Transition & reconstruction

Timor's new government faces a challenge from rebels

Far Eastern Economic Review - July 4, 2002

Mark Dodd, Dili -- At just four weeks old East Timor may be the world's newest nation, but its first big problem is how to deal with its past. Tensions over the treatment of veteran guerrillas who fought for its independence are challenging the authority of the country's new democratic government.

In demonstrations across East Timor, hundreds of uniformed men, many armed with knives and machetes and all claiming to be former members of the East Timorese resistance, have been demanding state welfare and official recognition for services rendered during 24 years of armed struggle against Indonesian rule.

The demonstrations were organized by Cornelio Gama, a dissident ex-guerrilla commander who goes by his old jungle code-name, L-7. Gama claims he has more than 5,000 supporters in a country of 800,000 people.

Their sense of entitlement is compounded by the fact that the new government is led by someone who was once among their ranks: President Xanana Gusmao, the former commander-in-chief of Falintil, which was the armed wing of pro-independence group Fretilin.

Gama and his supporters are angry at what they claim was a lack of transparency in the selection process that transformed certain former Falantil officers into senior commanders of the national army, the East Timor Defence Force, or FDTL. "It was a political demobilization. Xanana's friends got in and his enemies were left out. It's a politicized military. They are very much Xanana's boys," says a Western security analyst based in Dili.

Three groups, including Gama's -- mischievously named Falintil -- claim to represent former combatants and their families. Their noisy martial parades began in the lead-up to independence on May 20, and for many residents of the capital, Dili, they drew a scary parallel with the ugly pro-Jakarta militia rallies of 1999, a time of violence that left an estimated 1,500 people dead.

The parades served another purpose. Not only did a jittery United Nations offer Gama's followers temporary employment as security guards for Independence Day celebrations, but the demonstrations may have helped a prominent Gama ally, Rogerio Lobato, win the post of interior minister. Lobato also heads a veterans' organization with Gama as his deputy.

The government has also offered Gama the job of administrator for his home district, Baucau, and given him a new minibus, a senior government official told the Review. Whether such rewards will placate or encourage the ex-guerrilla remains to be seen, but for his followers, no solution is in sight.

The government has established an office of veterans' affairs, though with a budget of only $156,000 it is unlikely to provide any meaningful level of assistance. And granting benefits to all claimants won't be enough, given that their grievance has more to do with having been frozen out of the government decision-making process.

Gama's group has also been accused by the East Timor police of involvement in an armed stand-off with authorities in a southeastern village. Most recently, FDTL commander Brig.-Gen. Taur Matan Ruak reported, the homes of several government soldiers were set on fire.

Historical rivalries almost certainly lie at the source of the dispute. In February 2001 the legendary Falintil guerrilla army was demobilized as a prerequisite for the recruitment of 600 former fighters to form the core of the new 3,000-strong defence force. To ease the transition for those who were not recruited, a $2.65 million programme was implemented by the World Bank, the United States and Japan to help 1,300 ex-combatants return to civilian life.

Other claimants have stepped forward demanding recognition and assistance for their part in the independence struggle. But according to the police and the FDTL, Gama's supporters include imposters and deserters hoping for a free handout in a country where unemployment is rampant. Given the shadowy nature of the 24-year fight for independence, few records were kept of the resistance network.

Meanwhile the army has deployed the first FDTL battalion, not to the border with Indonesia but to the east of the half-island territory, where Gama's support base lies -- raising concerns that the new army sees its role as one of internal security in addition to national defence.

Rural issues

Rural East Timor: independent but poverty-stricken

Melbourne Age - July 6, 2002

Jill Jolliffe, Maubisse -- Like most country folk in East Timor, the 18,000 people of the Maubisse district are enthusiastic about independence, but worried about their future. The enormous challenges of survival they face are tougher than those facing their city counterparts.

Since the UN entered East Timor in 1999, Maubisse has become the favoured hill resort for the UN's high-spending, cosmopolitan staff. They come to this mist-shrouded mountain town to escape the stresses of Dili, staying at The Pousada, a Portuguese hotel built in the 1940s and recently restored to its magnificent best. Here, tropical vegetation gives way to rose gardens where weekenders can stroll, while others laze around the cable television as they sip fine Portuguese wines.

The terrain is dramatically beautiful, but most hamlets in view are inaccessible by road, and local people walk hours for basic needs. Telephones are unheard of, medical services are thinly stretched and one school here has four teachers for 600 children.

According to a 2001 UN survey, 60 per cent of East Timor's rural population live below the poverty line, compared with 24 per cent of urban residents. Only 20 per cent of villages have electricity. On average income, a Timorese would have to work 11 weeks to pay the $US70 it costs to sleep one night in The Pousada.

Poverty is the greatest problem, parish priest Herminio Goncalves says. He tends an incredibly devout flock: both Sunday masses attract about 7000 people each. Faith has been reinforced by suffering.

The Maubisse graveyard shows many deaths occurred in 1975 after Indonesia's attack on Dili. There was a lot of fighting here as the Indonesian army advanced into the mountains. More recently came the horrors of 1999 militia violence during which about 3000 residents were deported to West Timor. (Most have returned and talks are underway to rescue the others.)

The twice-weekly market is thronged with betel nut-chewing local farmers, who squat around the town square with their wares laid out on the dirt. Some have travelled in by sturdy Timor pony. Others, principally women, have walked in, carrying heavy loads on their heads.

This moderate climate produces crisp green beans, mandarins, avocados, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and shallots. Livestock is traded at the back of the market, where palm wine flows generously.

A large part of Dili's fruit and vegetable supply comes from Maubisse, yet profits are meagre. "We need a price regulation body," Father Goncalves says. "Dili buyers come here and beat the farmers down. They are not getting a fair price." It is a common complaint throughout rural East Timor, where there are few organised marketing structures.

If the economic future continues to look bleak less than two months after independence, there are signs of better times. One is the arrival of 32-year-old Dr Brigido de Deus, one of East Timor's few native doctors, fresh out of Jogjakarta University. He works for the national Timor Coffee Cooperative, which is establishing a network of clinics for its workers and the wider population.

The idealistic young medico treats 30 to 40 people a day, and runs a weekly mobile clinic to remote areas. He has no illusions about what he's up against.

The tuberculosis and infant diarrhoea rates are high, he says. Women mainly give birth at home and if there are complications they sometimes bleed to death.

But change can come, by using the radio, schools and church structures to educate people, he believes, so that the lives of Maubisse's next generation will be better.

Refugees/West Timor

'1,500 Timorese children still stranded'

Jakarta Post - July 6, 2002

Jakarta/Kupang -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that 1,500 East Timorese children, placed in orphanages across Indonesia in 1999, had not yet been reunited with their parents in newly independent East Timor.

UNHCR spokeswomen in Jakarta Kemala Angraeni Ahwil said that parents had requested their children be returned, but finding them after they had been sent away to orphanages was no easy feat.

She said the UNHCR knew of 1,501 cases of unreturned children. Foundations that placed the children in orphanages were reluctant to surrender them, Kemala said.

UNHCR documents, parent-signed letters, and video footage of the parents were often not enough to convince the foundations or the orphanages, she said. "They don't understand and don't believe us," she told The Jakarta Post.

Nevertheless, the UNHCR had managed to help reunite a total of 1,179 East Timorese children placed in orphanages across Indonesia with their parents.

Those children were handed over by their parents in refugee camps in West Timor to foundations who promised to take care of the children. The foundation then placed the children in various orphanages. Over 200,000 East Timorese fled the violence that engulfed the former Indonesian province following a 1999 UN- backed ballot, in which the East Timorese overwhelmingly voted for independence.

Kemala said that parents who had returned to East Timor and some who were still in Kupang had asked the UNHCR to help find their children. "They are scattered among many orphanages, so we're keeping our eyes and ears open," Kemala said.

Earlier, the Java-based Hati (heart) Foundation had come under fire on charges of obstructing efforts to return children to East Timor.

The international non-governmental organization, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Indonesia, said it was unable to repatriate 150 children because of objections from the Hati Foundation.

But chief of the Hati Foundation Octavio Soares argued he was responsible only to the parents who had entrusted their children to the foundation. "Some (foundations) claim that because parents gave them the children, they want the parents to pick them up," Kemala added.

She said the UNHCR would need the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the matter with the foundations.

According to her, past cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been helpful in getting them to understand the UNHCR's job. "I fear there is prejudice against the UN and the suspicion that we're meddling with Indonesia's internal affairs."

Timorese continue protests

Jakarta Post - July 3, 2002

Kupang -- East Timorese refugees living in various camps in West Timor continued with their protests on Tuesday, demanding aid from the government for some 20,000 refugee families, or some 54,000 refugees in all. Tuesday's protest was the third since Saturday.

Protest coordinator Feliks Fernandez told reporters that they would continue their protests until the government heeded their demands.

"We feel we are being neglected by the government," he said, adding that refugees had had a tough time of it since the government halted official aid to them at the end of last year.

The government has adamantly stated that it will not resume aid to the refugees, and has asked them to choose whether they want to return to East Timor or join a government resettlement program.

Meanwhile, the head of East Nusa Tenggara's Social Affairs Office, Stanis Tefa, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the local administration might consider providing emergency aid to the refugees.

He said his office had offered to provide eight tons of rice to the refugees, but the offer was rejected by representatives of the refugees who had instead demanded continuing assistance.

Timor Gap

Santos takes another dip in the Timor Sea

Sydney Morning Herald - July 2, 2002

Barry FitzGerald -- The Timor Sea has continued to grow in importance for the Adelaide-based and Cooper Basin-dependent Santos, with the group yesterday becoming the managing partner in the big but undeveloped Evans Shoal gasfield.

Santos (40 per cent) takes over from Shell (50 per cent) as operator of the field (Japan's Osaka Gas owns the remaining 10 per cent). The potential for the gasfield to support a $2.5 billion methanol project is one of the options being considered.

