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Guterres jail term reinstated over East Timor abuses
Indonesia's Supreme Court has reinstated a 10-year jail term imposed on the former leader of one of the most notorious militias that terrorised East Timor prior to the 1999 United Nations-backed referendum on independence. The court confirmed the conviction of Eurico Guterres for human rights abuses. Guterres was originally sentenced to 10 years in jail for crimes against humanity in 2002 by an ad hoc human rights court set up to try military officers and officials for atrocities committed in East Timor.

That was later reduced to five years on appeal and he has remained at liberty pending the current appeal to Indonesia's highest court. Guterres headed the Aitark Militia one of the most notorious groups the UN says were set up and trained by the Indonesian Military and which killed at least 1,400.
Good deal. It's worthless to the people who get killed at his behest, and it's woefully inadequate in light of the East Timor atrocities, but it's a sign that when the dust dies down governments can and sometimes do go after the bad guyz. Maybe it will give some pause to the current crop — though I doubt it. You don't pause when you think you're on the winning side, and the holy men keep telling them they are.

Posted by: Fred 2006-03-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=145361