorations.

Earlier this year, ETAN released a statementon the Anniversary of the Liquiça Massacre.

If you have additional suggestions of what John should should do in East Timor, including things to see, people and organizations to meet, let me know.

ADDENDUM

Media release from

Kliburoup-Solidaridade Timor-Leste / Timor-Leste Solidarity: Solidarity Movements to Celebrate Tenth Anniversary of Timor Referendum, Timorese and International Activists will gather in Dili to reflect on the past and plan for the future> [PDF]

Excerpt:

On 30 August, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Timorese voters braved an Indonesian‐directed terror campaign to cast ballots for independence in a U.N.‐organized referendum. This event, which ended Indonesia's 24-year illegal, brutal military occupation, led to the creation of the Democratic Republic of Timor‐Leste as the first new nation of the millennium. The vote was the culmination of decades of struggle by Timorese people, supported by solidarity activists around the world.

Ten years later, Timorese campaigners and their international colleagues will gather in a peaceful, independent Dili to celebrate that success and rededicate themselves to work to ensure that all the people of Timor-Leste enjoy the benefits of independence and justice.