The listed Methanol Australia, owned 17 per cent by Santos, is leading the methanol study, which envisages barge-loaded methanol plants being "parked" in the shallow waters of the remote Tassie Shoal, with first sales to the petrochemical market possible by 2007.

The public exhibition of the Tassie Shoal environmental impact statement is due to conclude on July 15. The EIS seeks approval to build and operate two 5000 tonne-a-day methanol plants on the shoal, which lies in Australian waters.

Santos managing director John Ellice-Flint said yesterday that converting the stranded gas at Evans Shoal into a commercial project would contribute towards the group's "strategy of diversification through increased exposure to overseas and international markets".

Evans Shoal lies in permit NT/P 48, 300 kilometres north of Darwin, and was discovered in 1988. Recoverable reserves have been estimated at 6.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 31 million barrels of condensate (light oil).

Santos is already strongly represented in the Timor Sea through its interest in the Bayu/ Undan oil and gas project, as well as the undeveloped Tern and Petrel fields.

Development prospects for the latter two have improved because of Bayu/Undan development with its planned pipeline to shore.

Justice & reconciliation

East Timor - justice denied?

Channel Nine Sunday Program - July 7, 2002

Reporter: Ross Coulthart

Producer: In collaboration with Max Stahl of Gillan Films

Ross Coulthart: It's early Sunday morning here in the town of Suai in East Timor. Sunday mass is a time when the many devoutly Catholic East Timorese take pause from the labours of rebuilding their community. It's a sombre occasion because the people of Suai also carry terrible spiritual wounds.

In and around this very same church nearly three years ago somewhere between 50 to 200 people were massacred -- hacked to bits with machetes, blown apart with grenades or shot by paramilitaries armed, aided and abetted by Indonesian military and police. This makeshift memorial just outside the church, sits on the spot where the Indonesian military commander tried to burn a pile of corpses doused with fuel. How many people died here is impossible to say with certainty because Indonesia was allowed the time to cover up its crimes. In 1991 these images of the slaughter of possibly as many as 400 innocent protesters by Indonesian troops jolted the world's attention to the brutality of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. As you'll see today, the man who risked his life to shoot those images -- British film-maker Max Stahl -- was also one of the first people to visit massacre sites across East Timor in 1999. Stahl has gathered evidence from witnesses and extraordinary admissions from perpetrators, including this militia's thug's account of his role in a death squad murder.

Pedro Maia - Translation: They brought the people to kill them and they were all killed.

Ross Coulthart: Yet, despite such blatant admissions of criminality, the UN Serious Crimes Unit has told its local police here that there's no evidence this man was militia. As we discovered when we travelled East Timor with Max Stahl last month, many militia killers are now back living unacknowledged by the justice system among the residents they once terrorised. And the senior military and paramilitary leaders who ordered them to kill, are living just across the border in Indonesia with apparent impunity.

Max Stahl, British film maker: If they don't get accountability here, if they don't get justice for the people who committed these crimes, then those same people who are today in positions of power, almost all of them have been promoted in some form, will not only have escaped, they will have rubbed the noses and the faces of the Democrats and the would-be Democrats in Indonesia in the blood that they themselves spread over Indonesian democratic aspirations.

Ross Coulthart: In 1999 a crime against humanity of monstrous, calculated brutality was allowed to happen here because the international community, the UN, Australia, allowed itself to be intimidated by Indonesian military-sponsored murder. The world withdrew from here and hundreds died. Three years on, the people of East Timor are still waiting for justice. And yet again, the international community is failing to deliver what it promised. In the wake of the appalling violence across East Timor in 1999, the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, pledged there would be justice. He appointed a commission to recommend action to implement justice for the crimes committed here in East Timor. In early 2000 that commission recommended an international tribunal as in the Balkans and Rwanda. But Indonesia demanded the right to prosecute its own criminals and to the dismay of many international and Indonesian human rights groups, the UN Security Council delayed its decision on an international tribunal, pending Indonesian Government prosecutions like this so-called ad hoc tribunal now running in a Jakarta courtroom. These derisory hearings are seriously flawed. These five defendants are only charged with failing to prevent the Suai massacre, not with ordering it and then covering it up as several witnesses could testify some of them did. Several key East Timorese witnesses refused to come to Jakarta to testify, not least because of the violent threats made by stage-managed rent-a-crowds like this one right outside the courthouse.

Filomena Barros Dos Rais: The ad hoc tribunal for me is a drama, only as a drama done by the Indonesian Government to close the eyes of the international people.

Ross Coulthart: At this public forum in the East Timorese town of Liquica last month Indonesian human rights lawyer, Mr Hendardi, implored the women who lost husbands and sons in the Liquica massacre to dismiss the Jakarta tribunals as a show trial. Filomena Barros dos Rais works as a counsellor for the surviving women victims who were raped or lost loved ones at Liquica and other atrocities. She is perplexed and angry that the UN is urging East Timor to reconcile with Indonesia when it still hasn't delivered the justice it promised.

Filomena Barros Dos Rais: How can the people be reconciliated without justice? How can I be reconciliated with one people who kill my husband, raped me, took all of these things and make me like an animal, how can I reconciliate them? How can I reconciliate with the people consider me as a mosquitoes? How can I reconciliate? I want ... I can give support for the reconciliation but the reconciliation must be with justice.

Ross Coulthart: Some of these junior and middle ranking officers may be convicted in this Indonesian court, but as you'll see today, while growing evidence indicates the orders for the destruction of East Timor came from the top of the Indonesian military and government, the senior leaders with blood on their hands are unlikely to face charges. Instead, last month this terrified survivor of the Suai massacre Domingos dos Santos Mouzinho was forced to give her evidence under the theatrical glare of row after row of Indonesia's top generals. It's in Indonesia's interests as much as East Timor's that the generals among them, who ordered the killing, be brought to justice.

Mari Alkatiri, East Timorese PM: Above all we have to respond, we have to clearly ... to the expectation of the people. People are expecting justice.

Ross Coulthart: Do you want an international tribunal to investigate these crimes that were committed.

Mari Alkatiri: If I am the Security Council of the UN I will approve an international tribunal.

Ross Coulthart: The UN Serious Crimes Unit is expecting to complete draft indictments later this month on the massacres at Suai and Liquica. It will recommend prosecutions of many Indonesian military and paramilitary figures. But most of them are across the border in Indonesia. As East Timor's PM admits, without an international tribunal to bring those accused to justice, such indictments are useless. What would you expect if an indictment is issued, for example, against senior Indonesian military, what would you like ...

Mari Alkatiri: Here in East Timor?

Ross Coulthart: Yes.

Mari Alkatiri: Yes, in theory we can do it but in practice this will be difficult if we don't have real support from the international community.

Ross Coulthart: Well, would you expect the international community to demand and place ...

Mari Alkatiri: We would like to have the international community on our side to demand it.

Ross Coulthart: You would like to see it place the pressure on Indonesia ...

Mari Alkatiri: Of course.

Ross Coulthart: ... to hand those people over?

Mari Alkatiri: Of course, of course.

Ross Coulthart: Three years ago Sunday reported from Dili on how the Indonesian military and government was blatantly inciting the militia mobs to terrorise the East Timorese so they would vote to stay part of Indonesia. The then military commander, Colonel Tono Suratman, made this now infamous pledge to Sunday.

Col. Tono Suratman, Indonesian Military Commander - Translation: I want to give you this message: If the pro-independence side wins, it's not going to just be the government of Indonesia that has to deal with what follows. The UN and Australia are also going to have to solve the problem and well, if this does happen, then there'll be no winners. Everything is going to be destroyed. East Timor won't exist as it does now. It'll be much worse than 23 years ago.

Ross Coulthart: In early September 1999 in the wake of the overwhelming pro-independence vote, the world watched on in horror and disbelief. UN workers cowered inside a Dili compound as the militia began to implement Suratman's pledge. Terrified refugees just outside were fired upon and shot by militia and military as they tried to flee. Max Stahl filmed these scenes in the UN compound shortly after Colonel Suratman's supposedly peacekeeping soldiers had fired tracer rounds over the heads of refugees. And as the UN made its now infamous decision to abandon East Timor because of the mounting violence, Stahl was the only television journalist to follow the panicked refugees on their harrowing journey into the hills. His infra-red camera recorded this now famous image of a child stumbling on the hill in the pitch darkness, too frightened to scream in pain because two other people had been shot dead on the same slope that day. As he filmed what he saw, it gradually dawned on Max Stahl that this wasn't spontaneous mob violence at all, but a deliberate strategy of terror.

Max Stahl: Well, I was not sure what the hell was going on. I really wasn't. It was very odd, you know. These people were setting about burning, killing, it seemed partly at random but then it was plainly not at random, it was systematic.

Ross Coulthart: From the hills above Dili, Max Stahl filmed the violence below. By looting, burning, beating and killing, Indonesian troops and paramilitaries forced 300,000 East Timorese to flee across the border to squalid refugee camps in West Timor. Indonesian troops then set about hunting down and killing those hiding in the hills. This man was shot looking for food. This mother was murdered by Indonesian troops as she hid from them in a coffee grove. She'd stayed with her husband because he was paralysed and couldn't flee the mob.

Max Stahl: When I fled up into the hills there were tens of thousands of people there, there were families sitting on their suitcases wondering whether they should run left or right but essentially, this was a massacre waiting to happen. And all around us we could see the burning of the houses coming closer.

Ross Coulthart: For Max Stahl, it took a chance-meeting with an East Timorese man who'd fled working with the Indonesian police to reveal just what was planned for the people hiding in the hills.

Max Stahl: And he said that they had been told, in the police, that they were going to take everybody out of East Timor, all those who would go to Indonesia and then they were going to attack the mountains where the refugees and the others who wouldn't flee had taken refuge. And they were going to attack it with sea power, land forces and air power. In other words, they were going to slaughter them.

