Security/boarder issues

Belu people criticize East Timor visa ruling

Jakarta Post - April 23, 2003

Jakarta -- People in the East Timor regency of Belu expressed disappointment over the country's recent ruling to impose a US$25 visa on visitors from Indonesia, which it borders.

A number of local figures warned on Tuesday that the visa ruling, which took effect on April 19, would burden East Timor more than it would Indonesia.

Belu resident and local figure Nikolaus Tnano estimated the visa ruling would have little impact on the life of people in Belu. "Don't think that by asking for a $25 visa it would hurt East Nusa Tenggara people living close to the border," said Nikolaus, as quoted by Antara.

East Timorese, meanwhile, must pay around $30 to get a visa to enter Indonesia. Nikolaus said that most people who traveled to East Timor did so because they had family members in that country. There were only a few of them, he said.

But he said that the visa ruling would hurt trading activities between the two countries. "People in East Timor will have difficulty in buying basic commodities."

He explained that many traders from Indonesia sold their products in East Timor. Villages along the borders of East Timor, he said, depended on food supplies from Indonesia.

Another local figure, David Manek, expressed his disappointment, with a similar warning to East Timor. "The people and the government of East Timor shouldn't think that people in Belu have a keen interest in going to East Timor, and so become anxious because of the visa ruling," he said.

Belu resident Gregorius M. Fernandez said the visa ruling would affect East Timorese living close to the border. "The government of East Timor may be seeking to get some extra income through the visitor visas, but this ruling is hurting the majority of small people in the villages," said Gregorius, who works for the UNICEF office in East Timor.

East Timor broke away from Indonesia in 1999 when a UN-backed referendum resulted in the people overwhelmingly voting for independence. Four years later, the former province is struggling to raise funds as it still relies on development aid from international agencies.

Border security, meanwhile, remains slack. An immigration official at the Indonesian border town of Atambua said people from either country often crossed the border without bothering to show their passport. Many of these people, he said, did not even have a passport in which to stamp a visa.

UN fails to secure East Timor's boarder

Radio Australia - April 24, 2003

In East Timor, continuing militia infilitration has put a spotlight on the United Nations failure to properly secure the border. Local police say militia groups have returned to East Timor, through numerous tracks along the West Timor border. The warning comes as the UN forces prepare to withdraw, leaving border security to the local police.

Presenter/Interviewer: Maryann Keady

Speakers: Bobonaro, Police commander; Sergio Soares Pereir, Batugade local area chief, Justin Kelly deputy force commander with the UN's PKF.

Keady: Batugade is one of the border towns that separate West and East Timor, and it is here where legal and illegal border markets now operate, allowing people from both territories to buy goods.

Market man: They say that we help them how to survive.

Keady: How to survive economically?

Market man: Yes.

Keady: But they are another complication in attempts to patrol this long border, where it is alleged militia have been crossing for months.

Market man: Now I've seen them, militia come ... several days ago they caught some militia around but then they left the market.

Keady: So militia have been known, have been caught and found at the legal market that operates?

Market man: Yes.

Keady: Local border police units admit that the latest intelligence has militia coming through 36 different tracks along the border.

Police Commander Bobonaro: According to information he got that the figures is more than 500 already returned to East Timor.

Keady: These East Timorese border police will gradually take over security of the border from the UN PKF forces, which are slowly pulling out as the UN gets ready to withdraw next year. While locals are happy that police will now be involved, many say it is just too late, with militia already having made the journey across, while the PKF was in charge.

Keady: This man says that locals told PKF about militia with guns in the area just days before the Atsabe attacks in January. But they did not listen, and always patrol for just a few hours he says. They cannot identify militia, and release them when they catch them.

The local chief in the area Sergio Soares Pereira agrees, and says he has complained to both government and the PKF about inadequate security with no response.

Sergio Soares Pereira: He says at the beginning he saw maybe more than ten people captured by PKF and then released again.

Keady: People who he thinks are militia?

Sergio Soares Pereira: Militia.

Keady: Justin Kelly is deputy force commander with the UN's PKF. He says the 240 kilometre border is hard to monitor, but the criticisms are valid.

Kelly: I think until the Atsabe attacks we were of the opinion that we had a pretty good grip on the comings and goings that we did, but probably we were overly focussed on the junction points and the activities in and around the junction points. Because it's probably been a year or more, nearly two years since the previous militia incursion we had started to focus our business elsewhere and we really were looking in a different direction.

Keady: The PKF says it is now stepping up operations, and acknowledges that the threat is most likely an external one, emanating from West Timor.

Kelly: At this stage there could be up to three-thousand ex- militia members still living in NTT, there is not sufficient employment so it's quite possible that groups of them are simply saying well we've had enough, we'll go and see what living's like in the east. Equally, it's possible that there are some former militia leaders who are important and powerful figures in their own right who could have a political agenda to push, who may be encouraging these groups to return to destabilise the government of Timor Leste and create a political balance which is favourable to them.

Keady: Following attacks in January and February, authorities arrested people who claimed there were 30 groups attempting to cross the border between East and West Timor. Whether the predictions of more militia attacks are accurate and whether it is enough to prevent any further destabilisation, remains to be seen.

West Timor/refugees

East Timor family fights forced return

The Australian - April 21, 2003

Megan Saunders -- Ami is only six, but she knows her family is at crisis point. "What have we done wrong?" the youngest of five children asked her mother as the family fought to remain in Australia. "I said to her: 'I don't know, darling' and she starts crying," says her mother, Teresinha Maia.

Ami's family fled to Australia from East Timor in 1994. After living in Sydney for more than eight years on bridging visas, they now face being forced to go back.

Teresinha's mother and sister were killed by Indonesian forces during the 1975 occupation of East Timor, while her father went missing and is presumed dead after attending a memorial at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, where 200 people were massacred in 1991.

