JAKARTA, Indonesia — The last Indonesian governor of East Timor was convicted Wednesday of crimes against humanity for allowing government-backed militias to slaughter more than 100 people in 1999, when the territory was part of Indonesia.
Former Gov. Jose Abilio Soares, who denied having any part in the killings, was sentenced to three years in prison, which some human rights activists criticized as too short. He was the first official convicted in Indonesia for his role in the destruction of East Timor after the territory voted overwhelmingly for independence three years ago.
"I've been made a scapegoat," protested Soares, 53, after the verdict and sentence were read by the five-judge panel. "How could I, one person, disband a militia that is armed with spears, axes and guns?"
Human rights activists charged that the trial was a travesty because the special human rights court was not allowed to examine the role of the military in organizing and funding the militia gangs that killed 1,000 people and destroyed thousands of buildings.
"You almost have to come to the conclusion that the Indonesian government wanted to make sure that no real information would come out about its role in the violence in 1999," said Sidney Jones, Indonesia project director of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.
Indonesia reluctantly established the ad hoc human rights court to prevent the United Nations from creating an international war crimes tribunal to investigate the East Timor atrocities.
Prosecutors indicted Soares and 17 other officials. Verdicts against some of the other defendants, including former East Timor Police Chief Timbul Silaen, are expected as early as today.
No charges were filed against top military leaders accused of responsibility for the mayhem, including Gen. Wiranto, then Indonesia's armed forces chief. Nor did prosecutors indict top-ranking officers and officials named by Indonesia's human rights commission in January 2000, critics note.
"The conduct of the trials confirms that their purpose was to deflect international criticism rather than to get at the truth," said John Miller of New York-based East Timor Action Network. "Without an international tribunal, those most responsible for orchestrating the violence and devastation in 1999 and before will inevitably remain free."
The verdict comes as the United States moves to end sanctions against the Indonesian military for its role in the devastation of East Timor.
