UN prosecutor in East Timor files first indictment for
crimes against humanity
11 December -- The first indictment containing charges of crimes against humanity committed in East Timor last year was filed today by a United Nations Prosecutor in the territory's capital, Dili.
Filed by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), the indictment was presented before the Dili District Court's Special Panel for Serious Crimes.
The indictment accuses eleven persons of committing crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, deportation and forcible transfer of civilian population in Los Palos between 21 April and 25 September 1999.
Most of the accused were members of the pro-autonomy militia group named Team Alfa. They are charged with involvement in a number of murders, including the ambush and killing on 25 September 1999 of a group of clergy, church workers, a journalist and a youth near the village of Verokoko, Los Palos. In all, the group is accused of committing at least 13 murders, in addition to "severe victimization," UNTAET said.
The indictment also contains the first accusation against an Indonesian Army Officer, Lt. Sayful Anwar, Deputy Commander of its Special Forces Command (KOPASSUS), stationed in Los Palos. Mr. Anwar is accused of mutilating, torturing and murdering Averisto Lopez on 21 April 1999, at the Team Alfa base. A warrant for his arrest is to be immediately issued by Dili Court's Special Panel for Serious Crimes.
Of the eleven accused, nine are detained at prisons in East Timor. Among them is Joni Marques, Team Alfa's de facto Commander. One of the militia members, Mautersa Moniz, is still at large. Pre-trial litigation before the Special Panel for Serious Crimes, composed of two international judges and one Timorese judge, is expected to commence early next year, according to UNTAET.
In other news, the East Timor Transitional Cabinet agreed last Saturday, 9 December, to transfer more authority to the East Timorese Cabinet Members, after an extraordinary meeting called by UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello in Dili. The meeting was held following a 1 December letter in which four of the five East Timorese Cabinet members threatened to resign. Mr. Vieira de Mello plans to present specific proposals on the issue to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will in turn make recommendations to the UN Security Council prior to the expiration of UNTAET's mandate on 31 January.