Her Chinese Timorese husband, Chung Chong Lee, was also at the memorial. He survived but was beaten and imprisoned by Indonesian forces in the aftermath of the massacre and again in 1994. At the end of 1994 the family fled to Australia.

There are 1600 others like them, a group of asylum-seekers that Labor, refugee groups and East Timor President Xanana Gusmao argue should be given special consideration and allowed to stay in Australia.

For Ami, who was born in Australia, going to East Timor means going to a country with which she has little association. For her brothers and sisters -- Miguel, 8, Francelina, 10, Fernando, 13, and Francisco, 15 -- it means leaving their schools, friends and the country where they have spent most of their lives.

A few weeks ago things went from bad to worse when the Refugee Review Tribunal rejected their case, as was expected, because their applications were processed after East Timor became an independent nation.

The family has now appealed directly to Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock to use his discretion. Mr Ruddock has resisted pressure to create a special visa class to deal with the group, and has said he will deal with each matter "case by case".

The family has been told a final answer may take 12 months. In the meantime, they don't even have enough money to eat. Their asylum-seeker entitlements, worth about $870 a fortnight, ceased without warning on the loss of the tribunal case.

They now have to rely on charity for their food because Teresinha's job doing laundry in an inner-city nursing home earns the family a meagre $330 a week, of which $210 goes to rent their home in Cabramatta, southwest Sydney.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Customs, university face corruption investigations

Lusa - April 22, 2003

Dili -- The East Timorese government has ordered separate investigations and audits into the country's Customs Department and National University in the wake of mounting rumors of irregularities and corruption.

The minister of finance and planning, Madalena Boavida, confirmed the investigations to Lusa Tuesday, saying they were being carried out by Inspector-General Mariano Lopes da Cruz on orders from Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

"In East Timor there're always lots of rumors and for this reason we must confirm the information", Boavida said. "We don't say there is corruption, as has been reported, but we want to confirm the situation and openly demonstrate if there is or isn't".

Speculation has been rife, including local media reports, of administrative irregularities and corruption at both institutions.

Justice & reconciliation

More time needed for truth and reconciliation commission

Lusa - April 21, 2003

Dili -- The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) has already heard over 2,000 statements on human rights violations committed during the 25-year independence struggle against Indonesia, but needs an extension of its mandate, the independent body announced Monday.

The CAVR was set up on April 7, 2002 and has now received a total of 2,375 testimonies on human rights abuses in all of Timor's 13 districts, as well as a smaller number of voluntary statements from individuals responsible for "minor crimes", made at 159 community meetings for national reconciliation.

A further 90 cases have been referred to Timor's attorney general's office to determine whether they can be resolved at community meetings, or need to proceed to a formal trial.

CAVR president Aniceto Guterres Lopes told Lusa that the commission's two-year mandate is insufficient to fully carry out the necessary tasks of reconciliation and a six- month extension of its mandate is now necessary.

"I think there is political will for this extension", said Lopes, adding that the CAVR would need another USD 1.5 million to conclude its work.

Timor's truth seeking and community reconciliation commission is an independent statutory body that is probing human rights violations committed by all parties from the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1974 to the bloody aftermath of the independence ballot in 1999, in which over a thousand Timorese were killed by rampaging pro-Jakarta militia gangs.

Rights groups denounce UN for betraying victims of atrocities

Tapol - April 25, 2003

The Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, have condemned the UN Commission on Human Rights for failing to ensure that the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights in East Timor are brought to justice and for agreeing to drop the issue from its agenda next year.

In a chairperson's statement issued in Geneva, the Commission merely expresses disappointment at the way in which trials of suspects in Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court are being carried out. Spokesperson for CIIR Catherine Scott said: "Its underlying message is that if improvements are made, the process will be acceptable."

The statement ignores the fact that the Jakarta trials have failed to provide a true account of the violations that occurred in 1999, the two organisations said. There is no mention of the many notorious flaws in the process, the limited jurisdiction of the court, or that only a handful of the hundreds of serious crimes, including crimes against humanity, have been investigated.

Spokesperson for Tapol, Paul Barber added: "Most observers would agree that Indonesia is not willing and able to conduct a credible process that meets international standards of justice and fairness. It has forfeited its chance to provide justice for East Timor."

The Commission, at a special session in September 1999, condemned "the widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" in East Timor and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. It is now dropping the issue from its agenda at a time when there is no immediate prospect of meaningful accountability.

Next year, the Commission will only consider the question of technical cooperation with East Timor in the field of human rights. It is likely that this will preclude any further consideration by the Commission of Indonesia's responsibility for the 1999 atrocities.

CIIR and TAPOL are concerned that the Commission may have softened its statement because the East Timorese government is keen to promote good relations with Indonesia. CIIR and TAPOL support this desire for good relations, but do not believe it has to be pursued at the expense of justice.

Scott said: "This should not be just about the views of the East Timorese government or any other government. It should also be about those of the East Timorese people, the victims and their families, which are not necessarily reflected by their government. It should be about the need to uphold human rights and the supremacy of international law."

CIIR and TAPOL pointed out that the crimes were also committed against the UN and its staff who were administering the 1999 popular consultation in East Timor.

CIIR and TAPOL called on the international community and in particular the UN Security Council, which will consider the issue shortly, to look at other options for justice. The organisations repeated the request made last year by the then leader of the Catholic Church in East Timor, Bishop Carlos Belo, to set up an international tribunal for East Timor, as recommended in January 2000 by an International Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Secretary General on the advice of the Commission on Human Rights.

CIIR and TAPOL called for international pressure on Indonesia to hand over immediately military officers indicted in East Timor to the East Timorese authorities. To date, Indonesia has refused to transfer suspects to East Timor. CIIR and TAPOL requested that the international community and the East Timorese government continue to support and fully resource the serious crimes process in East Timor now and after the end of the UN Mission to East Timor in May 2004.

