Indonesian Officer Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity in East Timor

Indonesia's special tribunal on the 1999 violence in East Timor convicted a member of its security forces for the first time yesterday when it found the former commander of the army garrison in the capital Dili guilty of crimes against humanity.

Lieutenant-Colonel Soedjarwo was sentenced to five years in jail for failing to prevent two killing sprees by military-backed militias in Dili on September 6, a week after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to end 24 years of repressive Indonesian occupation.

One of the rampages was against the home of the territory's then spiritual leader, Bishop Carlos Belo, where hundreds of refugees had gathered.

At least 15 people are thought to have been killed when much of the compound was destroyed.

Soedjarwo said he would appeal and was not immediately jailed. "I reject the verdict," he said. "This trial is not fair. I feel like I'm being sacrificed. I did the best I could to provide security."

The decision surprised diplomats and judicial observers because in previous trials 10 Indonesian military and police officers were acquitted and only the two indicted East Timorese, the former civilian governor and a notorious militia leader, were convicted.

These trials and verdicts left the tribunal's reputation in tatters and provoked accusations of deliberate incompetence and blatant political interference. The trials of five defendants, including two junior generals, are continuing.

Diplomats and human rights activists had little positive to say about yesterday's judgment, particularly because Soedjarwo could have been sentenced to death for his crimes.

Mohammad Asrun, from Judicial Watch, a group which monitors the Indonesian judiciary, condemned the sentence as completely inadequate.

"It is useless to say that he had committed grave human rights violations and then only give him such a light sentence," he said.

Hendardi, the head of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, said the verdict was "illogical".

"I think [Soedjarwo] is only for international consumption because there has been much criticism from the international community about the military acquittals," he said.

The international organisation Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report last week which described the tribunal as "a whitewash".

It urged the United Nations, which gave Indonesia the opportunity to hold accountable the perpetrators of nine months of violence which left more than 1,000 people dead, to commission a report examining the failure of the ad hoc court.

The United Nations has declined to comment officially on the tribunal, saying that it wants to wait until all 18 trials are finished before passing judgment.