19 Suspects Named in East Timor Violence

Prosecutors named 19 people Friday as suspects in last year’s violent rampage in East Timor but omitted a former military chief and a prominent militia leader, drawing quick criticism from human rights groups.

The list encompasses possible culprits in the looting and killing that broke out after East Timor voted on Aug. 30, 1999, for independence from Indonesia. It includes army and police officers, government officials and pro-Indonesian militiamen.

But the former armed forces commander, Gen. Wiranto, accused by previous Indonesian and U.N. inquiries of bearing ultimate responsibility for the mayhem, was left off the list. Also missing was Eurico Guterres, the leader of a notorious pro-Indonesian militia.

The government’s decision not to take action against Wiranto appeared motivated by a reluctance to antagonize the hard-line generals who back him, human rights activists said.

“This is a very political move [whose] intention is clearly to protect senior military officers,” said Lucia Withers, an analyst for Amnesty International, the London-based human rights watchdog group. “Ultimately, these people are still very powerful in Indonesia.”

After East Timor voted to break away from Indonesia, pro-Indonesian militias backed by the military went on a rampage to protest the results. They killed hundreds of people, demolished thousands of homes and buildings and sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into the neighboring province of West Timor. The destruction ended with the arrival of international troops last September.