Ross Coulthart: Then Max filmed this young seminary student who told an incredible story of a massacre at Suai, claiming three priests were among those murdered.

Student: They killed many people in the church and among the peoples or refugees in the church there are three priests. After they kill all of them they burn, they burned the refugees and priests as well.

Ross Coulthart: When Australian troops finally arrived nearly two weeks after the mayhem began, Stahl was impatient to begin investigating the swirling rumours of massacres at Suai and Liquica.

Max Stahl: When we came down, I was therefore looking for the evidence of mass killings and initially we couldn't find it.

Ross Coulthart: As he drove out of Dili ahead of the INTERFET troops, he found this hastily burned truckload of bodies -- grim evidence of just how Indonesia had used the UN withdrawal to hide the corpses of victims, trucking many across the border to shallow graves in Indonesia.

Max Stahl: I spoke to some militia people who told me that they had been a party to the disposal of the bodies in the sea here near where we're now sitting and that they had systematically taken bodies even to West Timor and buried them in remote locations. But at that stage we were being told by those forces, the INTERFET forces who had come in and by those people who had arrived on the aeroplane, some of the journalists who were writing this, that really it was clear that far fewer people had died than anybody had thought.

Ross Coulthart: Impatient with such claims, within a week of the INTERFET arrival in East Timor, Stahl was the first person to find evidence of mass murder. Here at a remote well near the town of Liquica, half an hour outside Dili. This local told Max and his assistant, Jose Belo, how the well was originally two rope lengths or about 15 to 20m deep. In September 1999 it was cramped with a soupy slurry of decaying corpses.

Jose Belo, assistant to Max Stahl: He can't say that how many people are inside the well but it's of course so many people inside because it's now we can see it's very ... it's full, eh? It's mostly full.

Max Stahl: So if he was to guess how many people were in that well, would he say 5 or 10?

Jose Belo: He say that ... he says a lot of people killed. Liquica and Maubara. He said he took them and threw them down here or inside the lake, the salt lakes.

Ross Coulthart: Last month, three years on, from that grizzly discovery, many of the Liquica women still looking for their husbands from 1999 abductions told us how they'd never heard of the well site. So we took several women out to see the site Max had found. But to our amazement, all traces of the well had been obliterated.

Max Stahl: I find it astonishing, absolutely astonishing.

Ross Coulthart: There's nothing here, is there? There's nothing to commemorate.

Max Stahl: There's no sign here and this is a grave site.

Ross Coulthart: The UN later conceded to us that it should have told the people of Liquica what had happened here. At the very least, bulldozing this grave site without explanation was culturally insensitive. It's a vital part of East Timorese culture to find something of someone who has died.

Jose Belo: If we just found a piece of bone or clothes, it's for us very meaningful.

Ross Coulthart: INTERFET soldiers had removed 11 bodies from the well in October of 1999 but in the words of press statements issued at the time, they had to abandon other bodies when the well became unsafe. So it's not at all inconceivable that one of these ladies could be standing on the last resting place of her dead husband?

Max Stahl: It's very possible. None of them know, or almost none. Out of all of these ladies only one has ever found the body of her husband who was killed.

Ross Coulthart: For these women it only serves to exacerbate the trauma of their loss that the UN Serious Crimes Unit now contradicts the earlier INTERFET statement. It now says it did extract all the bodies. Do you believe that there are still bodies at the bottom of that well?

Max Stahl: Yes, I do, yeah.

Ross Coulthart: What, at the very least, should the UN have done, by their own rules, to satisfy a proper, full investigation into that well?

Max Stahl: Well, by their own rules they should have extracted all the human remains. I'm quoting officers from the serious crimes unit here. They should have informed the local people, consulted with the local people as to how that might be done, where they were going to keep the remains until they had done their analysis and who ... where they should bury them afterwards and who might, amongst the families, have family members amongst these remains.

Ross Coulthart: Many East Timorese are now seriously questioning the will of the international community to properly investigate the crimes such as those committed here at Liquica church in April 1999. Indonesian soldiers fired tear gas on refugees who'd fled into the compound. Militia then stormed in and hacked at least 50 people to death. Yet again, their bodies were taken away to an undisclosed location. Jose Nunes Serao was one of the lucky few who survived -- left for dead with this gigantic machete slash in his neck. He's frustrated the UN and police don't seem to want to know where the bodies are all buried, that returning militia men just make up stories to explain where they hid those they murdered. Do you think there is a risk that if you do not get justice, some people in the community may take justice into their own hands?

Jose Nunes Serao, survivor - Translation: If there is no justice here, it will create hatred and revenge and our leaders, if they don't bring justice here there won't be peace here, there can't be peace here, we have to make justice in order to be able live together.

Ross Coulthart: As you'll see in part two, if East Timorese don't get justice, many will demand retribution.

Ross Coulthart: We're crossing the breathtaking mountain ranges of central East Timor en route to Suai, the scene of perhaps the worst massacre of the 1999 violence. When Max Stahl drove through here in October of 1999, ahead of the INTERFET troops, it was an empty waste land of burned homes and death.

Max Stahl: Yeah, it was very, very spooky. It was completely abandoned, even animals were spooked and I didn't know if the militia was still there.

Ross Coulthart: Stahl got to Suai just as fathers and sons discovered the massacre scene at the church. They had fled to the hills believing their old folk, wives and children would be safe in the Suai church with the three Catholic priests.

Max Stahl: I would have said that it was impossible that Timorese people would commit this kind of a sacrilege as well as an atrocity. So I was shocked and stunned to see the evidence of this slaughter.

Ross Coulthart: Several months before the tragedy, the much- respected local Catholic priest, Father Hilario, had flatly accused the Indonesian army of complicity in the militia violence.

Father Hilario, Suai Catholic Priest - Translation: They're distributing guns to civilians to pro-autonomy people who are against the resistance and against a referendum for freedom and independence. They give them guns.

Ross Coulthart: Thousands of terrified refugees filled the church yard, hoping they would at least be safe here.

Max Stahl: The priests were unable to get the people to leave this area because there had been a coordinated terror campaign going on for months.

Ross Coulthart: But the priests knew a massacre was planned.

Max Stahl: Father Hilario got so desperate that he is said to have taken a stick to these people and said, "Look, this is a charnel house, this is a graveyard. "Unless you leave here, I'll beat you into the bushes." But every time people left, others who were being terrorised in this whole area came in.

Ross Coulthart: At about 1:30 on the afternoon of September 6 1999, Indonesian military, police and paramilitary militia surrounded the Suai church ground and began the slaughter.

Max Stahl: It was plainly an order that was given from a central place, an order that followed within hours of the withdrawal of the UN representatives who had been here in Suai and who had alerted everybody they could think of alerting to the danger of such a massacre taking place.

Ross Coulthart: As hundreds of terrified villagers cowered inside the church, a Javanese priest named Father Dewanto was hacked to death in front of them by a militia thug called Olivio Bau Tato. One of the leaders of the Laksaur militia, Isidio Manek, then shot Father Hilario.

Max Stahl: A guy called Isidio Manek shot him with a rifle from around about here, somewhere.

Ross Coulthart: A third priest, Father Francisco, was hauled down to this Virgin Mary statue by Olivio Bau and a henchman known as Ameriko.

Max Stahl: And there they said to him, "Right, let's see if your God will save you."

Ross Coulthart: They then hacked him to death. And as the day went on, as many as 200 of the refugees were killed in appalling ways.

Max Stahl: Some of them were shot as they tried to climb into the scaffolding and others were murdered, knifed, on the ground area.

Ross Coulthart: And all the time the Indonesian military and police are watching on and shooting.

Max Stahl: Yes.

Ross Coulthart: But where are the bodies of all those killed in the violence both before and after the referendum? In the first few days of his visit in 1999 Stahl was led by locals to one massacre site just outside Suai near a village called Fatu Kuan. Cattle were eating what had once been 10 to 15 dumped corpses.

Max Stahl: It was surprising but there was still the identity cards attached to one skeleton, it was in pieces, but the ID cards were scattered around and there were two or three of them all of them with the same name, the same identity and this name was Moises Barros, he was a medical worker of some kind. I left one ID card there for whoever might find it and I took with me a card and I filmed both. The card I took with me I gave to INTERFET. This is one of the times I did that, not just for the sake of them trying to find this person but also because I wanted to see what they would do with it.

Ross Coulthart: What did they do with it?

Max Stahl: Nothing.

Ross Coulthart: Yet, hard evidence of who'd done the killing is here to be found. This villager told Stahl how he'd seen militia abducting one of Moises Barros's neighbours. The militia men were the same two members of a Laksaur militia death squad who had killed two priests at the church massacre, Olivio Bau Tato and Ameriko.

Florinda Jose De Deus - Translation: His eyes were covered by Olivio. He was tied up by Ameriko. After he was tied like that, they threw him into the car. Then they tied him to the car to a piece of pipe. Then they tell us that they have to kill him because his name's on the list. He's in the red line.

Ross Coulthart: A year after the killing, here in the Raihanek refugee camp in West Timor right next door to an Indonesian military guard post, Max Stahl came face-to-face with those militia killers.

Olivio Bau Tato: Olivio.

Max Stahl: Olivio?

Olivio Bau Tato: Yes.

Ross Coulthart: This is the notorious Olivio Bau Tato living with no obvious fear of prosecution, only a few kilometres across the border in Indonesia. Known as Scorpion, because of the prominent tattoo on his cheek, he personally murdered one of the Suai priests. The man in the red head scarf is Ameriko, his accomplice. And just down the road is the comfortable home of Isidio Manek, the militia leader who shot Father Hilario. How important is it to those people who survived that the Olivio Bau de Tatos, the Amerikos and all the other killers be brought to justice?

Max Stahl: I think it's obviously important because the people cannot ... There is a limit to what you can achieve with reconciliation. People who have got blood on their hands cannot be easily integrated into that society again. There is a sense and a strong sense amongst many of the victims and their families that in due course justice will be done and that justice must be done in the proper way.