UNHCR abandons justice for East Timor

East Timor Action Network - April 25, 2003

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) strongly criticized the UN Commission on Human Rights for turning its back on the East Timorese people and jeopardizing current and future UN missions.

"Today's statement continues the trend of ignoring Indonesia's failure to hold accountable those responsible for the massive human rights abuses in East Timor," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN.

In a chairperson's statement, the Commission expressed "disappointment" in Indonesia's conduct of its Ad Hoc Human Rights court on East Timor and called on Indonesia to "improve the current legal processes." Follow up is unlikely as the Commission decided to limit next year's agenda to consideration of technical cooperation with East Timor in the field of human rights.

"Indonesia's ad hoc court on East Timor is fundamentally flawed," said Miller. "The Commission, by calling for Indonesia to fix an irreparable process, is in effect saying it is willing to play along with Indonesia's farce."

"It is clear that only an international tribunal on East Timor can achieve meaningful justice. We urge the Secretary-General and Security Council to set up such a tribunal to prosecute those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity from 1975 on," said Miller. "Instead of coddling Indonesia, the UN and its members should commit more resources to the existing serious crimes process in East Timor, which has issued credible indictments of top officials for the 1999 violence."

The Commission's statement commended the work of the Serious Crimes Unit and called on governments to cooperate with it, but does not mention Indonesia's public refusal to extradite the nearly two-thirds of already-indicted suspects believed to reside in Indonesia.

"Whether on or off the Commission's agenda, support for the rule-of-law and basic compassion for the victims demands holding responsible the commanders and other ranking officials who oversaw and coordinated systematic violations of human rights," said Miller. "The Indonesian military directed its scorched-earth campaign in East Timor against a UN mission; those murdered included UN personnel. Countries whose citizens staffed the 1999 UN mission should want to send the strongest possible message to others who would do likewise."

This week, Indonesia announced it was campaigning to regain a seat on the UN Human Rights Commission.

"Indonesia must earn a place on the Commission. It can start by putting in place effective mechanisms to deal with past abuses and by ending military impunity in Papua, Aceh and elsewhere," said Miller.

The Commission's 53 member states are elected by the Economic and Social Council. While a member of the Commission from 1991 to 2002, Indonesia worked to deflect and water down criticisms of its own human rights record.

Since 1999, ETAN has joined with East Timorese civil society to urge the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan to establish an international tribunal.

Chance still exists to bring military officers to justice

Jakarta Post - April 22, 2003

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Despite the decision of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) to drop from its agenda human rights abuses in East Timor, the opportunity to reopen the rights cases, which have implicated a number of Indonesian Army generals, is still available, a noted lawyer has said.

Luhut Pangaribuan said that the decision did not mean that Indonesia could not bring the Army generals to justice "but we do need pressure from the international community to do so." He added that country members of UNHCHR might possibly file a petition to reopen the case. "The decision has only lessened international support -- which, of course, is badly needed to pursue the rights abuse cases -- but indeed it does not close the door on Indonesia, East Timor or the international community to pursue it," Luhut told The Jakarta Post, when asked to comment on the UNHCHR decision.

UNHCHR decided on April 17 to drop from its agenda human rights violations before and after the self-determination ballot on Aug. 30, 1999 in East Timor, following a tripartite meeting between Indonesia and East Timor under UNHCHR auspices.

Several former East Timor military and administration officials have been given jail sentences over their failure to prevent mass killings during that period but they were not obliged to serve their jail sentences. Several others were acquitted of charges made against them. Even former Indonesian Military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto, held responsible for the military operation in the country's former territory, escaped prosecution by the human rights tribunal.

The tribunal has sparked criticism, both at home and abroad, as it was thought to have failed to bring to justice all those considered responsible for human rights abuses.

Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, Lt. Gen. (ret) Kiki Syahnakri, Maj. Gen. Adam Rachmat Damiri, Brig. Gen. Suhartono Suratman and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Noer Muis were among high-ranking military officials indicted for gross human rights violations.

"We see that the government is not serious in handling the human rights cases because [President] Megawati [Soekarnoputri] has shown a lack of concern over the issue. Should the regime change, her successor will likely adopt a different policy, to bring all the generals, including Wiranto, to stand trial," he said.

Todung Mulya Lubis concurred, but regretted the UNHCHR decision, which, he said, indirectly implied impunity for those acquitted of charges and not indicted. "I regret the decision, but we have to continue the legal processing to seek justice for the sake of humanity because none of this country's citizen is above the law," Todung told the Post.

Chairman of the rights monitoring commission at the National Commission on Human Rights M.M. Billah agreed with Todung, saying that human rights abuses had to be handled properly and fairly with regard to the dignity of the East Timorese people.

The East Timor government, under President Alexandre Xanana Gusmao, has been trying to put behind it the issue of human rights abuses in its attempts to develop and forge better bilateral ties in all fields with its neighbor, Indonesia.

Chance for justice fades for East Timor victims

Jakarta Post - April 21, 2003

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The chance to bring justice to the victims of the 1999 human rights violations in East Timor has vanished, after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) agreed over the weekend to drop the agenda from its future meetings.

The commission, however, urges the Indonesian government to take the necessary steps to correct the ongoing trials at the ad hoc rights tribunal, and the legal processes at the appeal and clemency stages of the East Timor rights violation cases, to ensure that justice is served.

A statement sent by Indonesia's permanent representative at the United Nations in Geneva to The Jakarta Post on Sunday said that the decision was taken after a difficult and intense negotiation between Indonesia, the European Union and East Timor.

"Starting next year, the rights commission will not issue a Chairperson's Statement on the human rights situation in East Timor, which has served as a reason to criticize Indonesia over lingering East Timor issues such as refugees and human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999," said the statement, hailing the decision as a significant achievement for Indonesia. The decision was conveyed through the Chairperson's Statement during the commission's meeting on April 17.

