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 JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The spotlight of international justice has shone on Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic to hold them accountable for alleged war crimes. But many are asking: what about Suharto?
Indonesia's dictator for 32 years is widely believed responsible for the deaths of twice as many people as the former Iraqi and Serbian leaders combined, yet he lives freely in a posh residential district of Jakarta.
"Suharto certainly belongs in the same category as Milosevic or Saddam as far as crimes against humanity are concerned," said Dede Oetomo, a human rights activist and professor at Airlangga University in Surabaya. "He receives preferential treatment in the West because he delivered Indonesia to them during the Cold War, while nobody in the political class here sees any benefit in pursuing him."
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