Ross Coulthart: But back across the border, there is little indication anyone wants the real killers brought to justice. These Fijian UN troops were encouraging Fatu Kuan villagers to accept reconciliation by returning a former militia man to the village. His name is Pedro Maia. Why and how Pedro Maia was allowed to return to Fatu Kuan village without being charged is a mystery to the locals here. Initially Maia admitted only that he was militia but he denied any violence.

Max Stahl - Translation: Did you have to do any crimes with them?

Pedro Maia - Translation: No.

Max Stahl - Translation: Have you killed anyone?

Pedro Maia - Translation: No.

Ross Coulthart: But Pedro Maia finally admitted being a member of the same death squad as Olivio Bau Tato and Ameriko. He took Max Stahl and some locals to the site where it's likely Moises Barros and others from the town were killed by his group. He showed how victims were slashed to death with a machete.

Pedro Maia - Translation: They brought the people to kill them and they were all killed. Commander Olivio threatened if we don't kill these people he will kill us.

Ross Coulthart: Maia has since suggested he didn't actually do any killing, that he merely dipped his machete in blood. But this Suai local, Florinda Jose de Deus, remembers Pedro Maia threatening to kill him.

Florinda Jose De Deus - Translation: He showed me a machete and told me he wanted to cut my head off.

Ross Coulthart: The village chief, Manuel Barros Verdil, kept these detailed notes of the killings during the '99 violence in the hope the murders in his community might some day be investigated.

Ross Coulthart: Have you had any contact, Mr Manuel, with the UN? Have the police spoken to you? Have any of the investigators come to talk to you or people in your village about the crimes that these young men were involved in?

Manuel Barros Verdil, village chief - Translation: Not yet.

Ross Coulthart: As best they can, the people of Fatu Kuan village are putting their lives back together, helping each other rebuild homes destroyed in the militia violence. There is a genuine desire for reconciliation, no better illustrated by the fact that two more former death squad militia men are helping in this clean up with many villagers they once terrorised. Tadeo Mendonza and Augustino Gusmao were members of the same murderous group led by Olivio Bau and as Tadeo eventually admitted to us, he was there at Suai church on the day of the massacre, with his machete.

Ross Coulthart to villagers: I'll show you some pictures. Maybe if you can tell us if you recognise the people in these pictures. Okay. Are we ready? I'll show you these pictures now. Here was firsthand evidence from Olivio Bau's henchmen of murder.

Ross Coulthart: Tell me, Pedro, what did Olivio do?

Pedro Baia - Translation: He killed some people. Ross Coulthart: And then this admission from Todeo which clearly came as a shock to many of the villagers.

Ross Coulthart: Were any of you four men, were any of you at the massacre that took place at the church at Suai? MAN 1: No.

Ross Coulthart: What about you?

Man 2: No.

Ross Coulthart: Were you there? Interpreter: Yes, he was there.

Ross Coulthart: Do the villagers know what these men did?

Interpreter: They know.

Ross Coulthart: Is there any doubt in your mind that some of those young men that we've been filming in your village who were militia have killed people or hurt people?

Interpreter: They're killers, yes.

Ross Coulthart: What worries Max Stahl, who now knows this community very well, is the message that the international community is sending to these villagers by not even acknowledging the crimes of these militia men. Because, to Stahl's amazement, he was shown a letter by a UN CivPol policeman in Suai from the UN's Serious Crimes Investigation Unit in Dili. It asserted Pedro Maia was never a militia man.

Max Stahl: Maybe Pedro Maia was not the worst criminal, perhaps he wasn't, even though he threatened to kill people and behead them, and even though he was party to murder, maybe he wasn't the big fish, as they put it. Maybe he only really is a small fish. But when you're shown, as I was, a letter by a CivPol officer who himself was beside himself with anger, coming from the central prosecutor's office here in which it stated that this man who had confessed to murder who had actually shown me how he'd killed people and whose victims had been found and named, was not even, according to them, or shall I quote: "There was no evidence that he was even a member of the militia", you begin to wonder.

Ross Coulthart: Right next door to the NZ army base near Suai the villagers of Holbelis also told us of their fears that this man, Rui Simplicio, had been allowed back into their community.

Max Stahl: His brother is a translator for the New Zealand battalion. So he has a military mosquito net.

Ross Coulthart: Oh, I see. I see. Again, Simplicio admits that he was militia.

Rui Simplicio: Yes.

Ross Coulthart: There are people here in the village who say that they saw you come home on the day of the Suai massacre with blood on your shirt and blood on your knife. Did you kill people?

Max translates for Rui Simplicio: He says he didn't kill anybody. It was blood of a girl who died in the church that he lifted into the ambulance to take to the hospital or into the car to take to the hospital.

Ross Coulthart: Do you believe him, Max?

Max Stahl: I don't believe there was any ambulance there or any cars that went to the hospital.

Ross Coulthart: You think he's lying? Max Stahl: Yes.

Ross Coulthart: Only a few houses away this woman, Filomena Cardoso, clearly remembered what Simplicio said when he returned to the village covered with blood on the day of the Suai massacre.

Filomena Cardoso - Max translates: She saw him with a knife and with a shirt on his blood and he said, "This isn't blood from animals, this is blood from people. "All the priests have died and all the people are dead." He said that he had killed Father Hilario and a woman from a village called Fatu Mea.

Ross Coulthart: In towns across East Timor, including Baucau, east of Dili, so-called veterans groups are becoming a rallying point for those angry that the killers in the community have not been brought to justice. But all is not as it seems. Most members of the so-called veterans groups emerging all over Timor are not in fact guerilla army veterans at all. Most worrying of all is this so-called commission for the popular defence of East Timor, or the CPD-RDTL, responsible for this recent attack on a senior pro-independence leader. Sunday can reveal the CPD-RDTL was in fact set up under the direction of this man, Major General Zacky Anwar Makarim, of Indonesian military intelligence.

Leandro Isaac, deputy leader of PSD (Social Democrat Party of East Timor) - Translation: Zacky Anwar is a strategic master of Indonesian intelligence strategy in Timor and he wasn't put on trial. And he continues active today. All the instability we've been talking about, it is neither more or less than Zacky Anwar instigating it.

Max Stahl: It's ironic that the issue of justice could be manipulated by the very people responsible for the atrocities and that's what seems to be happening here, at the margins at least. But if there is no credible system, then you fracture that society between the victims and the perpetrators. The perpetrators themselves are afraid and they're very afraid because they have secrets to hide.

Ross Coulthart: An East Timorese border checkpoint near the Indonesian town of Atambua last month. Australian diggers are providing security for a potentially explosive reunion. Leaders of the paramilitary militia groups that terrorised Luquica are visiting to see if it's okay to come home.

US UN official: Do we know if there are any of the ex-militia that have been charged or linked with any serious crimes, murders, rapes? What type of crimes have they committed?

Ross Coulthart: This is the ideal of reconciliation the UN clearly sees as a quick fix solution for the divisions that have so badly fractured East Timor. This so-called political militia man, Pedro Souza, is in fact a former regional deputy commander of the dreaded BMP militia gang that went on murder rampages in and around Lukasa. He was warmly welcomed back by locals despite the fact that some of their loved ones were almost certainly killed by men under his command. But there's no mistaking the anger from many of the Lukasa townsfolk kept behind the fence for this curious reunion.

US Civpol: Ok. But you should authorise them. You need to authorise that. They can't just come and talk to anybody.

Ross Coulthart: What the UN didn't want us to film was this East Timorese policeman, Jeraldo Soares confronting this man, Massulino Lopez. Lopez, it turned out, wasn't political militia at all. He'd beaten Jeraldo and left him for dead three years ago. Is he sorry for what he did.

Jose interpreting for Massulino Lopez: Yes, he said. Are you worried that you may be prosecuted for the crimes that you committed? Because what we have done in the past we must recognise it is wrong. I have to confess that it was wrong. I admit what I did.

Ross Coulthart: But most of the militia killers aren't admitting anything and unless the UN gets serious about pursuing them, these men will almost certainly get away with murder.

Questions over East Timor's ability to provide justice

Radio Australia - July 5, 2002

[Achieving justice in East Timor for the victims of the violence after the 1999 independence vote, is not proving to be an easy task. With just six months to complete its investigations, East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit is facing almost insurmountable problems, as this report from Karon Snowdon reveals.]

In East Timor it was easier to set up a defence force than a justice system.

But, it shouldn't surprise anyone that a country left in ruins and with just one qualified lawyer and no judges should be finding it difficult to get a functioning justice system operating just a few years after the Indonesian sponsored chaos of 1999.

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 is co-director and legal research coordinator of the judicial system monitoring program in Dili. "It's really struggling, it's struggling in all aspects of its work, in terms of ordinary cases, but also particularly in the handling of the serious crimes cases which so far have focussed on the violence from 1999."

Siri Frigaard is normally the Senior Public Prosecutor for Oslo. Right now she's the Deputy Prosecutor for Serious Crimes in East Timor. While she defends the quality of her team of investigators, she admits to concerns about the next step -- the ability of the court to properly prosecute the cases.

"The people who are saying it, they don't really know what we are doing. Because the point is a proper investigation takes time. It's difficult to find witnesses, it's difficult to persuade them to give evidence. And if you are looking at the big cases here, how complex they are, and also we are trying to establish the crimes against humanity, it has to take time. And with the resources this unit has, I think compared to other international courts, that they are producing more than they could expect from them, and they are doing a great job."

"What I am afraid of is that afterwards, some years ahead, people will say that it was not justice because they didn't have enough defence, they didn't have proper interpreters. That I'm afraid might happen. The point is when you are planning a mission like this, you have to think of the whole chain, support the whole chain and not only one part of it."