The statement said future commission meetings would only discuss East Timor issues from the aspect of technical human rights cooperation between Indonesia's former 27th province and UNHCHR. The commission, however, expressed disappointment over the process and outcome of the ad hoc rights tribunal for the violence in East Timor, and urged Indonesia to take the necessary measures to rectify them.

At least 18 civilians, police and military personnel, including several Army generals, were indicted for gross human rights violations in East Timor, of which 11 defendants had been acquitted, five sentenced to between three to ten years in jail, while two are being tried currently. Even those declared guilty are still free, pending appeal.

The tribunal has also drawn international criticism, as it has failed to bring to justice high-ranking military officers, including former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who was in command during the violence.

The United Nations Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor has indicted a number of Indonesian Army officers with crimes against humanity: Wiranto, Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, Lt. Gen. (ret) Kiki Syahnakri, Maj. Gen. Adam Rachmat Damiri, Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Noer.

The statement also recommended that the Indonesian and East Timorese governments to enhance bilateral relations to resolve outstanding issues, such as refugees. Some 30,000 East Timorese refugees are still living in refugee camps in West Timor.

In Jakarta, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa welcomed the decision, saying that it was in line with Indonesia's stance that discussing the human rights situation in East Timor was no longer relevant, as East Timor had become independent in January 2001.

"Rights issues in East Timor are different, now that the territory is independent. We urged UNHCHR to accept this reality," Marty told the Post Sunday.

International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana at the University of Indonesia said on Sunday that the decision had closed the opportunity for victims of East Timor rights violations to seek justice.

"International crimes are always controversial, because only states that do not have power or lose the war can be tried before courts. Indonesia faced these two conditions after East Timor won its independence in 1999, but things have changed now, especially since the US, along with its allies, invaded Iraq -- because it (the aggression) has ruined the world order and international ethics, but will never be brought to court," Hikmahanto said on Sunday.

Hikmahanto further said that following the decision, it was possible for Indonesia to review -- if it did not stop -- the ongoing rights trials or to acquit all defendants of the killing spree in East Timor, because "the [UNHCHR] decision can be considered as new evidence."

Human rights trials

Timor rights trial needs international pressure

Jakarta Post - April 24, 2003

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- Activists have urged the international community to ensure that justice is served against all perpetrators of the gross human rights violations in East Timor, now that hopes for a fair trial have evaporated.

The cases, in which 15 Indonesian Military (TNI) officers are implicated, seem to have been forgotten, especially after the recent United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) decision to drop them from its agenda.

However, rights activist Hendardi said there was still a chance for justice, if the international community would pursue the cases through an international tribunal. "It is the responsibility of the international community to ensure that justice is upheld in these cases. It will be difficult to rely on domestic pressure," Hendardi said on Tuesday.

The UNHCHR is only one of the possible means for settling the cases, because the opportunity still remains for these cases to be brought to the international tribunal at The Hague, he said.

Hendardi explained that there were certain criteria that the Indonesian ad hoc human rights tribunal should adhere to in order to keep the UN from interfering. "The domestic court should abide by international standards, be impartial and independent and hand down appropriate punishment. Should we fail to comply, there is always a chance that these cases will go to the international tribunal," he said.

Indonesia has come under the international spotlight for its alleged involvement in human rights violations that marked East Timor's independence from the country in 1999. Many international inquiries were launched by the UN and other human rights watchdogs into these violations in the years since, but no satisfactory results have been achieved.

Indonesia insisted on settling the case domestically by establishing an ad hoc human rights tribunal, which has now acquitted most of the defendants, and those found guilty were only given light sentences.

Although the result has drawn criticism both from the national and international communities, the only "punishment" Indonesia has received regarding the East Timor atrocities has come from the United States, which has maintained a military embargo on Indonesia since 1999.

Even the East Timorese government has chosen to put the issue of the human rights violations behind it, for the sake of establishing good ties with Indonesia.

A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Salahuddin Wahid, agreed that other avenues should be pursued to make sure that justice is upheld in the East Timor human rights cases. "However, we have to prevent any attempt to bring these cases to an international tribunal by improving our own trial system instead," Salahuddin suggested on Wednesday.

He admitted that currently, the defense's arguments and legal processes in the East Timor cases was far from satisfying, but said that this was the only platform for dealing with the East Timor human rights violations. "We do need international pressure, but will not open the possibility for an international tribunal," Salahuddin remarked.

Earlier, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said that despite the unsatisfactory legal efforts against the alleged perpetrators of human rights violations in East Timor, the move to ensure that the law was enforced should continue.

He reminded that no citizen was above the law, and that impunity should be stopped. Hendardi pointed to several examples of human rights abuses in Rwanda and Serbia, in which the UN chose to step into the legal process and brought the cases to the international tribunal at The Hague. "There is still a chance for justice to be upheld in the East Timor mayhem. I believe the picture of the legal process of these cases is not as gloomy as many people have thought," he said.

Human rights/law

Legislation on police forces a key priority: UN official

Lusa - April 24, 2003

Dili -- The head of the United Nations' civil police department urged East Timor Thursday to rapidly draft and approve legislation for its police forces. Calling on Dili for action "as quickly as possible", Kiran Debi challenged a seminar in the East Timorese capital "not to waste this opportunity" because "you are losing time and put the future at risk".

Debi, director of the Civil Police Division in the UN's Department of Peace Maintenance Operations, set out a series of priorities for the sector, including legislation assuring that police would operate in a nonpartisan manner and in respect for human rights.

Among other key concerns, she underlined the need for police functions to be closely coordinated with the justice and prison systems.

