West Timor refugees

29 more East Timor refugees return home

Jakarta Post - June 26, 2002

Yemris Fointuna and Jupriadi, Jakarta -- Twenty-nine more refugees, including one marine, have returned to their hometowns in East Timor after spending more than two years in refugee camps in South Sulawesi province.

The 29 refugees, who were part of a total of 3,000 East Timorese refugees staying in the province, embarked from Soekarno-Hatta Port on a direct journey to the newly established Democratic Republic of East Timor onboard the Sirimau passenger ship on Monday night.

"I have considered all the consequences and I won't mind being a civilian in East Timor," Second Sgt. Armando GSS, who served in the Indonesian Navy for 13 years, said.

The marine said he had decided to return to East Timor because it was his home, but not because of the promises the government of the new country made to refugees.

Another refugee, Jos Amaral, said he missed his homeland and hoped East Timor would provide a new life for him. "We expect a better life [in East Timor] than the one we had here [in Makassar]," he said.

After the UN-sponsored referendum in August 1999, in which majority of the East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, military-backed militias destroyed the half island and around 250,000 East Timorese took refuge outside of the region.

Some 3,000 of them left for South Sulawesi and stayed there until the former Indonesian province was declared an independent state last month. However, the number of those returning to East Timor is relatively small, with only 62 refugees, including the latest 29, choosing to return there.

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao visited Makassar last month and asked the refugees to return home, promising that no harm would come to them.

Separately in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang, some 2,300 houses will be built for East Timorese refugees who choose to stay as Indonesian citizens, an official said over the weekend.

Visiting director general of housing at the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, Aca Sugandhy, said on Saturday that the construction of the houses would be partly funded by the Japanese government.

"Some 200 homes will be built in Kupang, 1,500 others in East Sumba regency and another 600 in Belu regency," Aca said, adding that the government would build more houses by August when there was a definite figure on the number of families opting to stay in Indonesia. Currently, some 54,000 East Timorese refugees are taking shelter in Kupang and West Timor.

Meanwhile, militia leader Joao da Silva Tavares visited the East Timor border town of Batugade under tight security on Tuesday for more talks about the possible return of thousands of his followers, the Agence France-Presse reported.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) local spokesman Jake Morland said the main topic of the meeting was Tavares' proposal that all returnees come back as one group and live together in a transit camp for a period to avert any reprisals.

Refugees add to West Timor's food problem

Australian Associated Press - June 25, 2002

Catharine Munro, Jakarta -- International aid groups are calling for countries including Australia to help head off starvation in the Indonesian province of West Timor.

A two-month survey conducted by five international agencies showed that thousands are facing an acute food shortage following East Timor's secession from Indonesia.

"A chronic food security problem has moved into an acute food security problem ... the situation is quite dire," said Donna Holden, program director for Save the Children UK, who led the survey.

"It's absolutely untenable for any people to be dying of starvation. We will be discussing with donors how to prevent that from happening."

West Timor and some surrounding islands were in the only region of the vast archipelago of more than 13,000 islands to suffer such food shortages, according to an official from the UN World Food Program.

"People don't starve to death in Indonesia," said the official who did not wish to be named. "The government is very good at providing resources, we are not looking at an African-style famine."

Food shortages are not unusual in West Timor, where crop failures from both drought and flood have occurred over the past few months. But pressures from East Timor's independence vote have ended some of the local population's so-called "coping mechanisms".

About half East Timor's population of more than 800,000 fled or were forcibly removed from their homes to West Timor during the military-abetted violence that followed a vote for independence in August 1999. And over the past three years refugees had cut down forests to grow crops, denying the local population a place to forage for food when crops failed.

West Timorese can no longer travel to East Timor to find day labour work on Indonesian government building projects. Finally, last December Jakarta stopped providing relief to remaining refugees in West Timor camps to encourage them to go home.

About 45,000 people remain in camps, a month after East Timor gained full independence on May 20, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees.

Hukman Renni, who has established the Presidium of East Timorese Refugees in the West Timor capital of Kupang, said the Indonesian government should restart aid.

"Now they are threatened with starvation and disease and this starvation will result in death of thousands of people in camps if the government of Indonesia does not change its view about stopping the assistance," he said.

With such an about-face unlikely, Save the Children's Holden said Australia would be one of the countries from whom the aid groups would be seeking funds.

Ausaid's director in Jakarta, Sam Zappia, said $6.6 million had already been given this year to help with the repatriation of refugees to East Timor. "At this point we haven't considered whether we will provide any other form of assistance," Mr Zappia said.

Hundreds of Timorese refugees demand resumption of aid

Agence France Presse - June 29, 2002

Hundreds of East Timorese refugees demonstrated outside the governor's office in East Nusa Tenggara province Saturday demanding a resumption of humanitarian aid, the national news agency Antara reported.

The protesters vowed to remain at the office until aid -- cut off last January 1 -- is restored. "We're hungry. We want food," yelled the protesters, who included women and children, according to Antara.

About 20 demonstrators were allowed inside the governor's compound to meet a government official. Negotiations were continuing, Antara reported.

The protest took place in Kupang, capital of the province which borders East Timor, the former Indonesian province which became independent on May 20 after 31 months of United Nations administration.

More than 250,000 East Timorese either fled or were forced across the border to Indonesian West Timor in 1999 during a campaign of murder, arson and looting by Indonesian security forces and militias. The campaign followed East Timor's vote to separate from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975.

The UNHCR says fewer than 50,000 refugees are still in Indonesia, of whom 30,000-35,000 are expected to choose to return. Most of those who remain are former militias, police, military, civil servants and their followers.

The government in West Timor wants the refugees to go home or to leave their camps and resettle elsewhere in Indonesia. Government officials have said that although refugee assistance has stopped, emergency aid is available for people facing starvation.

Over 1,000 Timorese children reunited with families

Kyodo News - June 24, 2002

Dili -- More than 1,000 East Timorese children who were displaced in violence following the 1999 UN-backed referendum on independence have been reunited with their families, an official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Monday.

Jake Morland, a UNHCR external relations officer, said returning the children to their parents is the priority of the UNHCR.

Thousands of East Timorese kids were stranded in the turmoil before and after the referendum held in August 1999, in which East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favor of separating from Indonesia.

"Well, this is a slow and difficult process. So far since 1999, we have repatriated or reunited over 1,000 separated children with their families," Morland said.

At least 2,000 East Timorese children are still in Indonesia including West Timor, he said, adding investigations are needed to clarify their number.

"We have a very good level of cooperation with the Indonesian government, particularly here in Dili with the Indonesian mission," Morland said. "We cannot do this job without assistance of Indonesian authorities."

East Timor gained its independence May 20 after 450 years of Portuguese colonial rule, interrupted by three and a half years of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, 24 years of Indonesian occupation, and more than two and half years under the UN administration after the referendum.

Refugee presidium established

Jakarta Post - June 25, 2002

Kupang -- Former pro-integration leaders established on Monday the Presidium of East Timorese Refugees to accommodate support for refugees of the former province of East Timor.

One of the founders, Eurico Gutteres, vowed the organization would not get involved in politics, but would merely provide humanitarian assistance for the refugees.

He said that the East Timorese people, who had chosen to stay in Indonesia after separation in 1999, needed a forum to talk about their problems.

"We do not need to look back ... what we need now is reconciliation among the East Timorese," another founder of the presidium, Carlos de Fatima, said after the declaration.

Government & politics

Timorese government pushes through 5-year program

Lusa - June 27, 2002

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri presented and won an overwhelming vote of confidence from East Timor's parliament Thursday for his five-year government program. The confidence vote was approved by a tally of 69 to four, with seven abstentions. Eight MPs were absent.