JSMP provides independent monitoring and analysis of the development of the new justice system in East Timor, with particular focus on its capacity to deal with the serious crimes cases. Caitlin Reiger says there are several problems. "There are a range of problems that both relate to the political context of the serious crimes cases, namely that Indonesia's not 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 achieve." "And also the other major problem is the situation here in East Timor, with the court system, in that it's struggling, both due to lack of resources, lack of experienced personnel and will need significant international assistance for some time to come."

Caitlin Reiger says this is significant for the carriage of justice in East Timor. "Well it certainly means that at the moment the cases are really struggling to meet international fair trial standards, and that has significant ramifications not just for the development of a society based on the rule of law now within East Timor, but also inspiring the East Timorese community to have faith in their new justice system as well as the international community's obligation to prosecute those responsible for the worst types of human rights violations."

So it's not just a case of first catch your criminal, but make sure you can put on a fair trial. And then there's the sheer number of cases. Around 120 indictments have seen just 23 convictions so far -- a lot to get through when the special court is meant to wind up at the end of next year.

The numerous problems facing the Special Panel of Dili's District Court which is prosecuting the cases appear to have no immediate solutions. They include the lack of translators -- some hearings are trying to operate with five languages to accomodate not just defendents but international judges.

There's a serious lack of qualified judges and inexperienced defence lawyers are facing prosecutors who cut their teeth in international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. There's little funding to make many improvements, including getting the typing done.

The Foundation for Law, Human Rights and Justice documented many crimes before Indonesian troops destroyed its office and jailed the researchers, including the Foundation's head of policy, Joachim Fonseca. He says East Timor has gained independence without justice as he doesn't believe even cases already underway like that against former Governor, Abilio Soares, will succeed.

"The stategy that we would think of is one that allows the prosecution to make use of the information from every individual case, from the trial of the lower ranked militia member, to reach the highest responsible person in the command chain. Otherwise the file is closed and no information can be used for the other cases. Then there is not going to be justice, because only the small militias will be in jail."

Mr Fonseca says there are several serious offenders who could escape because the system is inadequate. "For instance, the governor of East Timor at that time. Abilio Soares. And the military commander here at that time, and the police commander. They all are going to escape, even lower ones are going to escape because they weren't seen in the crime scene."

Of Indonesia's culpability, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1999, Mary Robinson, had no doubt. Nor for the need for an international tribunal. "That government was complicit, I have to say that. That is what I have heard, that is what I believe. That's what the evidence shows. Yes there must be a tribunal."

East Timor's political leadership, however, says that Indonesia should be trusted to see justice done in its own Ad Hoc Human Rights court.

But the original list of indictments drawn up by the Human Rights Commission has been massively reduced, the charges weakened and the whole charade by Indonesia condemned by human rights watchers.

And Indonesia's refusal to hand over any of the accused to East Timor is a problem, says Caitlin Reiger. "Without the major perpetrators in custody, those who planned the violence, who organised it, who set up the militias, that will limit not just the public perception of how much these trials can achieve but also an international commitment to accountability."

Some people argue that an international tribunal prosecuting these cases is the only solution. But would it have any more success given the problems, that Indonesia simply might not cooperate. Caitlin Reiger: "The main argument in favour of an international tribunal is really that when you have a tribunal that is supported by the whole international community, mandated by the UN's Security Council, there's a lot greater political will that can be brought to bear on Indonesia to try and encourage cooperation."

Against continuing calls from women's groups and human rights activists for an international tribunal, others say the focus needs to be on what's possible and that means supporting East Timor's own efforts. Jon Cina was a legal advsior to the Serious Crimes Unit and before that spent three years working at the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo. He says there's no political will for an international tribunal. "There is clearly a demand for justice, and there's a right for justice and there's a need for justice. And the Serious Crimes Unit is presently the most effective way of doing that."

Mr Cina says the Serious Crimes Unit should get more international support both morally and financially. "Because President Gusmao and various other members of East Timorese society have repeatedly made clear that East Timor does not have the money to provide any measure of justice. Supporting the Serious Crimes Unit is I believe a more effective way of doing that than supporting an international tribunal."

Jon Cina says an international tribunal would not necessarily have any more success in gaining custody of senior members of Indonesia's military ... and anyway there's no political will to set one up. "Justice is a tremendously expensive endeavour when you have thousands, possibly tens of thousands of perpetrators. And tens of thousands of victims. And one really needs a comprehensive program to address the after-effects of mass crimes such as those that happened in East Timor. That hasn't really been forthcoming in East Timor relative to other areas such as the former Yugoslavia or Rwanda, or for example Afghanistan."

"Principally it's the geo-strategic relationship concering Indonesia, East Timor and countries such as Australia. Because Indonesia is obviously not Yugoslavia. It's far more important regionally and internationally and religiously in terms of its population and the stability of the country, far more than Yugoslavia was or ever will be."

Siri Frigaard, Deputy Prosecutor of the The Serious Crimes Unit says her job must finish by the end of the year because then the money will run out -- six months earlier than planned. As a result her investigations are concentrating on a list of what she regards as the top ten crimes.

She adds that, despite not having an extradition treaty with Indonesia, which means East Timor has little chance of putting the most serious offenders on trial, the work won't have been a waste of time. "We are making indictments against the people who are not here. And we are working closely with Australia's mission to make sure that East Timor will become a member of Interpol.

And at the moment, we will have international arrest warrants for all the people that we have indicted. So I think we have given a signal by the indictments. And it's something for the justice in East Timor, they have an indictment against these people. And the moment they move, or the moment the international pressure is big enough, or they'll be indicted or go to court in Indonesia."

Human rights trials

Flawed indictment of militia leader an 'affront to justice'

Tapol Press Release - July 2, 2002

Flaws in the indictment of notorious militia leader, Eurico Guterres, are the clearest indication yet of Indonesia's lack of commitment to justice for the victims of human rights atrocities in East Timor, says Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

"The indictment is hopelessly inadequate by any objective legal standards. Indonesia is clearly intent on suppressing the truth of what happened in East Timor. The international community must not allow it to get away with this shameful affront to justice," says Paul Barber of Tapol.

Guterres went on trial last Thursday in the Jakarta ad hoc human rights court charged with the crimes against humanity of murder and assault in relation to an attack on the home of independence leader, Manuel Carrascalao, in Dili on 17 April 1999 in which 12 East Timorese were brutally murdered.

Despite being recorded on film earlier that day inciting thousands of militiamen to "capture and kill if you need" independence supporters who had "betrayed integration [with Indonesia]", including the Carrascalao family, Guterres is not charged with ordering, inciting or participating in the attacks. He is charged only with command responsibility for his failure to control his subordinate militias (see note 1).

The attack on the Carrascalao home and an attack on the home of independence leader Leandro Isaac on the same day (which is referred to in the indictment but is not the subject of any charges) are presented by the prosecution as isolated incidents which resulted from the militias feeling "out of sorts" with the pro-independence supporters. There is no mention of Guterres's alleged responsibility for other violent attacks which took place on the same day and on other occasions.

More importantly, the indictment appears to be designed to ensure that Guterres is acquited. There is no attempt to link the attacks on the Carrascalao and Isaac homes with the wider context of violence orchestrated by the Indonesian military and its militia proxies and no facts are alleged which could give rise to a finding that the attacks on the two homes were part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, an essential element of crimes against humanity.

It is clear that the Indonesian authorities are now treating international demands for justice with contempt. They are using the Jakarta trials to present Indonesia's own perverse version of events, which portrays the violence in East Timor as either part of a civil war between the pro-Indonesia and pro-independence factions or as a reaction to the bias of the UN by militias acting beyond the control of the security forces.

The Attorney General and his team of prosecutors are complicit in this outrageous deception. Indonesian human rights groups and lawyers have consistently raised concerns about the competence of the prosecutors while the appointment of the current Attorney General, MA Rahman, in August last year was described as "a victory for the army lobby" by one observer (see note 2).

Before his appointment as Attorney General, MA Rahman led the investigation team which was heavily criticised for not including former armed forces commander in chief, General Wiranto, and other high-ranking officers, in its list of suspects involved in human rights crimes in East Timor.

The response of the international community to this flawed process has been shamefully weak. In the case of the US, the administration's desire to resume military relations with Indonesia is undoubtedly a factor in its support for the trials.

"The international community must open it eyes to the fact that this process is a travesty of justice, which will only serve to strengthen Indonesian military impunity, with terrible consequences for those who continue to suffer from military repression in places such as Aceh and West Papua. An alternative international judicial process is now an urgent necessity," says Tapol.

Notes for editors:

1. Eurico Guterres has also been charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the attacks in Dili on 17 April 1999 by the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor in an indictment issued on 18 February 2002. That indictment alleges individual criminal responsibility as well as command responsibility and contains allegations concerning a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.

2. Hendardi, Chairperson of the Indonesian Human rights and Legal Aid Association (AFP, 15 August 2001)

Indonesia

Indonesia, East Timor to seek to resolve assets issue

Asia Pulse - July 3, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesia and East Timor on Tuesday agreed to seek the best way of settling the issue of assets the former had left behind in what used to be its 27th province.

Both sides were optimistic about any dialog and cooperation to settle the assets and opted to put the issue on the agenda of the joint commission, East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said following a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Hasan Wirajuda.

However, during the meeting the two foreign ministers agreed not to discuss the assets elaborately. "We, the East Timor government, will always be open to Indonesia's stand on the assets. In fact, we have also agreed to seek the best way of solving them," Horta said.

The Indonesian assets in East Timor are classified into three groups, namely those owned by state companies, private companies, and individuals.

Earlier in the day, the two foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a joint commission to discuss bilateral issues. Hassan said the joint commission is expected to solve residual problems, including the issue of refugees, assets and land and sea borders.

He further said East Timor had nominated one of its officials to the post of ambassador to Indonesia. "Indonesia itself has not nominated any of its officials to the post of its ambassador to East Timor because it will take a long time to do so," he said.