Future legislation, Debi added, should also assure that the recruitment, promotion and transfer of officers never be carried out by "only one hand" and the police system be characterized by "transparency and clarity".

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who attended the two-day seminar of more than 230 participants, welcomed Debi's recommendations, saying his government sought an "independent, professional, efficient and responsible" police force.

During the seminar, participants called attention to other immediate problems facing the creation of police forces in the new country, which gained its independence 11 months ago after nearly a quarter century of Indonesian occupation and more than four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule.

The need for more training of regular and special police forces and their equipment are issues that will be raised again at the end of May in another meeting between Dili and international officials.

East Timor's struggling legal system

Radio Australia - April 22, 2003

Next month -- our northern neighbour is celebrating it's first birthday as a free country. But while there's much to celebrate -- the country's justice system is struggling. Critics say the government isn't doing enough -- to bring those responsible for past violence -- before a court of law. A multi language community, a hydrid legal inheritance and lack of funds -- are contributing to a slow moving, unpredictable legal landscape.

Transcript:

Damien Carrick: Hallo, and welcome to The Law Report.

Next month, East Timor will mark its first anniversary of independence, the independence achieved only after much sacrifice. But as the East Timorese approach their second year of self rule, considerable dissent has begun mounting against the government of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. Internal political sniping is rife, and in recent months, violence has once again returned to the streets.

The Alkatiri government has taken steps to satisfy the people's desire for justice after the long years of Indonesian oppression. But many critics, both at home and abroad, claim that those measures have been too few and at times, half-hearted. And, as Antony Funnell reports, there's increasing concern about the direction in which the Administration in Dili is taking the country and its struggling legal system.

Antony Funnell: This is East Timor only a few short months ago. The streets of the capital, Dili, erupting in violence.

For many in Australia, the idea that East Timor was not well on its way to peace and self-sufficiency came as something of a shock. For those working within East Timor's fledgling justice system however, the violence was not as unexpected. A release of frustration in large part fuelled by a continuing public perception that injustice did not depart the tiny island with the dreaded TNI, the Indonesian military.

Many prominent members of the Timorese intelligentsia, civil libertarians and international observers, have become increasingly worried about the growing level of government interference in legal matters. Of most recent concern has been the Alkatiri government's refusal to back the country's Serious Crimes Unit in its lodgement of charges against East Timor's former governor and seven key military figures including the former Indonesian Minister for Defence, General Wiranto. In fact, not only did the new government in Dili fail to throw its support behind the Serious Crimes Unit, it actively went out of its way to both attack and diminish it, in a very public way.

On March 5th this year, The Jakarta Post reported on a visit to Indonesia by Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, in which he advised the Indonesians...

Reader: Within the framework of our constitution, we will try to find ways and means how the issue of justice is served, but also to avoid in the pursuit of justice, any misunderstanding between Timor l'este and Indonesia.

Antony Funnell: Worse still for those seeking international justice, the country's President, former guerrilla leader, Xanana Gusmao, went further, actually apologising to the Indonesian government for the indictments.

Reader: They did not inform me; it's not East Timor's policy. I've repeatedly stated that I don't consider the International Court and even less so one in Timor, a priority when we are faced with such problems in this period of construction.

Antony Funnell: Such apparent political pragmatism worries many, because of the dangerous precedent it sets. It's not hard to understand the people's frustration with the way the War Crimes issue has developed on both sides of the Indonesia-East Timor border. A War Crimes Tribunal of sorts has been under way in Jakarta for the past year. It's been Indonesia's first-ever Human Rights Tribunal, but its achievements have been questionable. Eighteen people have so far been indicted, 11 of those acquitted, with only 5 people convicted so far, all of whom have their freedom while awaiting appeal.

Of the senior military figures indicted, each was charged only with the crime of failing to prevent two 1999 mass killings. In Dili, the UN-established Special Panel for Serious Crimes, the court to which the Special Crimes Unit answers, has so far managed to only complete two cases, despite the fact it has hundreds of indictments on its books. Those two cases have seen 13 convictions, all East Timor militia, because the Serious Crimes Unit has no power to enforce deportation of Indonesian accused, and has no authority to investigate crimes committed before 1999. There is no court charged on either side of the border, with bringing to justice the perpetrators of the systematic violence which took place in East Timor between 1975 and 1999.

It's hardly surprising then, that in recent months there have been numerous petitions calling on the Alkatiri government to rethink its position, and to work with the UN to establish a full-blown International War Crimes Tribunal. East Timor's struggling legal practitioners have been at the forefront of the charge. Buenevides Correira Barros is the President of the East Timorese Lawyers' Association, and last year led a three-month lawyers' strike against the government.

Buenevides Correira Barros: Let the people decide, let the victim decide whether the East Timorese need an International Tribunal to be established or not. Because I think on the ground, on the victims side, they say that we need International Tribunal to be established to prosecute the perpetrators, otherwise no justice for the victims since 1975, we need International Tribunal to be established, because it's been running in Indonesia, in the Indonesia ad hoc court is not possible to prosecute all the perpetrators in East Timor, and particularly the military, the officials in the Indonesian military.

Antony Funnell: It's a view shared by the Dili-based Judicial System Monitoring Program, a body which was meant to act as the eyes and ears of the international community during the bedding- down period for East Timor's judicial apparatus, but which has increasingly found itself acting as a public opposition to the Alkatiri government's actions. JSMP lawyer, Helen Donovan.

Helen Donovan: I think that they demand justice and that has been given as one opportunity for getting that, and they see the failure of the ad hoc court in Jakarta, and it seems that what other alternatives are there, and I think that's why you get the call as opposed to necessarily a firm or deep understanding of what international tribunals are and what they entail, and what their mandate might be or what their power might be. It's just basically frustration at the failure, or perceived failure of every other attempt so far to deliver genuine and widespread justice.