Alkatiri, whose ruling Fretilin party holds 55 of parliament's 88 seats, warned last week that he might use his broad majority to speed legislative action, charging oppositionists were wasting time in marginal debates.

Some opposition critics charged the blitz vote of confidence on the cabinet's program set a dangerous precedent for the country that gained its independence May 20.

"Five hours to debate a five-year government program is something never seen", said Clementino Amaral of the Kota party. "The government should have presented its program, allowed us to debate and come back later for a vote of confidence".

Leandro Isaac of the Social Democratic Party charged the goverment was reducing parliament to a "rubber stamp".

Awaiting parliament's approval is the government's proposed US$85 million budget, which was presented to the legislature last week and must be acted on by Monday, as the fiscal year begins July 1.

Fiannce Minister Madalena Boavida described the porposed budget as "realistic" and 50 percent below initial estimates.

Bill proposals should be translated into Tetum, say MPs

Lusa - June 27, 2002

Several members of East Timor`s parliament called Thursday for proposed legislation to be translated into Tetum, as Portuguese is not understood by all of the 88-member assembly.

MPs from the majority Fretilin party, as well as PSD and PD opposition parties, made the appeal directly to Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who was in the Dili assembly for the presentation of his government`s program.

Fretilin MP Francisco Branco told Alkatiri that in future, proposed bills should be presented to the legislature "in languages that MPs can understand".

Another Fretilin MP, Jose Lobato, said that many MPs experienced "enormous difficulties" in evaluating new legislation in Portuguese.

"This marginalizes the younger generation and will create discontent among these people, who could in future advocate that Portuguese be withdrawn as an official language", warned Lobato.

Lobato said that more effort has to be made to support Tetum -- Timor`s most widely-spoken language -- as an equal official language to Portuguese.

"I see great efforts to reintroduce Portuguese and not to develop Tetum", said Lobato. This was contrary to the demands of the Constitution, he added.

Justice & reconciliation

Feared militia chief seeks return to East Timor

The Age - June 26, 2002

Jill Jolliffe -- Pro-Indonesia militia leader Joao Tavares returned to East Timor yesterday for the first time since the violence of 1999.

Speaking after crossing the border at Batugade, the man considered by many East Timorese to be most responsible for militia crimes said he was prepared to stand trial.

Mr Tavares and other former militia leaders were in East Timor for talks mediated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The delegation, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Tjuk Agus, Indonesian military commander in Atambua, West Timor, travelled in an armoured convoy. It was carefully searched by Brazilian peacekeepers at the border post.

Mr Tavares was formerly a powerful landowner and had a long involvement with the Indonesian military. He was with special forces in their attack on Balibo in October 1975 and is alleged to have looted the body of one of the five journalists killed there.

In 1998 he became overall commander of the militia forces that devastated East Timor a year later. He was also commander of the feared Halilintur militia group.

Mr Tavares has told the UN that if he is allowed to return he will bring the 50,000 refugees still in West Timor with him.

Although no arrest warrant has yet been issued for Mr Tavares, the possibility remains, and there has been no suggestion so far of an amnesty offer.

Asked if he regretted the violence of 1999 Mr Tavares said he had been "the first person to defend independence in East Timor" but had been opposed to sudden independence.

Questioned about the Balibo killings, Mr Tavares said the journalists had made a mistake in "being by the side of my enemy".

He said that if he returned he would give evidence to the UN inquiry into the Balibo deaths, which was now in progress.

Border talks with former militia groups

Radio Australia - June 25, 2002

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: UNHCR spokesman Jake Morland

Morland: The UNHCR believes that there are now less than 50- thousand refugees remaining in Indonesia, not just in West Timor. Of these we still do expect to return perhaps some 35-thousand refugees, however we're unsure at this stage whether that is the number that Joao Tavares actually controls.

Lam: He says that he will return only if he and his followers can be accommodated in one place. Is that realistic?

Morland: I don't think so, that idea was raised at the last meeting on June 14. The East Timorese delegation then said they wanted to go back to their government to discuss this. They've come to the meeting today and said that they were not keen on the idea and the West Timorese delegation led by Joao Tavares is now going back to the camps to socialise the East Timorese proposal that people go directly back to their communities just as any refugee would on a UNHCR facilitated return.

Lam: And how did Tavares respond to President Xanana Gusmao's statement that returning militias will have to stand trial even though he's promised to seek pardons for them?

Morland: The issue of amnesty was raised albeit very briefly, they are aware that if they return they will have to go through the judicial process. UNHCR sees the judicial process as part of the reconciliation process and therefore an essential as reconciliation itself.

Lam: So are we any closer to some form of resolution, is it clearer to you now what's going to happen with the returnees?

Morland: I'd say that we are closer today than we have been for many months. We're continuing to see large numbers of refugees crossing the border, this year alone we've had nearly 20,000 people return to their homes in East Timor. At the current rate if they keep coming across at this rate we will see the vast majority of the remaining refugees return before the end of the year. This is UNHCR's target, at the end of the year refugees lose their refugee status as decided by the High Commissioner during his visit here last month.

Lam: So if the returnees are already filtering back what was the point of having this meeting to begin with? I mean what are we trying to get Tavares to agree to?

Morland: Well I think it's clear that the process of reconciliation, which is necessary if the refugee return is to be a durable solution, we must foster this dialogue at an early stage, we must facilitate reconciliation before repatriation even occurs. That way we can feel more secure in that these refugees will be able to reintegrate more safely into their communities rather than facing problems upon return.

Lam: Indeed it's one thing for President Gusmao to call for reconciliation but how confident are you that the returnees, many of whom have been accused of committing atrocities, how confident are you that they will not be targetted for revenge attacks?

Morland: Well I agree that this is our main concern that they might be targetted in some way upon return. But to date with over 212,000 refugees having returned, we're relatively confident that as long as this process of reconciliation and this dialogue is continued, that we won't face too many problems in the coming months.

Lam: So to your knowledge are there many East Timorese civilians still being held against their will by the militias in West Timor?

Morland: We do still receive reports although nowhere near on the same scale as in this past that there are certain camps where refugees are being intimidated and misinformed in an attempt to prevent them from returning. That is again why this process of reconciliation is so important.

Human rights trials

Timor militia boss says ready to die if convicted

Reuters - June 27, 2002

Jakarta -- A notorious pro-Jakarta militia leader accused of atrocities in East Timor said on Thursday he was ready to die if found guilty of the 1999 massacres, but said the real blame for the bloodshed lies with Indonesia's president at the time.

Wearing a camouflage uniform and a scarf in the Indonesian colours of red and white, Eurico Guterres sat in the centre of a court room as a judge read out the charges against him on the first day of his trial in the country's new human rights court.

"For the sake of justice I am ready to die because I was there to defend the red and white, not my wife or children. I defended the republic of Indonesia," Guterres told reporters before the trial opened. "If the court can prove that I'm guilty, I am ready to be sentenced," he added.

The court, which opened earlier this year, is conducting a slew of cases over the violence surrounding East Timor's vote to break from 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

The United Nations estimates more than 1,000 people were killed in an orgy of violence by rampaging pro-Jakarta militias before and after the vote on August 30 1999.

Guterres has been charged with one count of attack and murder, which carries the death penalty, and one count of attack and torture which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Both charges carry a minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

Prosecutor Muhammad Yusuf said Guterres failed to control members of his much-feared Aitarak militia gang which spearheaded a deadly attack on the house of prominent pro-independence East Timorese Manuel Carrascalao in April 1999.