East Timor was an Indonesian province for 24 years before it separated from the republic and gained full independence from the United Nations last May 20.

On the occasion, the two ministers also discussed the possibility of East Timor joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the two countries' commitment to forge cooperation and hold trilateral dialog involving Indonesia, East Timor and Australia towards the creation of a South West Pacific dialog forum.

Stately welcome for Xanana

Jakarta Post Editorial - July 3, 2002

When East Timor President Xanana Gusmao began his official visit in Indonesia on Tuesday, he was received with a red carpet welcome and full military honors fitting for all visiting heads of state. But Gusmao is no ordinary visitor. He is a special guest, and should be treated as such.

This is the first time that Gusmao, who served seven years in an Indonesian prison for fighting for the independence of East Timor, returned to Jakarta in his capacity as leader of his people. There are bound to be resentments, on both sides of the border, about his visit. How he handles his visit, and how Indonesia treats him, will determine the kind of relationship that the two countries will have in the years ahead.

Gusmao comes with an olive branch in his hand. Unlike many of his own countrymen, both within and outside his government and both within and outside his country, Gusmao has been leading the campaign to bury the ugly past between Indonesia and East Timor.

It is hard to believe that a man who once led the East Timor armed rebellion against the Indonesian military occupation is now leading the same people, not only to make peace with its former colonial masters, but also to seek cooperation with them. Were it not for Megawati Soekarnoputri's busy schedule, Indonesia would have become the first foreign country Gusmao visited after his inauguration and the inauguration of his independent country in May.

Such was the importance he attaches to Dili's relations with us that Indonesia should reciprocate his stately gestures.

Gusmao is a man who knows that the future of his country and of his people will inevitably be linked to their relationship with their giant neighbor, however ugly their past relationship may have been. And let's face it, Indonesia's occupation of East Timor between 1975 and 1999 was so brutal and traumatic that it would be difficult for anyone who survived the ordeal to forget.

This is a man who is guided by strong common sense and one who knows what is in the best interests of his people. Even though many East Timorese probably feel some animosity toward Indonesia, it nonetheless seems in everyone's best interest to eventually have a viable working relationship between both countries and sooner rather than later would be best. Resentment only can become a negative -- on both sides of the border -- but if all people can forgive and move on, the better it will be for East Timor in building, or rebuilding their nation.

But what is in it as far as Indonesia is concerned? Why should Indonesia take the trouble of forging relations with East Timor, considering all that it has lost, from money to its international standing, during the 24-year campaign to annex the territory?

Indonesia has everything to gain from forging a close and neighborly relationship with East Timor. To start with, Indonesia has a moral obligation to help the East Timorese people. Besides, this will help Indonesia repair its international reputation which has been damaged because of its past policy in East Timor.

A politically and economically stable East Timor will also be beneficial to Indonesia, particularly to East Nusa Tenggara province which borders with East Timor. The converse is also true: An unstable East Timor would be detrimental to Indonesia. But rather than invading and annexing the territory as we did in 1976, we should help East Timor stand on its own two feet.

Sure, there are many outstanding problems Indonesia and East Timor must address. Some Indonesian politicians, for example, would like to see Indonesia compensated for the assets left behind in East Timor. East Timor, for its part, has a rightful demand to see justice against people who perpetrated the violence in East Timor in 1999 before Indonesia ended its occupation. These and many other issues must be addressed and tackled.

The ugly past will haunt our relationship for many years to come, but that is all the more reason why dialog is important. With the spirit of neighborliness, and the statesmanship shown by Gusmao, and hopefully by Indonesian leaders too, there are no bilateral problems that cannot be solved through dialog. President Xanana Gusmao's visit is a step in the right direction.

Gusmao back in Jakarta to build 'true friendship'

Straits Times - July 3, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Just four years ago, Mr Xanana Gusmao was Indonesia's most prized rebel prisoner. But yesterday, he returned as the head of state of an independent East Timor, saluted by the army that fought the separatist movement he led.

Mr Gusmao, who spent over a decade leading the guerilla outfit Falantil from the East Timorese mountains and spent seven years in a Jakarta prison after his highly publicised capture in 1992, was garlanded and given the 21-gun salute in front of the presidential palace yesterday.

The former rebel commander and his Australian wife, Mrs Kirsty Sword Gusmao, were warmly greeted by President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her husband Taufiq Kiemas.

Outside the palace, once-banned East Timorese flags fluttered alongside red and white Indonesian flags, while a painting of the visiting couple adorned Jakarta's main intersection.

After a private meeting with Ms Megawati, Mr Gusmao told the press that the purpose of his trip was to try to develop a "true friendship" with Indonesia and to formally establish diplomatic ties. Ms Megawati in turn said Indonesia was committed to cooperating with its newest neighbour in the trade, transportation and energy sectors.

"We talked about a comprehensive solution to problems between our states such as on assets, on both sea and land borders. We also offered cooperation in the fields of energy, trade and transportation," she said.

Later in the day, East Timor's newly appointed Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda signed a joint communique to formally establish diplomatic relations.

At a press conference, Mr Ramos-Horta said the two foreign ministers had discussed the ad-hoc human rights trials meant to bring to justice those responsible for the violence and destruction in East Timor after its United-Nations-sponsored ballot in 1999.

Military-backed militias are believed to have killed at least 1,000 people and displaced 250,000 more during the rampage in September 1999. While the trials have come under international criticism for being nothing but show, Mr Ramos-Horta praised them yesterday.

"They are unprecedented in the history of Indonesia, unprecedented in the region and we should give credit to the Indonesian authorities for moving this process this far," he said.

But he expressed his disagreement with Indonesia's demands of financial compensation for the commercial and government assets left behind in East Timor.

"For the past two years, we have consistently conveyed that we prefer a zero-sum approach and that is that the two sides put aside respective claims," he said.

East Timor was prepared to discuss Indonesia's assets in a soon- to-be-established joint commission meant to enhance bilateral relations and resolve outstanding issues, he added.

Gusmao gets red-carpet welcome from Jakarta

Agence France Presse - July 2, 2002

Indonesia rolled out the red carpet for the man it once jailed as a subversive as Xanana Gusmao arrived in the capital for his first visit as president of newly independent East Timor.

A smiling Gusmao was garlanded and given a 21-gun salute and honour guard on arrival Tuesday at the palace for talks with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Gusmao and Megawati, flanked by their spouses Kirsty Sword-Gusmao and Taufik Kiemas, stood at attention for the two national anthems before inspecting a guard of honour dressed in red and white ceremonial uniforms.

Gusmao, a former guerrilla chief jailed for seven years by Jakarta, bowed deeply to the two national flags, which also lined the main street in front of the palace. Portraits of the two leaders were erected at a busy intersection.

The two then began talks as their delegations held a separate meeting.

A joint communique on diplomatic relations was due to be signed by East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda.

East Timor became independent on May 20 after 24 years of often brutal Indonesian occupation and 32 months under UN stewardship.

Among contentious issues to be discussed will be Jakarta's compensation claim for assets left behind in the territory. East Timor rejects the claim, saying both sides should wipe the slate clean after the suffering which its people endured under Indonesia's rule.

Gusmao is accompanied by five ministers as well as his wife and baby son, Alexander. He is scheduled to meet top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda Tuesday afternoon and attend a state banquet.

On Wednesday Gusmao will lay a wreath at the "Heroes' Cemetery" and meet the heads of the two legislatures, Amien Rais and Akbar Tanjung. He leaves Wednesday afternoon for Makassar in Sulawesi, where he will Thursday address a seminar on prospects for economic cooperation between eastern Indonesia and East Timor.

Gusmao, who has laid stress on reconciliation, had planned to make his first trip as president to Indonesia in May to symbolise a new era in relations. But Jakarta postponed the visit due to what it described as a scheduling problem and the East Timorese leader has since visited South Korea and Australia.

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and ruled it until 1999, when the transitional United Nations administration took over. Pro-Jakarta local militiamen, backed by Indonesian military elements, waged a campaign of intimidation before the territory's August 1999 independence vote and a violent revenge campaign afterwards.

At least 1,000 people were killed and more than 250,000 East Timorese either fled or were forced across the border into Indonesian West Timor. Fewer than 50,000 are still in Indonesia.

In June a delegation from Jakarta visited the new state for talks on the assets claim and other issues. They agreed to form a joint committee to look into the issue. Indonesia spent millions of dollars on infrastructure during its rule, which also cost at least 100,000 East Timorese lives.

Health & education

East Timor sliding towards AIDS disaster: Minister

Agence France Presse - July 5, 2002

Geneva -- East Timor's Health Minister, Rui Maria de Araujo, warned Friday that his newly-independent country was in danger of an AIDS epidemic, saying its low official figures were "just the tip of the iceberg".

"All the necessary ingredients are there -- poverty, street children, unemployment and prostitution," the minister declared in a statement published on an UN web site, calling for immediate measures to fight the disease.

His statement comes just ahead of an international conference on AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) which opens in the Spanish city of Barcelona on July 7

"AIDS prevalence in East Timor is currently very low, at 0.64 percent, but inadequate testing and insufficient research so far means that the problem could be much more serious than it appears," he said.

"I think the low prevalence we are talking about is just the tip of the iceberg. That is why we are doing all we can to get everyone in the country involved -- civil society, the church, parliament and right up to the president himself."

With the help of the United Nations Development Program and Australia, a strategy to combat AIDS has been devised and is expected to be approved by the East Timorese cabinet, the minister said.

An information campaign is to be launched, along with distribution of condoms and a AIDS testing program, he said.

According to an UN report on AIDS released Tuesday, the overall Asia-Pacific region is threatened with an AIDS catastrophe, with millions of new infections reported in the last year.

International relations

Ramos Horta critical of US peacekeeping pull out

Lusa - July 3, 2002

East Timor`s foreign minister said Wednesday that he regretted the decision of the United States to withdraw its military observers from the newly independent nation over fears of possible prosecution of US military by the International Criminal Court.