Antony Funnell: High up in the mountainous Liquica district, the villagers are used to fear and injustice. Following the withdrawal of the Indonesian military in 1999, there was a sense that both had run their course, but within the last year, bands of militia have returned from the border region and local people have begun wondering when the perpetrators of crime will ever face court.

What the government has offered instead of a proper International Crimes Tribunal has been a series of Truth and Reconciliation ceremonies, events that often involve little more than talk and the symbolic killing of chickens. It's in this environment that the JSMP is trying to perform its other major role: to educate and inform average East Timorese about the workings of the legal system. It's a difficult task, given the country has little historical experience of justice. And according to Helen Donovan, it's been made all the more difficult by the point-blank refusal to establish an International Crimes Tribunal. As a result, she says, the new justice system in East Timor has been lumbered with the reputation of its predecessor.

Helen Donovan: Its associated with the Indonesian regime and it's never been used as a tool for delivering fair or just outcomes before, and so people don't have cause to believe overnight that that's changed, and because they associate it with a corrupt system where the players are not there to deliver just and fair outcomes to the community.

Antony Funnell: How difficult is it for your organisation members to get around and try and convince people of that? I mean what sort of activities do you undertake to try and convince people that it is worth pursuing things through the system?

Helen Donovan: I think it is very difficult, because the base level of knowledge is so limited. People don't even understand what the role of a prosecutor is, or the role of a defence lawyer is. Most people have no concept of what a lawyer is, and so when you're starting with that level, it's very difficult to try and build confidence and faith in the system. Also the process is moving very slowly, especially in relation to serious crimes, and so people on the ground are not seeing things happening, and they think three years have passed and now as well militia are returning from West Timor, and they're not immediately arrested necessarily because these investigations processes are difficult, and I think that further undermines their faith, because they think, Well nothing's happened, nothing's changed. Of course that's not true, things are happening slowly, but the process is very much an incremental one.

Antony Funnell: It's just after 8pm at Darwin airport, and lawyer, Gwynne McCarrick has just returned to Australia on a plane from Dili, full of disappointment and frustration.

Gwynne McCarrick: As far as the people are concerned, they've seen no benefit for independence for themselves, they're seeing a government that's very much top heavy and not listening to the concerns of the people.

Antony Funnell: Normally based in Hobart, Gwynne has been working free of charge as a public defender for the Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor. Her return home was quick and unexpected, but after months of frustration, she found herself no longer willing or able to continue her role.

Gwynne McCarrick: There are a number of problems. Firstly it's a Serious Crimes special panel which is trying to operate on a shoestring budget. There are insufficient judges, there is no working appeals chamber, and within Timor there's been a number of prosecutors and jurists who have not been sworn in by this present government. It's twofold: it's a lack of financial support but also a lack of political will from the domestic government. There isn't any desire to see this UN-led justice system, there's no political momentum behind it.

Antony Funnell: Mid-morning in the hearing rooms for the Special Panel for Serious Crimes, and nothing much is happening. In fact, nothing much can happen because while there are two available courtrooms, there is only one judicial panel, and while those involved in putting together the cases which appear before the panel are trying their best, the lack of governmental priority given to the panel's operations is resulting, according to Gwynne McCarrick in grave misjustice.

Gwynne McCarrick: The principle of innocent until proven otherwise is simply lost in a process where accused persons have to spend three years in custody awaiting trail. I've been defence counsel on a case referred to as Lotoloy, that's the district in which the alleged events occurred. There have been two accused which have pleaded guilty and my client maintained his plea of not guilty. This has been one case, a priority case, and nothing's been heard while this particular trial is being heard. If there were a sufficient number of judges on the bench, you could have two chambers hearing matters, but at present there is only one chamber, consisting of one East Timorese and two international judges, and as I say, no appeals chambers, so again, the rights of the accused are seriously under threat where they cannot appeal the sentence that they ultimately receive.

Antony Funnell: That lack of a working appeals process is also at the centre of concern for East Timorese lawyer, Cancio Xavier, a public defender in the Dili District Court.

Cancio Xavier: A lot of cases we do appeal, but at no realisation because there are no judges to provide, and for this moment, nobody to set up. But we're hoping the East Timor government will set up as soon as possible because this is the main problem. If the appeal court will not be applied, there will be a problem, a serious problem.

Antony Funnell: The judicial system monitoring program agrees the lack of a working appeals court is a key problem for the new nation, but it says in fairness, the United Nations must also share some of the blame for its failure to materialise. Helen Donovan again.

Helen Donovan: A lot of really fundamental decisions are just going unreviewed and then they are repeated again and again and again, and I think to correct those mistakes further down the track, if indeed they are viewed to be mistakes, will be really difficult, because people have already established a pattern and they're not used to being subject to review and they're not used to a system where accused and the prosecution have a genuine right of review. The blame cannot be laid entirely at the feet of the East Timorese government, UNTAET itself was very slow to take the necessary steps to appoint the judges. I think there's just a cumbersome bureaucracy, there's a lack of foresight, I don't think it was afforded the sort of priority that it should have been, and so when one judge would leave or their contract would expire, new staff would only be sought perhaps a month after they'd left, but certainly not before their contract was expired, so there was just no planning, which I think is evident in fact, that they just did not see a court of appeal as a fundamental aspect of a working judicial system. And then the new government has inherited that problem. They also have their own ideas about who should be on that court of appeal or what sort of judges might fill those positions, and that in itself causes delays to some extent.

Antony Funnell: East Timor is the world's sixth poorest nation. It desperately needs money. But according to critics, the Alkatiri administration's slow pace of legislative reform and continual interference in the workings of the judicial system have actually impeded economic growth. One year into full independence, and the government in Dili is yet to resolve the thorny issue of land ownership. Despite numerous promises, there is still no new land ownership legislation, leaving the whole question of who owns what in East Timor up in the air.