That attack came shortly after the militias were formed by Indonesia's military in a bid to influence the independence ballot.

"He did not take any appropriate or required measures to prevent or to stop his subordinates from attacking and killing. And he did not hand over the attackers," Yusuf told the court.

Guterres said he was a victim of the policy of former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie who allowed the UN to conduct the 1999 referendum on East Timor's future. "Mr Habibie must be held responsible ... if Habibie did not give such an option, then such things [violence] would not have happened," Guterres said.

The case has been adjourned until July 4.

Guterres, who has been linked to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), served a six month prison term a year ago for inciting violence in Indonesian West Timor in September 2000.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was declared fully independent on May 20 this year when the UN handed over the reins of power in an emotion-charged ceremony on the outskirts of the capital Dili.

Massacre prosecutors 'failing'

The Australian - June 28, 2002

Don Greenlees, Jakarta -- An Indonesian human rights court yesterday launched the prosecution of notorious former East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres -- one of the crucial tests of justice over the violent campaign waged by militias and Indonesian military against East Timor's bid to gain independence in 1999.

Mr Guterres will stand trial in connection with the massacre of 12 people in the Dili home of prominent independence leader Manuel Carrascalao on April 17, 1999, by members of his Aitarak (Thorn) militia and out-of-uniform soldiers.

But the prosecution case accuses Mr Guterres, 28, of doing no more than making provocative public remarks and failing to intervene before the massacre.

"The defendant gave a provocative speech and did not take sufficient measures to prevent or stop his subordinates from attacking Manuel Carrascalao's house and murdering people who were in Carrascalao's house," the indictment says.

Critics of the judicial process, launched by Indonesia over the orchestrated campaign of violence in East Timor, say prosecutors have failed to address the role of militia leaders and military officers in directing the violence, instead suggesting "little more than criminal negligence on the part of the accused".

An analysis of the trials, produced by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the indictments played down the extent of planning behind the violence and the nature of the violence, leaving the impression that the masterminds were "failing to prevent violence rather than actively orchestrating it".

The heart of the indictment against Mr Guterres involves a speech he gave to a militia show of strength in front of the East Timor governor's office, shortly before the attack on the Carrascalao house. The parade was witnessed by senior civilian officials and army commanders.

At the Jakarta hearing, prosecutors said Mr Guterres made a call to arms against the leadership of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), including Mr Carrascalao. "All leaders of CNRT must be eliminated. All pro-independence people must be killed," prosecutors quoted Mr Guterres as telling the crowd.

Later, militiamen and plainclothes members of the security forces embarked on a two-day spree of violence and harassment in Dili that left as many as 20 people dead. The indictment names 12 people who died in the Carrascalao house.

Three years after the events, Indonesian courts are yet to convict anyone over what the UN and Indonesia's human rights commission said were crimes against humanity.

East Timor militia leader faces court over abuses

Australian Associated Press - June 27, 2002

Catharine Munro, Jakarta -- Eurico Guterres, the militia leader who fought against independence from Indonesia in his native East Timor three years ago, today faced a human rights tribunal in Jakarta to hear charges of abuses.

A confident Guterres, 28, shook hands with his judges and prosecutors after being accused of failing to control his militia members ahead of the vote on independence on August 30, 1999.

"In your position as the former commander of [militia group] Aitarak, you were responsible for gross human rights violations conducted by your subordinates," prosecutor Muhammad Yusuf alleged. His charges carry a sentence ranging from a minimum 10 years imprisonment to death.

Guterres was deputy commander of the militia groups, set up by Jakarta ostensibly to maintain security in the province. He was also the flamboyant chief of the Aitarak militia gang based in capital Dili who threatened four days before the vote that the town would be turned into a "sea of fire" if independence was declared.

With the overwhelming vote to secede, East Timor was ransacked by militia and more than 1,000 people were killed.

Prosecutors today claimed Guterres incited an attack on the home of independence leader Manuel Carrascalao, where 136 refugees were sheltering on April 17, 1999.

Carrascalao's adopted teenage son was among 12 who died in the attack.

At the Jakarta hearing, prosecutors said Mr Guterres made a call to arms against the leadership of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), including Mr Carrascalao. "All leaders of CNRT must be eliminated. All pro-independence people must be killed," he was accused of telling his supporters in a scene at the governor's office that was widely televised, Yusuf said.

But absent from the charges was any reference to allegations by East Timorese human rights group Yayasan HAK that Guterres led an attack which resulted in a massacre in the town of Liquica in the same month.

Under the Dutch-based Indonesian legal system, Guterres, who is not in detention, was not required to enter a plea.

Afterwards, Guterres, wearing a scarf with Indonesia's national colours of red and white, approached the members of the bench, all of whom agreed to shake his hand.

"I do not reject the charges, but the charges must be proven in front of the court," he then told reporters. "The charges suggest I failed to maintain security in Dili. My question is why should I be responsible, when there were other leaders above me?"

The Indonesian military (TNI) commander for Dili, then-Colonel Tono Suratman, who reportedly gave Guterres his orders, has been named as a suspect but is yet to be charged. Neither has former regional commander Major General Adam Damiri.

Suratman is now a Brigadier General who acts as TNI's deputy spokesman while Damiri is based in Jakarta and is responsible for deciding troop deployments around Indonesia.

International observers have criticised the human rights tribunal for being too narrow in scope to prove that the ransacking of East Timor was systematically planned by the military. They have also criticised the prosecutors' indictments as being too weak.

Activists warn rights trial may ruin judiciary's image

Jakarta Post - June 29, 2002

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Human rights activists warned on Friday of another red mark against the country's judicial system should the ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal fail to hold a fair trial on the 1999 East Timor human rights abuses.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said on Friday that the prosecutors, in addition to their lack of knowledge and experience, have failed to produce strong evidence or key witnesses and expert witnesses who could help prove the charges of crimes against humanity.

"Such a condition will become a major impediment for the judges, who also have the opportunity to understand about a human rights trial and to reach a decision that conforms with the universal principles of a human rights trial," Todung told The Jakarta Post.

He said up until now the human rights trial appeared to be another venue that could strain both diplomatic ties with the international community and donor countries. Todung blamed this on the 2000 law on human rights tribunal which allows only retired state and military prosecutors to become ad hoc prosecutors.

Meanwhile, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) secretary-general Asmara Nababan pointed out on Friday that the defense side had succeeded in producing witnesses who supported their counter argument that the rights abuses were a spontaneous reaction to what they considered to be foreign intervention in the East Timor issue.

"The prosecutors should be active in producing representatives from the United Nations to the court to explain the role of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) that organized the referendum.

"What the court has been hearing up until now only comes from one side. It's dangerous ... The judges may not secure the whole truth," Asmara told the Post on Friday.

The ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal is now examining seven suspects believed to be responsible for a number of deadly attacks against pro-independence supporters before and after the United Nations- sponsored referendum on August 30, 1999, in which the East Timorese overwhelmingly voted to break away from Indonesia.

Prosecutors will soon submit five other cases.

A total of 18 senior officials and military personnel, including three Army generals, have been declared suspects in the rampage. The 18 suspects are mostly charged with neglecting their duty to prevent the murder, torture, and forced displacement of civilians.

Many, however, question the exclusion of Gen. Wiranto who was then chief commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) when the bloody violence broke out, driving close to 250,000 people into West Timor and burning almost 80 percent of infrastructure in the former 27th province of Indonesia.

UN issues new charges on East Timor war crimes

Melbourne Age - June 29, 2002

Jill Jolliffe -- The United Nations has increased pressure on the Indonesian Government to produce results over war crimes in East Timor by releasing its own detailed indictments for several cases including the Liquica church massacre.

