General Charged With Atrocities A Leading Candidate For Indonesia President

by Jim Lobe

(IPS) WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's "war on terrorism" in Southeast Asia could face a hurdle after the nomination by Indonesia's most popular political party of an accused war criminal to run for the presidency.

Retired Gen. Wiranto, who was indicted by a special United Nations-East Timor court for war crimes in connection with the killing of more than 1,400 civilians and the destruction of much of the former Indonesian province's infrastructure five years ago, gained the official presidential nomination earlier this week of the Golkar Party which, during the Suharto dictatorship, was the Indonesian Armed Forces' political arm.

A Suharto favorite, Wiranto rose to the military's top position in the mid-1990s, and reportedly played a role in persuading Suharto to end his 30-year reign in 1998. But one year later, he was implicated in the army-orchestrated mayhem that followed the overwhelming vote by the East Timorese people in favor of independence from Indonesia, which invaded and later annexed the territory in 1975.

"Golkar should be embarrassed to select someone who has been indicted for crimes against humanity as its presidential candidate," said Brad Adams, who directs the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in New York City.

"If Golkar has really reformed itself after the massive rights violations of the Suharto years, it should be distancing itself from its dark past instead of embracing it," he added in a statement.

Wiranto, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, is considered likely to try to use his good looks and tough image, as well as the growing nostalgia for the Suharto era, to unseat the incumbent, President Megawati Sukarnoputri, when Indonesians go the polls in their first direct presidential election July 5.

Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, has declined sharply in popularity over the past two years, largely as a result of a lagging economy, growing corruption, the military's failure to achieve a clear victory over pro-independence rebels in Aceh province and the perception that she has not been seriously engaged in governing.

But both Megawati and Wiranto are still considered underdogs to retired Gen Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the candidate of the newly formed Democratic Party, who served until recently as one of Megawati's chief advisers. In the latest polls, he led Megawati 44-21 percent.

Although like Wiranto, Yudhoyono made his career in the military, he has long favored separating the army, which effectively ruled the country through Golkar during the Suharto dictatorship, from the government and from the many businesses and monopolies it operates. Wiranto, on the other hand, has been seen as a promoter of the military's interests in both politics and the economy.

Since coming to office, and particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the Bush administration has seen Indonesia as a key part of its "war on terror," and has made little secret of its desire to restore the close military ties that were effectively suspended under the previous Clinton administration after the violence that levelled East Timor in 1999.

Since 9/11, the administration has restored some security assistance -- mainly in the form of anti-terrorism aid -- but Congress has insisted that certain conditions be met before relations can be fully normalized.

In January, legislators approved a provision of the 2004 foreign aid bill that maintains a ban on U.S. government financing of weapons sales, export licenses for certain kinds of military equipment and participation in a State Department-administered military training for Indonesia until Jakarta fully cooperates in the investigation and prosecution of military units that are believed to have killed two U.S. teachers and their Indonesian colleague in an ambush in West Papua in 2002.

In addition, the bill requires Indonesia to extradite those indicted by the joint UN-East Timor Serious Crimes Unit, conduct a public audit of the military's funds, and prosecute credible cases of serious human rights abuses believed to have been carried out by the military or military-backed militias. The Bush administration opposed the provision.

Wiranto, as well as several other senior Indonesian military officials, was indeed indicted by the Crimes Unit, although an arrest warrant has still to be issued. Soon after the indictment was handed down in February 2003, the State Department placed Wiranto on its visa watch list, meaning he could be barred from entering the United States.

Although the U.S. ambassador in Jakarta said this week that Wiranto would be treated as a head of state if were to win the election, most officials and independent analysts believe that his record could make relations more difficult, particularly compared to a reformer like Yudhoyono, who has not been implicated in major rights abuses or in corruption.

Even right-wing U.S. analysts see Wiranto's election as highly problematic. In a paper issued Thursday, Dana Dillon of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation called Wiranto both "passive and corrupt," but warned against explicit condemnations of the general.

According to Dillon, such statements would likely be used to fuel a nationalist backlash, particularly given the strong rise in anti-American sentiment as Washington has pursued its "war on terrorism." The vast majority of Indonesians are Muslims.

But rights groups are unrestrained in their criticism of Wiranto's candidacy, with the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) calling for his arrest and prosecution by a yet-to-be-established international tribunal for East Timor.

"We urge the U.S. Congress and Bush administration to withhold all military assistance for Indonesia until Wiranto and others responsible for crimes against humanity in East Timor and Indonesia are brought to justice in judicial processes consistent with international standards," said ETAN's director, John Miller.

HRW called for other countries besides the United States to bar Wiranto from visiting them. "Countries with a commitment to the rule of law and justice should send a message that Wiranto's election could make Indonesia a pariah state that they would have difficulty dealing with," Adams said.