Commissioner describes hearing as learning experience

By Karen Michelmore And Olivia Rondonuwu

Sanur, Bali, February 20 (AAP) - The first public hearings of a joint East Timor-Indonesia reconciliation commission investigating the mayhem surrounding East Timor's 1999 vote for independence were a "learning experience", the commission's head said today.

The first of five landmark hearings of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) wrapped up in Bali tonight, after hearing from six witnesses, including former politicians, alleged perpetrators and victims of the violence.

The commission is seeking to establish the truth behind the violence which killed 1,500 people in order to foster reconciliation between the two countries, and move past recrimination.
Asked if he thought the first hearings were a success, CTF co-chairman Benjamin Mangkoedilaga replied: "This is, say, a learning process."

"This is only the beginning, we will learn from our mistakes and weaknesses from the smallest thing."

He said the next hearings would include testimony by several generals in charge of the Indonesian troops in East Timor during the 1999 violence, including General Wiranto, General Kiki Syahnakrie, General Adam Damiri and General Tono Suratman.

All were prosecuted in Indonesia's ad hoc Human Rights Court and found guilty, but the verdicts were later overturned by Indonesia's Supreme Court.

"Wiranto will definitely come, he even challenged us to invite him," Mangkoedilaga said.
But another commissioner, Aniceto Guterres, described the first hearings as "imperfect".

"There are still lots of hurdles. "The biggest challenges are first, about the cooperation of everybody ... many people still fear to reveal the information, perhaps their lives have been threatened."

Earlier, victim Florindo de Jesus Brites took the witness stand and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal terrible scars from a massacre at an East Timor safe house on April 17, 1999, when Indonesian troops and militia shot his brother and killed 11 others.

He also told the hearing was forced to sing the Indonesian national anthem in return for food at the Indonesian army hospital where he was treated.

"I sang 'Indonesia Raya' although I forgot the words, that didn't matter as long as I got the food," he said.

Brites was questioned by Indonesian commissioners about what was wrong with singing the Indonesian anthem in Indonesian territory, sparking criticism from the East Timor-aligned commissioners.

"Now I ask you, is singing Indonesia Raya anthem to an Indonesian citizen, a wrong thing or was it just normal?" Indonesian commissioner Achmad Ali asked.

"Its the same as an American citizen singing an American anthem, I think that is normal."

Outside the hearing, Guterres, from East Timor, described the questioning as "stupid".

"Actually, if you take a closer look there are still differences between Indonesia's commissioners and East Timor's...when all the information is gathered and we formulate the substance of our report, that will be a problem," he said.