The current system recognises both Indonesian and prior colonial title to land, and this has led to considerable conflict. It's a problem that mainly affects the major population centres, but disadvantages many ordinary Timorese along with foreign investors and the more well-off. Not being able to prove your ownership of the land on which you live or work can influence many basic things, including an ordinary East Timorese person's ability to gain access to much-needed financial loans.

Right next to Embassy Row, and overlooking Dili's majestic waterfront is the newly-built Esplanada. It's an upmarket boutique-style hotel employing numerous East Timorese and built and operated by Australian Ashley Rees.

Ashley Rees: Your average East Timorese is having trouble proving that he owns property or she owns property, so therefore the banks are very challenged to lend people money, which gets an internal economy bubbling away. So it's something that really has to be sorted out quite quickly, and given what's occurred lately, potential investors here are going to be turned off if land and property isn't sorted out. There's a variety of agendas and issues that they can go through to get this up to scratch; it's not an easy issue, but it's a brave issue. Whatever legislation they put through will not satisfy everyone, there's going to be people who miss out, but they have to be brave enough to be able to say, 'Right, here's a line in the sand, this is a process we go through, after that, that property's is either passed on or taken back, and that's it.' That person, via the courts or whatever, owns that property. And that's something that could have been done probably a lot quicker when the UN was here, but they had many other issues that they had to deal with, but it's essential, it's a major, major obstacle for investment here.

Antony Funnell: Further down the Esplanade, not far from the national parliament is another Australian operated hotel, the Hotel Dili. Manager, Gino Favaro, has had his own problems with the existing land ownership arrangement.

Gino Favaro: It's taken a long time for some cases to get to court. And then they're not heard in the best manner possible, and the...

Antony Funnell: Gino spent a great deal of time and money on legal fees trying to prove his ownership of a large block of land neighbouring his hotel. His family bought the block in Portuguese colonial times but someone else has claimed it. His main frustration isn't just the lack of clear new legislation governing land ownership, it's the competency of those who sit on the bench.

Gino Favaro: The Timorese judges that have been put into place by the United Nations weren't experienced in position of judges and the procedures, and have never even worked in the legal system inside a court house as lawyers. They were trained lawyers under the Indonesian administration throughout Indonesia, but they'd never worked as lawyers, they worked in different departments advising the heads of departments about certain things, but never actually worked in courts before. And then they were appointed as judges. Now some of them were very good, and they adapted quite well, but some of them, there were big question marks as to their credibility, as to their experience, their knowledge in order to carry out the job with the commitment and responsibility that's necessary for those positions. Then you've got a language problem and a culture problem in the middle of that. Most people represented in English, and the language of the courts were in Indonesian, all the documents have got to be translated into Indonesian and then if you've got a foreign person like myself, and there are many here through the court process, then they've got to be translated back into English and so on.

Antony Funnell: At the hearing rooms for the Special Panel for Serious Crimes, Jal Naro comes face to face with that language problem each and every day. His job, as Clerk of the Court, makes him responsible for the hiring of interpreters, one of whom he requires to answer my questions because he simply doesn't speak English.

Interpreter: We use four languages during the process at this Panel court, so it makes the court go very slowly, and that's why we need to ask the government to try and find any solution in order to minimise this problem, because we use four languages in the dealing criminal court will go very slowly in its process.

Antony Funnell: Nowhere are the problems of translation more evident than inside the Dili District Court. On this day, an Australian man is facing a judge over a driving incident.

When court proceedings begin, the man is immediately asked in English whether or not he can speak Portuguese. When he replies that he cannot, the court proceeds regardless. Finally, the man interjects, not only to protest his inability to understand what's going on, but also his lack of access to legal representation.

Man: ... state my case because I have a lot to say.

Antony Funnell: Outside the court room, many other non-Portuguese speaking people sit patiently on wooden benches awaiting a similar experience.

Antony Funnell: The Alkatiri government has spent much time and effort trying to reintroduce Portuguese as a national language, despite the fact that most East Timorese don't understand it, and actually dislike its links to the colonial past. To this end, the government has even begun giving special consideration to the hiring of judges and lawyers from Portuguese-speaking former colonies, such as Angola, and Mozambique, both of which have no great tradition of respect for civil rights and for the independence of the judiciary. The Alkatiri government admits its moves in this direction have caused a serious language problem, but their solution is not to use a language that people understand, it's to further enforce the teaching of Portuguese.

Acting Foreign Minister, Jorge Tempe.

Jorge Tempe: I do see that our language problem seems to be giving a great contribution on the difficulties of the legal system, because we try to train, the government is trying to train the judges by inviting judges from other countries like from Sydney, to train them, but to train them to be professional in their legal system, but the language is another problem, because these people are skilled, and whether his skill is integrated with the language, that is the question, not only in the legal affairs, but also in other departments, we face the problem of language. But we believe that three or four years, the problem will be slowly solved.

Antony Funnell: The East Timorese nation is only a year old. Most analysts agree that many of the problems that exist in the legal system today are not necessarily of the current government's making, but whether the deeply unpopular Alkatiri government has the will and desire to shape a just and fair legal system remains open for debate. Lawyer, priest, and regular visitor to East Timor, Frank Brennan, says the government needs time.

Frank Brennan: I think the East Timorese government is fully aware of the extent of the problems, they just know that these are problems which even if you had very highly trained and very experienced lawyers, would take you a very long time to resolve. I mean imagine being in a First World situation like Australia where you brought in new batches of judges and lawyers and said they had to use four languages in court, imagine saying that in terms of land dispute, you wouldn't just have Native title and the British Common Law system, but rather you'd have the Portuguese system, the Indonesian system, the Timorese system, the Japanese system, then you start to get an idea of just the extent of the complexity.

