East Timor: "Wiranto must stand trial, not stand for office"

The New York based East Timor Action Network (ETAN) said it 
was "dismayed" at the Golkar Party's nomination of General 
Wiranto for President of Indonesia.

Wiranto was Armed Forces Commander and Defence Minister in 1999. 
Prior to and after East Timor's overwhelming vote for 
independence, his troops and their militia proxies conducted a 
campaign of terror resulting in more than 1400 deaths, 
displacement of three-quarters of the population and destruction 
of more than 75 percent of East Timor's infrastructure.

On February 24, 2003, Wiranto was indicted in East Timor for 
crimes against humanity before the Dili Special Panel, a joint 
UN-East Timorese court.

ETAN pointed out that "Wiranto is responsible through acts of 
omission and commission for the gravest violations of human right 
in East Timor and Indonesia. He must stand trial not stand for 
office.

"Wiranto's rise in Indonesian politics speaks volumes about the 
failure of the United Nations, the US and other countries to act 
quickly and forcefully for justice. The cycle of impunity 
continues. Those responsible for the devastation in East Timor 
are now directing similar campaigns in Aceh and Papua.

"Wiranto should be arrested and transferred to East Timor, where 
he has been indicted for crimes against humanity. Regardless of 
the outcome of the coming Indonesian election, his indictment 
will remain in force until he is arrested and brought to trial.

"We urge the United Nations to revisit the recommendation to 
establish an international tribunal for East Timor made by the 
UN's Commission of Inquiry in January 2000".

The prosecution of Wiranto and others responsible for war crimes 
and crimes against humanity from 1975 through to 1999 in East 
Timor is necessary to end the state-sanctioned terror by 
Indonesia's security forces throughout the Indonesian 
archipelago.

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To contact ETAN go to http://www.etan.org