The indictments, released this week by Timorese deputy prosecutor Siri Frigaard, include 36 new charges and firmly establish a command chain between the Indonesian army and the militias. This undermines the Australian Government's official line that "rogue elements" of the army, the TNI, were responsible for aiding and abetting the militias that went on the rampage in East Timor after its people voted for independence from Indonesia.

The text of the indictment for the Liquica massacre lists charges of crimes against humanity against four Indonesian officers -- including the charge of "extermination" -- and gives a detailed description of Indonesian disposal of bodies, not done in any indictment to date.

In another case, Lieutenant Try Sutrisno, deputy commander in Maliana, is accused of complicity in the murder of two UN employees, while charges of mass rape in the Bobonaro region have been laid against members of Joao Tavares' Halilintar militia gang.

The 36-page Liquica indictment was filed last November but had been withheld from publication until a Dili court could guarantee protection for key witnesses.

Ten people, including four Indonesian officers, have been accused over the attack, in which civilians were shot and hacked to death by militia gangs in the run-up to the 1999 independence referendum. Mrs Frigaard denied that the indictments were a message to Jakarta. "We are just doing our job," she said.

In late 1999, the UN Security Council voted for a two-track system of prosecution for people accused of war crimes in Timor. If satisfactory convictions were not secured, an international tribunal could take over.

The special court in Jakarta has a parallel prosecution under way for the Liquica massacre, but Mrs Frigaard said the Dili prosecution would continue anyway, because the evidence was strong and valid.

The new indictments came on the eve of a state visit to Jakarta by East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, who has been briefed by Mrs Frigaard.

The Liquica indictment alleges more than 100 people died in the church killings and describes a perfect command structure stretching from military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Asep Kuswani, his deputy Captain Purwanto and police commander Lieutenant-Colonel Adios Salova, to Indonesian-appointed civilian administrators to Timorese members of the Besi Merah Putih militia organisation.

It contradicts Australian Government claims at the time that rogue elements in the Indonesian army were responsible for the atrocities.

The Liquica and other indictments state that the Indonesian army and police violated a May, 1999, UN agreement between Portugal and Indonesia under which they would provide security for the referendum.

The Liquica indictment provides the first documentation of systematic Indonesian disposal of bodies, agreed between Indonesian officers, district head Leoneto Martins and militia commanders. To cover up the extent of the massacre, authorities ordered militiamen and soldiers to dispose of the bodies, the accusation said.

Eurico facing life sentence for murder, torture

Jakarta Post - June 28, 2002

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Eurico Guterres, former commander of the pro-Jakarta Aitarak militia in East Timor, stood trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on charges of murder and torture in the attacks on East Timorese leaders before the 1999 ballot.

The camouflage-clad Guterres was charged with torture and murder, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

According to the court's proceeding, Eurico was responsible for the attacks on the residences of proindependence East Timor leaders Manuel Viego Carrascalao and Leandro Isaac which killed 12 civilians and the son of Carrascalao on April 17, 1999, some four months before the ballot was conducted.

The government prosecutors said that the defendant was held responsible for the attack because he failed to prevent his followers from attacking and delivered an address before the militiamen, inciting them to violence against East Timorese supporting the territory's separation from Indonesia.

Eurico who wore his prointegration fighters (PPI) uniform in court, pled not guilty to the prosecutor's charges. "The indictment makes me laugh," he told the court which was packed with his fellow militiamen, "I was only a deputy commander of PPI. It is not me but former president B.J. Habibie who should be held responsible for all crimes against humanity in East Timor because the crimes were caused by his controversial decision."

The former president was applauded by pro-democracy people here and the international community, but came under heavy fire from the military and nationalists when he made an agreement with the UN for the East Timorese people to conduct a ballot, in which some 80 percent voted for freedom.

In its other session, the ad hoc court examined former East Timorese provincial police Insp. Gen. Timbul Silaen, a defendant in the 1999 post-ballot mayhem in East Timor and also subpoenaed several former government officials to testify about the violent rampage.

Judge Andi Samsan Nganro who presided over the court session, ordered prosecutor James Pardede to bring former foreign minister Ali Alatas, former coordinating minister for political and security affairs Feisal Tanjung and Agus Tarmizi of the Foreign Ministry to the next session to testify about the multilateral deals that preceded the ballot.

"We ask Your Honor to summon the three witnesses because their statements will be crucial in unraveling the diplomatic deals concerning the East Timorese ballot. We bear the consequences on our shoulders should their testimony implicate the defendants," he stated.

Feisal, who established the former task force to publicize the East Timor ballot (P3TT), had been questioned by the former inquiry committee (KPF) established by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) early in 2000 due to the existence of the "Garnadi Paper", a document urging systematic destruction in East Timor signed by Feisal's former assistant Maj. Gen. (ret) Garnadi. Garnadi admitted that it was his signature on the document but denied knowledge of the content.

Timbul told the court that the expedited announcement of the result of the independence ballot from the scheduled September 7 to September 4, had been the main reason for the consecutive attacks by the prointegration militia on proindependence supporters which the security forces failed to curb.

He expected the court to find the reasons why the Indonesian government agreed with the decision to expedite the announcement date.

The police, he said, who was in charge of security, had commenced Hanoin Lorosae operations to publicize the ballot and to secure the announcement of the ballot.

Komnas HAM member Koesparmono Irsan, who was coordinator of the Commission for Peace and Stability, testified in defense of Timbul, claiming that the violence was partially a result of the commission's failure to disarm the militia groups.

"The riots were inevitable but there was not massive destruction," he said, adding that UNAMET should also be responsible for the failure because it was also tasked to disarm the militiamen.

According to the May 5 tripartite agreement, UNAMET was responsible only for the administration of the ballot, while the Indonesian National Police were responsible for all security concerns, including disarming the people.

Hopes dim for international tribunal in Thoenes case

Christian Science Monitor - June 25, 2002

Michael J. Jordan, United Nations -- Indonesia's commitment to justice is being questioned after Jakarta's decision to shelve an investigation into a Dutch journalist's murder.

The inquiry into the death of reporter Sander Thoenes, killed during a 1999 military rampage in East Timor, was widely seen as a major test of the Indonesian judiciary's credibility.

"It becomes clearer and clearer that Indonesia can't and won't do the job," said John Miller, of the New York-based East Timor Action Network, after Jakarta's announcement earlier this month that it was dropping the case for lack of evidence.

As the East Timor Action Network, other human-rights activists, as well as the reporter's family renew their call for a UN- sanctioned war-crimes tribunal, the international community's tough talk has melted into a wait-and-see attitude.

The geopolitical reality today suggests that such a tribunal is unlikely. "If it didn't happen in 1999, when what was happening in East Timor was the focus of the international community and there was a sense of outrage, then there's much less likelihood it would happen now," says one European diplomat at the United Nations.

Indonesia's treatment of East Timor has slid to the back burner of international attention over the past year, supplanted by the crises of global terrorism, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Kashmir.

Politics also explains why pressure has eased on Indonesia, observers say. The UN itself is wary of disrupting efforts by now independent East Timor to normalize relations with Indonesia. The Chinese, who wield a veto on the UN Security Council, rigidly oppose international tribunals -- lest their actions in, say, Tibet or Tiananmen Square be exposed to prosecution. And the White House and Pentagon are pressing to reestablish military relations with Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- and bring it on board as an ally in the US "war on terror."

All this presents major obstacles to creating an international war-crimes tribunal for the Thoenes case or other cases.