Antony Funnell: But there are those who continue to hold grave fears for the future of justice in East Timor. Like writer and Dili-based correspondent for the Fairfax newspapers, Jill Jolliffe.

Jill Jolliffe: You have a whole generation that has grown up never having experienced an elementary justice system. During the 24 years of the Indonesian occupation, a person could be arrested without trial, they could be tortured, they could be summarily executed, and there was no-one to appeal to, there was no rule of law in East Timor. So the fact that now some sort of a system has been set up, there are the basics there, but we still don't have those responsible for the crimes committed in 1999, let alone the 24 years before that, being brought to account means that a whole generation of East Timorese will feel cheated, and if no example is set of the transgressors, in particular those who tortured and brutalised East Timorese, then there was no reason to believe that the younger generation is going to honour the law, is going to look to the law and is not going to behave in a violent fashion.

Antony Funnell: People who would like to see an International Crimes Tribunal set up in East Timor say that the Alkatiri government has a responsibility to the people who have suffered, but does the Alkatiri government also have, do you think, responsibility to the international community? Because the people that committed these crimes, have been accused of committing crimes in East Timor, are actually being called to account for crimes against humanity, aren't they?

Jill Jolliffe: That's correct, yes, and it's not only the East Timorese people who suffered under them, it's also a matter of democracy in Indonesia. There are many people in Indonesia, Indonesian democrats, who would like to see these military figures judged for the crimes they committed in East Timor, because it's a matter for Indonesian democracy, but it's also a matter for international human rights. I think that many East Timorese leaders forget that they owe their liberty today to the many people in the world community who respected their standards, and people like Xanana Gusmao for example, won his liberty with the help of Amnesty International, organisations like that which worked solidly during these 24 years of Indonesian occupation, for liberty, for human rights to be observed, and they were very rigorous in that, but now those standards seem to have been forgotten by some of the Timorese leaders.

Antony Funnell: One of those who worked tirelessly for freedom and legal justice in East Timor throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, was scientist and activist, Rob Wesley-Smith. He's disillusioned with the course the country's leadership is taking, many of whom he once regarded as colleagues. Of significant concern, he says, is new legislation currently before the parliament, which will give the Alkatiri government the legal right to deport any foreigner engaging in activities which are 'of a political nature, or involved directly or indirectly the affairs of the state.' Rob Wesley-Smith believes the legislation will be used to silence critics and keep international observers like journalists, and the JSMP, at bay.

Rob Wesley-Smith: It's actually a breach of their own constitution, and it's a breach of the UN accords which they've signed as part of their constitution. So it's suggesting that the leadership there now really cannot tolerate any criticism, and I must admit it reminds me a bit of Robert Mugabe, so I'm very disappointed with that at the moment.

You marry it with statements by Mari Alkatiri that we fought and won and we've got a right to govern, and we expect to govern for 50 years, and that sort of thing. And even this term of government will go its full five-year term, well actually the people that were elected initially just to draw up a constitution, and they've extended. So you know, all that's extremely worrying. A lot of this has slipped through the parliament which is fairly non-functioning. Not many Fretelin members who have got the majority there, are prepared to stand up against their leader, and a lot of it's already been passed before really foreigners and other people were aware of it. And a lot of the suggestions for it have been drawn up by the Minister for the Interior, who was actually never elected to the parliament, he was just appointed. It's very poor, and as I say it's actually unconstitutional.

Antony Funnell: Rob Wesley-Smith.

East Timor's justice system may be strapped for cash and resources, and it may also have a government which at times is openly hostile to its development and independence. But despite all that, the Serious Crimes Unit it appears, won't be cowed. Just a few days ago, they issued another round of indictments, this time against 16 people accused of crimes against humanity, including 8 Indonesian soldiers and a former District Chief of Police.

Much has changed in East Timor in recent times, but as the country marks its first year of independence, at least some in the legal system are showing that the Timorese spirit of resistance and dogged determination against the odds has not been quashed.

Damien Carrick: Antony Funnell, with that special report on the state of the justice system in East Timor.

Religion/Catholic church

Bishop says moral, spiritual darkness haunts Catholics

Catholic News Service - April 25, 2003

Dili -- A moral and spiritual "darkness" still haunts East Timor's Catholics, the bishop of Dili said at the Easter Vigil service.

Bishop Basilio do Nascimento told people crowded inside and outside the Dili cathedral April 19 not to believe in local "gods," because that would be contrary to their Catholic faith, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

The bishop recalled that as a child in his home district of Aileu "I thought we had our own 'god' because people always said 'God of Aileu.' Nowadays, I still hear about various 'gods' existing everywhere in East Timor." He also warned them to be wary of believing in "Kolimau," a local faith healer whose magical claims might divert people from their Catholic faith.

The bishop noted how alleged apparitions of the Blessed Mother at a hill called Aitara may lead Catholics to "adore" her rather than Christ. He urged those present to focus their faith on Christ.

Bishop do Nascimento also voiced concern that Catholics may misunderstand "inculturation," a term referring to the integration of local culture into the Catholic faith, and not to use it to justify their devotion to local "gods." The bishop said many university students and former seminarians misunderstand the term. He said inculturation should be based on local traditions and customs in line with church teaching.

He emphasized the importance of clinging to Christian beliefs, saying, "As we are mostly Christians, we must believe that the resurrection of Christ can be a light to lead us out of our own darkness."

Traditionally conservative East Timor has experienced a social upheaval since the ending of Indonesia's oppressive, often violent rule in 1999. Bishop do Nascimento noted that illicit behavior such as prostitution, premarital sex and divorce are more open now than in the past. The bishop called on East Timorese Catholics to adhere to church teaching and to avoid illicit behavior.

Less than 30 percent of East Timor's population was Catholic prior to the December 1975 invasion of the island by Indonesia. Today, the population is more than 90 percent Catholic.e worse when there is," she told Reuters.