Jose Ramos Horta said the US decision was "sad and deeply contradictory, as they [the peacekeepers] are only unarmed observers who even in extreme cases would not be capable of committing any crime".

America`s position would not be understood by most people, Ramos Horta told Lusa. "It appears that the US really wants the whole world to agree with it, and nobody else. Washington prefers unilateralism to multilateralism, and I, as a friend of the US, am deeply disappointed", said Dili`s foreign minister.

The US has recently been in dispute with the United Nations over the possible mandate of the ICC, with Washington threatening to pull out its peacekeeping troops in Bosnia. The UN Security Council and secretary-general have said that the treaty establishing the ICC (which the US has not ratified) gives adequate protection to peacekeepers.

Ramos Horta`s comments come a few days after the US announced it would withdraw three observers from East Timor, although there has been no confirmation of what will happen to the remaining 75 American military personnel currently training the East Timor Defense Force.

China, East Timor to boost military ties

Agence France Presse - July 2, 2002

Beijing -- China supports the building of an East Timor army and will work toward friendly ties with it, state media quoted China's defense minister saying Tuesday.

Minister Chi Haotian noted during a meeting with the visiting military chief of newly-independent East Timor, Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak, that East Timor's armed forces face challenges as their country is born, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Chi said China will give what support it can to help overcome the challenges, and develop relations between the two countries' armed forces, Xinhua said.

Ruak reaffirmed East Timor's support for China's one-China policy, under which the mainland considers Taiwan a part of China. He said China has rendered great help to the reconstruction of East Timor.

His trip is aimed at boosting cooperation between the two countries and their armed forces, said Xinhua.

Ruak also met with Fu Quanyou, chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), who echoed Chi's views. "We hope to see the armed forces of East Timor playing a role in safeguarding the nation's security and regional peace," Fu said.

Ruak is accompanied by the commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force, Thailand's Winai Patiakul, during the nine- day visit, said an official at the prime minister's office on condition of anonymity.

He will travel on to Thailand on July 9 for a four-day visit. On July 13 he will visit Indonesia's Bali island, where he will hold talks with regional military commander Major General Willem da Costa. He will return to East Timor on July 16.

East Timor's army, currently 650-strong, was largely recruited from the ranks of Falintil, the guerrilla force which once battled Indonesian occupation. The force is due to grow over three years to reach 1,500 regulars and 1,500 reservists.

East Timor officially proclaimed independence on May 20 after being administered by the UN for more than two years. The former Portuguese colony voted in August 1999 to end 24 years of Indonesian rule.

Journalists not spied on over Timor: Hill

Canberra Times - July 3, 2002

Lincoln Wright -- Defence Minister Robert Hill has rejected claims from a whistleblower that the Defence Signals Directorate spied on journalists to discover who was leaking sensitive intelligence material about East Timor.

The whistleblower is a former senior Defence security official, who worked in the department during the days when DSD was gathering intelligence on the politically tricky situation in East Timor, in 1999 and 2000.

DSD is a top-secret signals intelligence gatherer, but its charter specifies that it must collect only foreign intelligence. It must not focus on Australians unless they are involved in criminal acts overseas or breaching national security.

The leaks about what Australia knew about the activities of East Timor's militias severely embarrassed the Government. As a result, Defence set up an official team of plumbers, called the Special Investigations Unit, to find the leakers.

The team's activities eventually resulted in several house raids in Canberra and Sydney by the Australian Federal Police, including the home of the adviser to the then Opposition's foreign affairs spokesman, Laurie Brereton.

The whistleblower alleges that DSD housed the security unit which used the "Echelon" eavesdropping system to track errant military officers, public servants and the journalists who received the leaks.

The Echelon system allows an officer to capture electronic communications by punching a word or phrase into a computer. The computer then filters electronic signals to pick up a communication with that phrase in it.

The whistleblower insists that the head of the unit, a former ASIO officer who cannot be named, worked from within the DSD building at Russell Hill during the investigation.

"He was there to use all the equipment," the whistleblower said. The officer sat next to a senior, named, DSD security officer, and used the Echelon facilities, a world-wide intelligence network, to track and intercept telephone calls, the whistleblower alleges. The DSD security officer would not comment.

Senator Hill told a media briefing yesterday, "It's not DSD's job to track down who leaks to journalists. You know that there are very strict restraints on DSD in terms of Australian citizens. We're in the business of international intelligence."

Earlier this year it was alleged that DSD had bugged telephones to monitor the situation on the Tampa, a ship carrying asylum- seekers to Australia last year.

That led to an investigation by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Bill Blick, which concluded that there had been some accidental breaches of the DSD rules, but that no raw intelligence had been passed to the Government.

Economy & investment

East Timor tottering after first few steps

Australian Financial Review - July 5, 2002

Geoffrey Barker -- Sixty influential Chinese business association leaders arrived in Dili from Macau last week to talk to East Timorese leaders about investing in the impoverished new nation.

Within days the group had flown home disappointed and frustrated: senior government leaders would not meet them to discuss investment opportunities and rules.

The incident illustrated painfully that East Timor, barely six weeks after independence, is in economic, administrative and political free-fall as its leaders struggle to run the country with vastly reduced international support.

"The place is falling off the cliff. It's riddled with economic, administrative and political incompetence," said one long-term Dili observer.

Another said: "The bubble economy in Dili has burst. Unemployment is soaring as jobs in hotels, restaurants, construction and road building disappear with the departure of most of the United Nations administration."

To compound its problems, East Timor's district courts have been closed since Independence Day, May 20, because the Government has not renewed contracts for judges. Appeals courts have been closed since October.

Moreover, much of the newly installed public administration is barely functioning as UN and other international experts leave and as leases on basic office equipment used by the UN expire and are not renewed. Government offices in Dili lack faxes, shredders, copiers and basic security systems.

Virtually no progress has been made on permanent rules for foreign investment or on clarifying East Timor's uncertain land title and tenure regimes.

With the Fretilin Government headed by Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri showing little leadership, domestic political tensions are rising as the minority Social Democrat Party (PSD), headed by Mario Carrascalao, moves to exploit popular unease.

The unease has been intensified by an increase of roughly 20 per cent in service and other taxes on Monday and by the perception that the Parliament is, in the words of one observer, "a bit like a kindergarten".

At the same time, relations between the popular independence President, Xanana Gusmao, and Mr Alkatiri remain uneasy as Mr Gusmao moves to use the largely symbolic presidency as a bully pulpit to urge economic prudence on the Government.

Earlier this week, Mr Alkatiri hosed down rumours that Timor Sea oil and gas development would result in an employment bonanza. He said rumours that oil and gas would deliver up to 80,000 jobs were "not feasible".

The Macau business leaders thought they would receive a warm welcome. They spoke Portuguese, the official language of East Timor; they were looking to invest in a country desperate for foreign investment; they were well connected to the local Chinese community. But Fretelin's leaders were not interested. It was left to local Chinese businessmen to arrange a hasty conference and workshop before the group left.

Senior Australian diplomatic sources said there is no reason for concern over East Timor. The economic downturn had been expected and was predicted on the departure of the UN administration, while domestic political tensions were bound to re-emerge, they said.

Diplomats said the downturn reinforces warnings from the UN administration, the World Bank and others that East Timor must maintain prudent fiscal policy and avoid fiscally unsustainable spending driven by short-term pressures.

The good news, they said, is that relations between East Timor and Indonesia continue to be cordial as border security issues and the return of displaced East Timorese continues. Mr Gusmao has made a successful first state visit to Jakarta.

There is also little evidence of corruption, although poor wages paid to civil servants and lack of progress in promoting effective governance leave East Timor vulnerable to corruption.

East Timor press reviews

East Timor Press Review June 5

UNMISET - July 5, 2002

A front page story in the Timor Post reported on President Xanana Gusmco's return from Jakarta and said it had been a successful and positive visit.

In related story, the President was quoted as saying that recent difficulties in East Timor's relationship with Indonesia had been caused by a lack of communication between the two countries. "During the UNTAET period different people would attend different meetings, and thus our attention was often divided. Now we have solved the basic question of East Timor's statehood and we can move towards better relations with Jakarta."

MP Vicente Guterres was quoted as saying that one of the criteria to become an East Timor citizen should be the ability to speak Tetum and Portuguese.

Cipriano Oliveira, Director of the Youth Communication Forum, says the government must resolve the street children problem because children are the future of the nation.

People are reportedly worried about the state of the economy due to a recent sales tax increase.

East Timorese are reportedly suffering from malaria because rubbish is being dumped everywhere.

Aderito Tilman, head of the Dili District Tribunal, said the court has had to deal with many cases of traffic accidents over the past month.

Suara Timor Lorosae also ran a front page story on the return of President Xanana Gusmao from Indonesia.

Four people were reportedly arrested by police in Maliana for illegal possession of 400 kilograms of sandalwood they aimed to sell along the border with West Timor.

A spokesperson for the Australian Defense Department, Brigadier- General Mike Hannan, was quoted as saying that Australia will send 100 reserve troops to East Timor in October to join the peacekeeping force.

Judge Cirilio Jose Cristovco is quoted as saying that 13 Dili judges are still awaiting new contracts.

STL reported that rape is one of the highest reported crimes in East Timor.

Thirty-three Chubb Security employees who were reportedly dismissed last month and demanding compensation from their former employer.

The vice-manager of the Banking Payment Authority (BPA), Samuel Robinson, says that the majority of the East Timorese are now using the US dollar.

East Timor is looking into the possibility of buying a boat from Singapore in case it needs to transport gas and oil to other countries, Minister of Internal Administration Rogerio Lobato is quoted as saying.

STL reports that many accidents are occurring between cars and motorbikes at night because vehicles are not using headlights.