"Until they have exhausted their processes and it's clear they haven't produced results, our inclination is to leave it with the Indonesians and to urge them to do the right thing," says John Dauth, Australia's ambassador to the UN. "So, while we're not going the international tribunal route at the moment, we're not ruling it out for the future."

Indonesia had promised to ferret out anyone within its own ranks who had perpetrated the mayhem that engulfed East Timor in September 1999. Eighteen lower-ranking soldiers, civilian administrators, and militia members are now charged with "crimes against humanity" and assorted human-rights abuses.

Convictions are expected to be handed down next month, though few observers expect them to be much more than slaps on the wrist.

But the investigation into who killed Thoenes -- a Financial Times correspondent and Monitor contributor -- was considered by UN and Dutch investigators as the best-documented case of military-orchestrated violence.

Thoenes arrived in East Timor on September 21, 1999, just ahead of Australian peacekeepers and reportedly fell off a motorcycle while being chased. A member of the Indonesian Army Battalion 745 allegedly then shot the reporter in the back, killing him.

An international tribunal is needed in the case, says Peter Thoenes, brother of Sander and the spokesman for the Thoenes family, "to put pressure on Indonesia, and to make clear that in Indonesia there is not even the ghost of a judicial system."

The Dutch government itself, which conducted its own investigation and shared the results with the Indonesian authorities, was also frustrated with Indonesia's decision.

A spokesman for the Dutch mission to the UN, however, says the country would not be lobbying for an international tribunal.

"We regret the Indonesian decision, and we have always pushed for each and every person guilty of war crimes to be brought to justice," says spokesman Peter Mollema. "But even with an international tribunal, you would only be able to bring the soldiers to justice with the cooperation of the Indonesian government." As for the UN, it plans to send an observer to the trials in an effort to step up pressure on Jakarta.

But for the most part, the international community is withholding judgment until whatever convictions are announced next month.

"Let's not forget that these trials are a positive development; at least there are now trials dealing with human rights," says US Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

"But the focus must be on the result of these trials. It's not only a question of convictions, but of credible punishment for those convicted. The world is watching -- a year in jail for war crimes is not enough, and house arrest is not sufficient. We must continue to hold the specter of an international tribunal out there to ensure maximum justice and to serve as a fail-safe in the event the trials do not produce justice."

Deputy Prosecutor admits trials flawed

Radio Australia - June 28, 2002

[Siri Frigaard Deputy Prosecutor in East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit, overseeing investigations into crimes against humanity in East Timor has admitted that history may be critical of the justice dealt out to perpetrators of the bloodshed and destruction in 1999. She says the special court established under the United Nations administration to hear the cases is under- resourced and too inexperienced to ensure a fair trial in all cases.]

Transcript:

Snowdon: Siri Frigaard is normally the senior Public Prosecutor for Oslo. She was hired earlier this year as Dili's deputy prosecutor for 18 months to help get the struggling Serious Crimes Investigation Unit back on track. She's just been told she has to wind up by the end of the year, six months early and knows the job wont be finished.

Frigaard: We will not finish to investigate and to prosecute all the events from 1999. That's impossible, its too much. So in a way we have to concentrate on the bigger cases, the most serious ones and try to finish that.

Snowdon: Critics -- and there are many -- say the Serious Crimes Unit is only catching the small fry. The Foundation for Law, Human Rights and Justice documented many crimes before Indonesian troops destroyed its office and jailed the researchers, including its head of policy, Joachim Fonseca.

Fonseca: After two years very few prosecutions have taken place and are only limited to small or low level militia. It is rather concerning that the Serious Crimes is going to be successful or not successful with the current setting especially before changes are made.

Snowdon: Time for change is running out. While 117 indictments have been handed down -- only 23 convictions have been achieved so far -- only two for crimes against humanity. To prosecute the cases the Special Panel of the Dili District Court was established. It has the help of some international judges of varying qualifications, but it will have to get through all the outstanding cases by the end of next year before it too gets wound-up.

Caitlin Reiger, the Co Director of the non-government Judicial System Monitoring Program in Dili says the whole justice system is under stress.

Reiger: Its really struggling, its struggling in all aspects of its work in terms of ordinary cases but also particularaly in the handling of the serious crimes cases which are focussing on the violence from '99.

Snowdon: It shouldn't surprise anyone that a country left in ruins and with just one qualified lawyer and no indigenous judges should be finding it difficult to get a functioning justice system operating just a few years after the Indonesian sponsored chaos of '99.

But that's what the United Nations adminstration had hoped for when it set up a court system and the Serious Crimes Unit just a year later. And not just any justice system -- but one that could deal with crimes against humanity on the scale seen in East Timor. Caitlin Reiger.

Reiger: Its a range of problems, mainly the fact that Indonesia isn't cooperating with the prosecutions and therefore there's a limit to how much those cases that are brought here in East Timor are able to achive. And also the other major problem is the situation here in the court system that its struggling and will need significant ongoing international assistance for some time to come.

Snowdon: So its not just a case of first catch your criminal but make sure you can put on a fair trial.

Some of the problems facing East Timor's court include the lack of translators, a serious lack of qualified judges and defence lawyers, who are facing court prosecutors with experience from international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. There's little funding to make many improvements. Its a fact Deputy Prosecutor Siri Frigaard doesn't deny.

Frigaard: What I am afraid of is that afterwards, some years ahead people will say that its not justice because they didn't have enough defence or they didn't have proper interpretors. That I'm afraid might happen.

Indonesia

Indonesian export to East Timor increases

Xinhua - June 27, 2002

Jakarta -- The Indonesian export volume to neighboring East Timor increased from around 20 million US dollars in 2000 to more than 33 million US dollars in 2001, an official said Thursday.

Posh Hutabarat of the Indonesian Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Indonesia has three major export gates to East Timor located in Kupang, capital of the East Nusa Tenggara province, Surabaya of the East Java province and Makassar of the South Sulawesi province.

He expected that East Timor would become an important trading partner in the future. Indonesia's main export goods are basic commodities and agricultural machinery, the Antara News Agency reported.

Both countries are expected to ratify the bill on bilateral trade that prohibits traffics of oil fuel, weapons, illegal drugs, yellow sandalwood, military uniforms, communication tools and gold.

News & issues

Authorities bust child refugee trafficking

Jakarta Post - June 27, 2002

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang -- Local security authorities have broken up a network that allegedly trafficked dozens of East Timorese toddlers over the last year.

The head of the Wirasakti Militry Command in East Nusa Tenggara, Col. Muswarno Moesanip, said on Wednesday that most of the children were taken from refugee camps in the province and sent to orphanages in Java.

The colonel said that since August 2001, about 150 children had been sent to separate orphanages in Central Java.

The children were sent to the orphanages by the Hati Foundation, allegedly led by a student named Octavio Soares, who is currently registered at a university in Yogyakarta, Moesanip said.

"He lured the parents with promises that their children would be sent to schools in Java, and asked them to sign letters of agreement," he said.

However, the children were sent to orphanages and Octavio allegedly used the letters of agreement to request financial support for the children from donor agencies. "He hid behind the foundation, making it difficult for us to unravel the case," Moesanip said.

The issue of child trafficking was raised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) during a recent meeting. The UN body said it had received reports that children in the refugee camps were being held in hostage-like situations.

The violent separation of East Timor from Indonesia left about 250,000 people from the former Indonesian province as refugees, many of whom would like to return to their hometowns.

However, some of these refugees reported that their children had been taken to Java, and the parents refused to return to East Timor without their children.

The Indonesian government has been looking into the matter, and was finally able allegedly to link the missing children to Octavio, a onetime prointegration fighter.

