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DATE=4/5/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / RIGHTS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260961
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Indonesia's attorney general says the 
former head of the country's armed forces may not 
face prosecution for his alleged failure to 
prevent last year's militia rampage in East 
Timor.  As Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, 
the attorney general says more evidence would 
have to be found to establish that General 
Wiranto took an active role in causing the 
violence in East Timor.
TEXT:  Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki 
Darusman says that General Wiranto cannot be 
indicted for his alleged role in the bloodshed 
that took place in East Timor. 
The general was the head of the armed forces at 
the time and investigators for Indonesia's 
National Human Rights commission found him 
responsible for the bloodshed.  The commission 
has accused him of committing "crimes of 
omission" for failing to prevent the violence 
from breaking out.  
But Attorney-General Marzuki told reporters on 
Wednesday that Indonesia's existing legislation 
on human rights violations does  not  cover 
"crimes of omission."
            /// ACT MARZUKI ///
      But if he's not found to be guilty of 
      complicity he cannot be indicted for 
      omission.  But he can still be brought to 
      court.
            /// END ACT /// 
The attorney general says before General Wiranto 
can be brought to court, the Indonesian 
parliament would have to approve a new law on 
human rights violations that would include 
"crimes of omission."  Parliament would also have 
to approve a human rights tribunal that could 
apply the new law retroactively.
The attorney general says such legislation may 
not  be passed until the end of this year. 
In January, the attorney general received the 
Human Rights Commission's findings.  General 
Wiranto and five other top generals were 
implicated in the bloodshed that followed last 
year's independence referendum in East Timor. 
Indonesian law gave the attorney general three 
months to determine whether there is enough 
evidence to take to court.  But Mr. Marzuki has 
said he can extend the deadline for another three 
months. 
Human rights officials now estimate that roughly 
one thousand people were killed and more than a 
quarter million forced from their homes when pro-
Jakarta militias seized control of East Timor. 
Some human rights officials accuse members of the 
Indonesian Armed Forces of orchestrating the 
violence.
General Wiranto was forced to resign his cabinet 
post as a result of the findings by the National 
Human Rights Commission.  He has also since 
retired from the military.  But he denies the 
allegations of wrongdoing in East Timor.
NEB/PN/GC/FC/KL 
05-Apr-2000 07:03 AM EDT (05-Apr-2000 1103 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.