DATE=4/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=E.TIMOR INVESTIGATION (L-O)
NUMBER=2-261504
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesia's Attorney General is pushing ahead
with plans to investigate six top generals accused of
involvement in the violence that consumed East Timor
last September. As Patricia Nunan reports from
Jakarta, the Attorney General says some of the
military's top brass may be called in for questioning
in the coming weeks.
TEXT: Attorney General Marzuki Darusman has
officially opened the investigation into the role of
senior military commanders in the East Timor crisis.
A 64-person team has been appointed to investigate
charges issued by Indonesia's National Commission of
Human rights. The team consists of state prosecutors,
military and police officers, human-rights lawyers and
academics.
The start of this phase of the investigation means
that some of the military's top commanders could be
summoned for questioning.
A report issued in February implicated six top
generals in the wave of killing in East Timor. Former
Armed Forces commander and Defense Minister General
Wiranto was named - morally responsible - for failing
to prevent the violence from erupting. General
Wiranto was suspended from his cabinet post as a
result.
Mr. Darusman says that General Wiranto will be among
those interrogated in the coming weeks.
Roughly one-thousand people were killed in East Timor,
while hundreds-of-thousands were forced into refugee
camps when anti-independence militia groups seized
control of the territory for two-weeks last September.
Most East Timorese cities and towns were also
destroyed.
The campaign of terror was launched in the days
surrounding the announcement that the East Timorese
had voted overwhelmingly to break free of Indonesian
rule, in a special referendum.
The East Timor investigation is seen as a test of the
Indonesian government's resolve in its efforts to curb
the powers of Indonesia's influential military.
U-N officials say they want to wait to see if justice
is achieved through the Indonesian courts. If not,
the United Nations says it may want to hold an
international human-rights tribunal for those accused
of orchestrating the violence. (SIGNED)
NEB/MPN/RAE
19-Apr-2000 08:23 AM EDT (19-Apr-2000 1223 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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