"We plan to return 10 children to their parents tomorrow [Thursday] from an orphanage in Semarang, Central Java. The TNI [Indonesian Military] will accompany the children," Moesanip said.

He said the orphanage had requested protection from the military because the traffickers had intercepted the children several times and sent them back to different orphanages.

"The children were forced off the bus that was supposed to take them back to Kupang, and the traffickers took the children to a different orphanage," Moesanip said, quoting a report from the orphanage.

He said the Hati Foundation sent the children to the Saint Thomas Orphanage in Semarang and the Saint Mary Orphanage in Yogyakarta.

Suspicions of child trafficking began in September 2001, when the UNHCR attempted to locate the children and return them to East Timor. However, the foundation claimed it had no knowledge of the children. The Indonesian government, after evaluating the case, decided to assist the UNHCR in returning the children to their parents.

"The children missed their parents, and I have met some of the parents who said that they had given up their children because they were intimidated by prointegration leaders," Moesanip said.

The commander also vowed that the military would continue to investigate the case, which allegedly involves more prointegration leaders in the refugee camps. "This is a serious humanitarian problem and we will work hard to solve the case immediately," he said.

Whitlam seeks to set record straight on Timor

Australian Associated Press - June 26, 2002

Sydney -- Former prime minister Gough Whitlam today launched a book which he described as "patronising" of his dealings with East Timor as it sank into Indonesian control.

Author and journalist Bill Nicol has updated his 25-year-old book which was highly critical of the Whitlam government's lack of involvement in trying to secure the struggling nation's independence.

But Mr Nicol has withdrawn earlier assertions that Mr Whitlam had committed a "political offence" by virtually telling Indonesia that it could do whatever it liked with Timor.

Mr Whitlam made only brief statements about the book, Timor - A Nation Reborn, at today's launch at Sydney University but he laid out an extensive account of his dealings with Timor, covering the deaths of the Balibo Five and diplomatic dealings.

When asked if he considered Mr Nicol's revised book to be an apology for heavy criticism of his government, Mr Whitlam replied: "No I don't, he's been somewhat patronising of what he said about me but at least Nicol was there, longer than anybody else in 75."

Mr Whitlam said he had been a victim of a vendetta by Fairfax journalists who condemned his involvement in East Timor.

"What I regret is that the Portuguese didn't stay and do their duty and do what was suggested five or 10 years [earlier] -- preparing for an act of self determination," he said today.

"The invasion occurred on the 7th of December, that is over three weeks after I ceased to be the prime minister and do you suggest that the Fraser government should then have sent troops in; do you suggest we should have gone to war when the Americans obviously wouldn't have assisted us?"

International relations

'First the butchery, then the flowers'

Counter Punch - May 16-31, 2002

Joseph Nevins -- East Timor became the world's first new country of the millennium on May 20 and, appropriately, the Bush administration poured salt on East Timor's deep wounds. Bush's salt took the form of Bill Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, Clinton's last United Nations ambassador. Bush tapped the pair to head the US delegation to East Timor's recent independence celebration.

US backing for Jakarta's 1975 invasion and occupation was a decisive factor in East Timor's traumatic history, one in which Clinton and Holbrooke were key actors. Washington authorized the invasion and then proceeded to provide billions of dollars in military and economic support as well as significant diplomatic cover to Jakarta's almost 24-year occupation. Over 200,000 East Timorese -- about one-third of the pre-invasion population -- lost their lives as a result. The bulk of the killings in East Timor took place during the Carter "human rights" presidency. Holbrooke served as the administration's asst. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and as a principal architect of its policy toward East Timor.

UN Security Council resolutions condemned Jakarta's invasion and occupation but the Carter-Holbrooke team provided Jakarta with advanced counter-insurgency aircraft, which the Indonesian military employed to bomb and napalm the East Timorese. An Australian parliamentary report later described the period as one of "indiscriminate killing on a scale unprecedented in post-World War II history." Holbrooke had the sublime effrontery to claim in 1979 that "[t]he welfare of the Timorese people is the major objective of our policy toward East Timor."

The blank-check-approach toward Jakarta continued in the Reagan and Bush (Sr.) administrations. Then Bill Clinton's election in late 1992 served to bolster hpes. In their campaign book, Putting People First: How We Can All Change America, Clinton and Gore pledged that their administration would "never forge strategic relationships with dangerous, despotic regimes. It will understand that our foreign policy must promote democracy as well as stability." In a 1992 press conference, Clinton went so far as to state that he was "very concerned about the situation in East Timor. We have ignored it so far in ways that are unconscionable."

Upon assuming office in 1993, Clinton responded somewhat to growing grassroots and congressional pressure to limit Washington's complicity with Jakarta's crimes. Over the next few years, his administration halted the sale of small and light arms, riot-control equipment, helicopter-mounted weaponry, and armored personnel carriers to Indonesia. But it also provided over $500 million in economic assistance over its two terms in office and sold and licensed the sales of hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry to Jakarta.

The Clinton administration even side-stepped a ban on the provision of International Military Education and Training -- one imposed by Congress in October 1992 -- by allowing Indonesia to buy the service instead of getting it gratis. The administration further circumvented Congress' intent and secretly provided lethal training to Indonesia's military (TNI). At least 28 training exercises in sniper tactics, urban warfare, explosives, psychological operations, and other techniques took place between 1993 and 1998 in Indonesia through the Pentagon's Joint Combined Exchange Training. The primary beneficiary was the Kopassus, Indonesian units responsible for many of the worst atrocities in East Timor.

At the recent May 20 ceremony in Dili, East Timor's capital, Clinton helped to cut the ribbon on the new US embassy. He was there, he proclaimed, "to make a clear and unambiguous statement that America stands behind the people of East Timor in the cause of freedom in the Pacific," something that "is in our nation's best interest and consistent with our deepest values." After the brief statement, the journalist Allan Nairn shouted out a question regarding Clinton's support for Indonesia's crimes in East Timor.

"I don't believe America and any of the other countries were sufficiently sensitive in the beginning ... and for a long time before 1999, going way back to the '70s, to the suffering of the people of East Timor," Clinton responded.

"[W]hen it became obvious to me what was really going on and that we couldn't justify not standing up for what the East Timorese wanted and for the decent treatment for them ... I tried to make sure we had the right policy," he continued. "I can't say that everything that we did before 1999 was right. I'm not here to defend everything we did. We never tried to sanction or support the oppression of the East Timorese."

Of course, Clinton and the Washington political establishment had long been cognizant of "what was really going on" in the horror that was occupied East Timor. And in 1999, the year he suggests that US policy got on the "right" track, his administration continued to sell weapons and provide various forms of military and economic support to Jakarta.

The administration officially supported the UN-run referendum on the territory's political status on August 30, 1999. Yet, it did nothing meaningful in response to atrocities by the TNI and its "militia" proxies preceding the ballot and to calls by the East Timorese and various international organizations for stepped-up security measures. The resulting security breach facilitated a systematic TNI-militia campaign of revenge once the pro- independence outcome of the ballot was known. In approximately three weeks, they destroyed 70 percent of the territory's buildings and infrastructure, forcibly deported about 250,000 people to Indonesian West Timor, killed at least 2,000, and raped large numbers of women.

By early 1999 the Australian government had gathered intelligence proving that the TNI -- including the senior command structure -- was responsible for organizing, arming, and directing the militia that terrorized the East Timorese in the run-up to the vote. Australia's Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) had intercepted electronic communications showing that TNI had the intention of launching a widespread campaign of terror and destruction around the time of the vote.