Residents of the Caicoli district of Dili are claiming that they are being overcharged for electricity and would like someone from the electricity department to explain the criteria for billing.

Thirty municipal cleaners in the capital say they are being paid too little, but express hope that the government will soon award them salary increases.

East Timor Press Review July 4

UNMISET - July 4, 2002

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's assertion that newspapers must provide the government with space to air their views was reported by the Timor Post for the second day in a row. In the same article the Timor Post reported that since her nomination, Minister of Finance Madalena Boavida has refused to speak to the media.

A report described President Xanana Gusmco placing a wreath at the Indonesian Hero's Cemetery on the outskirts of Jakarta. Gusmco was quoted as saying that East Timor must have good relations with Indonesia because, as one of the poorest countries in the region, East Timor will depend on aid from Indonesia in the future.

A number of high-ranking Indonesian military officials will reportedly be present at the Ad Hoc Tribunal in Jakarta next week.

Residents of Viqueque district have criticized the Government for not coming up with an alternative water irrigation system now that the system they have been using has dried up.

MP Antonio Cardoso (FRETILIN) reportedly said that if Indonesia demands asset compensation from East Timor then Indonesia must be held responsible for the damage it caused in East Timor between 1975 and 1999.

A committee has been set up by the director of the National Democratic Institute to explain the democratic process to the young generation in the villages and to encourage them to put it into practice.

The Judicial System Monitoring Program revealed that Alarico Fernandes, a former member of the Team Alfa militia group, was released on parole on 22 June.

The Timor Post reported that many cases of eye problems occur during the dry season due to lack of vitamin C. Children under 10 years of age are most at risk. An Australian doctor is currently providing eye treatment and prescription glasses for US$1 a pair at the Dili National Hospital.

Suara Timor Lorosae reported similar stories as the Timor Post regarding President Gusmco's visit to Indonesia.

STL reports that MP Arlindo Margal (PDC) will be the first ambassador to Jakarta, assuming his duties in October.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos-Horta has reportedly stated that the Ad Hoc Tribunal in Jakarta must be given an opportunity to try those involved in serious crimes and human right abuses in East Timor.

Residents of the Cacaulido area of Dili are complaining about dust pollution from the nearby Dai Nippon Construction and Servigo da Agua e Saneamento businesses.

The President of East Timor's Football Federation, Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, said that a national congress has been organized for later this month in order to study East Timor's membership into the FIFA world soccer body in 2004.

A report on the language issue in East Timor says that while Portuguese is difficult to learn, it can facilitate communication with other countries. However, a number of youth are quoted as saying that the Portuguese language is only for the older generation.

East Timor Press Review July 3

UNMISET - July 3, 2002

The Timor Post today reported that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and East Timor President Xanana Gusmco held a one- hour meeting in Jakarta yesterday before witnessing the signing of a joint agreement on diplomatic relations. East Timor's delegation included Minister of Transport Ovidio de Jesus Amaral, Minister of Internal Affairs Rogerio Lobato, Minister of Education Armindo Maia and Minister of Health Rui Maria de Araujo.

The Timor Post ran a full page article in which Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was quoted as saying that many critics of the government are telling lies regarding the Timor Sea issue. Alkatiri said that media should provide space for the government to present their views on the issue.

A Timor Post editorial said that now that an agreement of cooperation has been signed, East Timor and Indonesia should open their borders to allow people to circulate freely between the two countries.

MP Eusebio Guterres (PD) has reportedly rejected Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's invitation to attend a briefing on the Timor Sea issue, arguing that the Prime Minister does not respect the National Parliament. Guterres said that if he attends the briefing is like putting into practice KKN (korrupsi, koluisi and nepotism).

The 88 MP's in the National Parliament have raised the issue of payment for former Indonesian civil servants. Mariano Sabino Lopes was quoted as saying there is no transparent and clear explanation as to what the payments represent.

The paper also ran a story reporting that the 234 refugees -- including 11 former milita members -- that returned to East Timor last Thursday brought along the remains of 21 people who passed away while in West Timor refugee camps.

Many students attending their last year of high school in Maliana are reportedly refusing to pay an annual US$15 school fee.

Suara Timor Lorosae (STL) ran a story reporting that President Xanana Gusmco and the rest of the East Timorese delegation were warmly welcomed upon their arrival in Jakarta.

MP Mariano Sabino said the next meeting between representatives of East Timor's government and former militia leader Joao Tavares will take place in Batugade on 6 July and will focus on serious crimes.

A member of the Assosiagco National Makaer Fukun Timor Lorosae, a local NGO, is quoted as saying that amnesty will be effective if both criminals and victims get along, but should not eliminate the need for a formal tribunal process.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was quoted as saying that predictions of 80,000 East Timorese earning salaries of US$4,000 a month working on future Timor Gap-related projects are simply unrealistic. The Prime Minister also denied having been manipulated by Australian Prime Minister John Howard during negotiations on the Timor Sea Treaty.

Vendors at the tais textile market in Dili are complaining that sales are down since the imposition of a new sales tax.

The Centro Dezenvolvimento Economia Popular (CDEP) reportedly began a training session on civic diversification for farmers and women's organization (OMT) in Maliana on Monday.

The head of Associagco Medica Internacional (AMI) clinic center in Dili, Olga Margal, said tuberculosis, chronic malaria and diahorrea are the most common ailments treated by the center.

East Timor Press Review July 2

UNMISET - July 2, 2002

Vice Minister of Health Luis Lobato was quoted by the Timor Post as saying that a total of US$8.5 million in funding is required for the health sector over the coming year.

Former militia leader Eurico Guterres is quoted as saying that accusations made against him at the Jakarta Ad Hoc Tribunal are not realistic.

The Japanese Government has reportedly funded a clean drinking water project in Dili worth US$11.2 million.

Residents of Becora and Kuluhun in Dili are reportedly upset that a power cut occurred when they were watching the World Cup Final.

Bobonaro District Administrator Joco Vicente is quoted as saying that he and the people of his district will welcome Joco Tavares and other former militia members if they decide to return from West Timor. However, he said Tavares' request for a former militia cantonment in Maliana is not acceptable because it would lead to conflicts.

Suara Timor Lorosae reports that Santa Cruz cemetery has run out of space for more burials.

Timorese from various districts are reportedly coming to the Dili District Tribunal to seek justice.

Pre-secondary school teachers at the Krystal school in Dili are demanding an official letter confirming their salary cuts.

Delta, a Portuguese coffee company, has begun purchasing dry coffee in Ermera district at US$0.50 a kilo.

The BNU bank is inundated with former Indonesian public servants who claim that their pension payments are incorrect.

President Xanana Gusmco was reportedly warmly welcomed when he arrived in Denpasar yesterday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos Horta is quoted as saying that maritime border negotiations between Australia and East Timor will take a long time.

The Department of Solidarity and Labor has reportedly settled a total of 61 labor-related disputes.

In an article relating to amnesty and Crimes against Humanity in East Timor, Bishop Belo is quoted as saying, "In order to achieve reconciliation we need to accept each other."

The Head of Dili District Court, Aderito Tilman, is quoted as saying that no judges have ever received bribery payments.

In three separate articles STL reports that youth are finding it difficult to learn the Portuguese language.

Dili National Hospital is reported to have been treating a high number of patients suffering from conjunctivitis in the past weeks.

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

East Timor Press Review July 1

UNMISET - July 1, 2002

President Xanana Gusmco has instructed Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro to continue the dialogue process with former pro-Indonesian groups, the Timor Post reported in its Saturday edition.

A total of US $800,000 in funding is reportedly required for the rehabilitation an office for the president in Caicoli.

Seventy-two public transport buses have been assigned new route operations by the government.

A Memorandum of Cooperation was reportedly signed last Friday between East Timorese and unidentified Macau businessmen.

Sixteen national NGOs launched the National Parliament Observer Commission last Thursday.

East Timor National University Professor Valentim Ximenes was quoted as saying that due to the lack of capability of heads of Government, the current administration will not last long.

MP Antonio Ximenes (PDC) urged the Government to explain the pension payment criteria for former Indonesian public servants.

Aileu district residents are complaining about the decrease in sales of their agriculture products.

It is reported that social tensions are increasing due to a lack of employment opportunities

Many Timorese are appealing to the Government to stop the practice of KKN (korrupsi, kolluisi and nepotism) Suara Timor Lorosae reports.

MP Mariano Sabino (PD) said that one of the problems faced by East Timorese youth is that they do not speak Portuguese. He noted that being unable to speak the language, many youth feel that their participation in the development of the country has been discouraged.

One hundred and forty nine ETPS and 52 RRU officers graduated last Saturday. SRSG Kamalesh Sharma attended the ceremony along with Vice Minister for the Internal Administration Ilda Conceicao and other dignitaries.

STL reports that the circulation of illegal drugs is increasing along the border between East and West Timor.

The national security of East Timor is in the hands of the UN, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is reported as saying.

Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro said that East Timor will benefit greatly when it becomes a member of Interpol, the international police organization.

STL reports that East Timorese refugees in West Timor are facing food shortages.

Taxi drivers are complaining about a government measure forcing them to service less frequented areas of the capital.

Taxi drivers have appealed to the Timorese police to patrol the road in Aimutin in Dili because many taxis vehicles have been pelted with rocks late at night.

The University of Dili has begun enrolling new students.

Small businesses reportedly might close due to a 20% tax increase on sales.

The Director of the Center for Applied Science and Technology, Estanislau de Sousa Saldanha, said that taking Australia to the International Court of Justice over the Timor Gap treaty is an alternative.

A story says that the Government should establish a set price for goods in East Timorese markets.

It is reported that the old market has again turned into a cock fighting center and that market stalls are again cropping up in defiance of a government decision to keep the area free of these activities.

The Minister of Health, Rui Arazjo, said that due to limited funds the government must open its doors to the private sector once health regulations have been established.

STL says traffic in East Timor is not as busy as it was during the UNTAET period.