Given the intense levels of intelligence cooperation between the two countries -- in addition to Washington's own highly advanced intelligence-gathering capabilities -- the Clinton White House undoubtedly had access to such information. Indeed, a US National Security Agency liaison officer is always in the DSD headquarters in Canberra. Nevertheless, the administration failed to threaten a cut off of economic and military aid as a preventative measure. It even refused to issue a presidential statement warning Jakarta of the dangers of not complying with its obligations to ensure security for the UN ballot.

Instead, Clinton and company made meaningless statements calling upon the TNI to rein in the militia and to establish control over supposed "rogue elements." As late as September 8, 1999, by which time much of East Timor had been burnt to the ground and large numbers slaughtered, senior administration officials were still calling upon Gen. Wiranto, the TNI head, to replace "bad" troops with ones loyal to Jakarta's political leadership.

Rapidly rising grassroot and congressional pressures soon made such posturing untenable. In addition, according to Nobel laureate Josi Ramos-Horta, the Portuguese government had threatened to pull its troops out of Kosovo and to withdraw from NATO unless Washington supported international intervention in East Timor. To show its seriousness, Lisbon denied permission for 16 US military flights over the Azores.

Finally, on September 11 -- one week into the TNI's final rampage -- Clinton ended all support for Indonesia's military. Washington's ambassador to Jakarta, Stapleton Roy, had explained a few days earlier why Clinton was so resistant to stopping support for Indonesia. "The dilemma is that Indonesia matters and East Timor doesn't," he said.

Almost none of this history of US complicity made into the corporate press coverage related to East Timor's independence. With the exception of an excellent op-ed in The Baltimore Sun and an outstanding article in the International Herald Tribune, no major US newspaper provided anything approaching a full picture of the US role in Indonesia's crimes in East Timor. While The New York Times carried an editorial that mentioned Ford and Kissinger's explicit authorization for the invasion, it said nothing of the next 23+ years of American complicity. The Boston Globe did the same, while also criticizing Clinton for "failing to prevent or stop in time the vengeful campaign of murder, rape, and destruction that Indonesian military officers loosed upon the East Timorese," but not for helping to sustain that same military.

A few other major papers did mention the US role, but typically grossly misrepresented it. Thus, a Los Angeles Times op-ed (May 19) spoke of "few objections" from Washington in the face of Indonesia's 1975 invasion. And along with The Washington Post, the Times reported the next day on Clinton's comment about the US not having been as "sensitive" as it should have been, but said nothing more. A Chicago Tribune editorial also alluded to Clinton's pathetic statement, which it favorably characterized as having "added some closure" to East Timor's bloody past. As for the rest of the major newspapers, they were silent about such matters. And all (with the exception of The Baltimore Sun op-ed) were mute about the need to ensure accountability by Jakarta and Washington for East Timor's suffering.

East Timor's political leadership was also silent. But this is understandable. As a UN Development Program report recently documented, East Timor is one of the world's 20 poorest countries. It also has as a neighbor an Indonesia still dominated by a hostile military, one that, despite its myriad crimes against humanity in East Timor, will most likely not be held accountable in any sort of judicial process. The "international community" -- shorthand for the handful of powerful countries (especially the United States) that shape international relations -- has made it clear that it will not support the establishment of any sort of international tribunal for East Timor.

Although former resistance leaders like Xanana Gusmco (now the country's president) and Josi Ramos-Horta (now the foreign minister) have forcefully spoken in the past about the need for far-reaching accountability for their country's plight, they almost never mention it now, instead stressing the need for "reconciliation" and to concentrate on the future.

Some leaders within East Timor are trying to ensure that "reconciliation" does not become a substitute for justice. Yayasan HAK, East Timor's premier human rights organization, issued a statement on independence day, for example, that characterized "[t]he resistance of the international community of nations and the United Nations to an international tribunal" as "symptomatic of the problems facing East Timor today. Some of our own leaders, in seeing this resistance, have dropped the demand for an international tribunal for fear of angering donor governments," it continued. "Even our own leaders feed us nonsense about 'forgetting the past and looking to the future.'"

In his final words in response to Nairn's question, Clinton stated that "I think the right thing to do is to do what the leaders of East Timor said. They want to look forward, you want to look backward. I'm going to stick with the leaders. You want to look backward. Have at it, but you'll have to have help from someone else."

For the sake of East Timor's people, for others throughout the world who face the direct or indirect violence of Washington, and for our own sake, we here in the United States will have to be a significant part of that "someone else."

[Joseph Nevins, working at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the "Illegal Alien" and the Making of the US-Mexico Boundary.]

Canberra pressures Xanana

Green Left Weekly - June 29, 2002

Jon Land -- East Timor's recently elected president, Xanana Gusmao, arrived in Canberra on June 17 for his first official state visit to Australia. Accompanied by foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta and other East Timorese representatives, Gusmao stressed that "Australia is the first country that we came to visit and to talk about the future".

At the press conference convened to mark the visit, Prime Minister John Howard declared, "the path ahead will have a lot of difficulties but the friendship and support of the Australian government and the Australian people will be a constant element of East Timor's journey along that path".

Behind the diplomacy and pleasantries, however, lies intense pressure from the Australian government upon East Timor to forgo its international rights concerning the maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea and its sovereignty over vast oil and gas reserves that the Australian government has laid claim to.

Gusmao avoided directly answering questions from journalists regarding the Timor Sea agreement. Asked about the decision by Australia not to abide by rulings of the International Court of Justice in relation to maritime boundaries, he stated that "the two governments will do everything to work to a solution with mutual benefits and respect in each other's sovereignty".

When asked whether the Howard government should apply more pressure on Jakarta to bring to justice members of the Indonesian military responsible for the 1999 violence in East Timor, Gusmao was also evasive. "About Indonesian military, I would like to say that give them the opportunity to prove to the international community their good will in this matter", he replied.

Gusmao's and other East Timorese leaders' unwillingness to push for an international war crimes tribunal to try those responsible for the killings and destruction in East Timor reflects the pressure from Australia, the United States and other Western powers which are keen to restore full military ties with Indonesia.

Within East Timor, the issues of the Timor Sea negotiations and the lack of an international war crimes tribunal have resulted in stepped up lobbying and protest activities by East Timorese non- government organisations and opposition figures.

A June 13 open letter, sent by prominent NGO leaders to all members of East Timor's parliament, called for great transparency and more discussion before the Timor Sea agreement is ratified. This was accompanied by a 300-strong demonstration outside the parliament.

East Timor press reviews

June 28

UNMISET - June 28, 2002

MP Manuel Tilman (KOTA) is quoted by the Timor Post as saying that more parliamentary commissions are needed to look into the government's programs.

In an editorial the paper focused on the tender process for a minibus public transport system and urged the government not to award the contract to a foreign company.

Suara Timor Lorosae reports that there is an increase in the number of students selling cooked chicken at the Taibesse market in order to pay their school fees.

A teacher at a Bairro Piti primary school in Dili is reportedly requesting the government award higher salaries to teachers with many years of teaching experience.

ETPS Commissioner Paulo Martins will reportedly leave for Malaysia tomorrow to attend a police-training course.

A youth in Dili is quoted as saying that he does not feel it is safe to walk at night due to an increase in crime. He appeals for more police to patrol the capital after dark.

STL reported that many former Indonesian civil servants are refusing to collect their pensions because the payments are less than they had been expecting.

On its opinion page STL published the full text of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's speech to the Parliament yesterday in which he presented the government's budget proposal.

[Drafted by Ceu Brites, UNMISET Spokesperson's office]

June 27

UNMISET - June 27, 2002

The Timor Post quoted the director of an American coffee Company, Sisto Moniz Piedade, as saying that the purchase prices being offered to East Timorese farmers are based on international market rates. The problem of coffee prices was raised in a Timor Post editorial that said that coffee farmers are refusing to sell their product because coffee buyers had not informed them of the drop in international coffee prices. The editorial recommended that the government establish a committee to update the farmers on world coffee prices.

Former militia leader Joco Tavares is quoted as saying that integration with Indonesia is no longer an option.

A tender will be made public tomorrow for public minibuses operating in the capital.

MP Francisco Jeronimo (FRETILIN) yesterday raised the concerns of Liquiga district residents regarding the activities of the Falintil Base De Apoio (FBA) group in the area.

The World Vision NGO has ended its mission in Aileu district, transferring all its equipment to the local government.

Six former militia members have returned to their village in Laulala in Ermera district following a "Come and See" visit last month. The six men say they are ready to obey the law and order of the country.

The head of the Land and Property department of Bobonaro district, Carlos Cardozo, said regulations established by UNTAET on Land and Property applied mainly to properties left by Portugal and Indonesia, and that there are as yet no regulations in place to remove people living in these properties.

Videoconferencing technology will connect Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique and East Timor for a CPLP (Communities of Portuguese- speaking countries) meeting at the end of next month.

MP Josi Andrade was quoted as saying that a youth by the name of Joco Barreto has been denied recruitment by the ETPS because he was a member of the SAKA militia group.

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that Indonesian soldiers disguised as militia members actively participated in the attack on Bishop's Belo residence in Dili in September 1999. The accusations were made at the beginning of yesterday's Ad Hoc Tribunal session in Jakarta.

STL quoted former militia member Joco Tavares as saying, "If there is evidence [that he was involved in crimes against humanity], I am ready to stand trial."

Hundreds of former Indonesian civil servants demonstrated in the capital yesterday because they are unhappy with the size of their pension payments. The paper said that most of the former civil servants are elderly and are forced to go without food or water while they are waiting at the bank for their payments.

Many vendors have reportedly been setting up stalls at the Becora public transport terminal. Residents of the Bairro Pite area of Dili do not feel safe due to nightly disturbances by local youths.

A Training Center for Small Business will be soon be established at the Becora Vocational Training School, while students at the Dili Technical School will soon be taking their first examinations.

The Director of East Timor's NGO Forum says there needs to be a national conference on the Timor Gap.

Many residents of Ainaro district are reportedly feeling discriminated against when applying for jobs and are complaining of rampant corruption and nepotism in the area.

Residents of Maubisse district are appealing to the government to treat all East Timorese equally and saying that development should begin in the western part of the country. They are also calling on government officials to visit the sub-districts and explain concepts such as democracy, law, justice and human rights.

[Drafted by: Ceu Brites, UNMISET spokesperson's office]

June 26

UNMISET - June 26, 2002

MP Armando da Silva (LP) was quoted by the Timor Post as saying that Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri must address Parliament on the state of Timor Sea negotiations in order to avoid misunderstandings within East Timor's communities.

In an editorial, the Timor Post calls on the former head of a pro-Indonesian group, Joco Tavares, to stop making demands and return to East Timor like any other Timorese.

Eurico Guterres, the former head of the Aitarak militia group, has reportedly confirmed that he is ready to testify at the Ad hoc tribunal in Jakarta. "If I do not testify the public will think that I am a coward. I don't want to act like a coward. What my friends and I did in East Timor was to defend my nation."

Ermera residents are reportedly refusing to sell their coffee beans due to low market prices.

The Director of East Timor Civil Security, David Ximenes, has been quoted as saying that the actions of the police when arresting a suspect named Maucale last week in Dili was beyond their authority. East Timorese Police Commissioner Paulo Martins denied that the police covered their faces with masks when arresting Maucale.

The Government must establish regulations on trade, Filipe Mendes, a student at the Dili-based Economics Institute, ISEG, was quoted as saying. Dozens of East Timorese pensioners are upset because they have not received as much money in pension payments as they had expected.

Some youths are complaining that although Portuguese has been adopted as the official language, the teaching of it in schools should not be forced on them.

MP Arlindo Margal (PDC) has been quoted as saying that the nation's security is in the hands of FDTL and ETPS.

The ferry service between Dili, Oecussi and Atazro has reportedly been operating well.

Youths in Gariwai village in Baucau district are pelting passing cars with rocks. Residents of the area are reportedly not feeling safe.

Udayana Military Commander General William da Costa was quoted as appealing to East Timorese refugees in West Timor not to get involved in violence.

Suara Timor Lorosae reports that ETPS Commissioner Paulo Martins met and updated Minister of Internal Administration Rogerio Lobato on the police service and the challenges they have faced since independence.

East Timorese representatives reportedly rejected a request made by the former head of a pro-Indonesia militia group, Joco Tavares, during a meeting yesterday in Batugade. MP Clementino Amaral (KOTA) said Tavares' request to have a cantonment for former militia members in Maliana would create new problems.

Residents of Ainaro are requesting that the government build secondary and pre-secondary schools in their area to enable their children to attend classes.

[Drafted by: Ceu Brites UNMISET spokesperson's office]

June 25

UNMISET - June 25, 2002

The Timor Post quoted Fretilin MP Maria Terezinha Viegas as saying President Gusmao would like to amnesty only those people who have been sentenced and sent to jail. She added that the parliament will soon begin debate on amnesty legislation.

Bishop Belo wants the Korean soccer team to win the World Cup. He says, "The reason why I support South Korea is because East Timor is now one of the Asian nations, therefore I hope that we will all support them."

East Timor Police Commissioner Paulo Martins is reported as saying that police still do not know the cause of the death of a youth found on Farol beach, Dili, over the weekend.

The Director of Legal Aid Foundation, Liberta Benevides Correia Barros, accused the Government of interfering with the judicial system.

East Timorese witnesses are providing the Ad Hoc Tribunals in Jakarta with teleconferenced statements due to security fears.

The Deputy Director of the Education Department, Antonio Pires, said that the Indonesian school curriculum is still in use in East Timor because a new curriculum has not yet been developed.

Residents of the Bidau area of Dili are calling on the police to release a man arrested last week during a house search.

An announcement by Minister of Finance Madalena Boavida that the government will increase taxes on imports by 20 percent has been criticized by the Timor Post, which says that the cost of goods will rise beyond the reach of most East Timorese.

The former head of Urahou village in Ermera district, who recently returned from West Timor, is quoted as saying he is happy to be home and urges refugees still living in West Timor to ignore to any rumors and return as well.

Timor Post reported that a reconciliation meeting scheduled for today between the former leader of a pro-integration group, Joco Tavares, government officials and representatives from 12 of East Timor's districts could result in the return of thousands of refugees still living in West Timor.

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that a total of 854 former Indonesian civil servants yesterday received pension payments.

STL says that the East Timorese people disagree totally with the idea of compensating Indonesia for assets it lost after pulling out of East Timor.

The Audian district of Dili is reportedly full of uncollected rubbish.

Lahane residents of Dili, and students at the Kristal and UNAMET high schools, are complaining about the lack of public transport in their respective areas.

STL reports that if there is a long drought, residents of Ainaro district might face food shortages.

MP Fernando "Lasama" Arazjo (PD) reportedly said it was unconstitutional for Francisco "Lu'Olo" Guterres to swear-in President Gusmao because members of the Constituent Assembly only became Parliamentarians on 20 May.

CPD-RDTL coordinator, Egidio da Silva, reportedly said that many of his members have taken refuge in the jungle because they consider the ETPS and UN Police to be partisan and a threat.