Timor Gap

Horta pours oil on troubled treaty waters

Australian Financial Review - July 16, 2003

James Eyers -- East Timor's Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, has reassured investors that Timor is happy with the treaty on sharing the Timor Sea's oil wealth with Australia, despite claims by a cabinet colleague last month that it was unfair.

Dr Ramos-Horta told a recent briefing in Sydney that the ratification of the Timor Sea Treaty between East Timor and Australia in March would allow East Timor to increase spending on vital infrastructure and attract foreign investment. The treaty gives the country 90 per cent of the royalty revenues from the Bayu-Undan gas project.

"We have secured an arrangement that will deliver to East Timor, by 2004-05, predictable revenue." Dr Ramos-Horta said. "It doesn't make East Timor a Kuwait, but it will meet all our budgetary requirements and will bring some significant input into our budgetary strategy."

East Timor's Secretary of State for Tourism, Environment and Industry, Jose Teixiera, said last month that East Timor should be entitled to more of the revenue from the project, which is being developed by ConocoPhillips.

Mr Teixiera said East Timor had a legitimate claim to move the seabed boundary between Australia and East Timor to the middle point, which would give East Timor control of virtually all the Bayu-Undan and the still to be negotiated Sunrise gas fields.

But Dr Ramos-Horta said the treaty had been fairly negotiated. "When you negotiate oil and gas, even Mother Teresa becomes tough. And John Howard has never claimed to be Tom Cruise or Mother Teresa. But he has been a genuine friend of East Timor. "

Dr Ramos-Horta said Prime Minister Howard's "paramount personal obligation" was to protect Australia's interests. "We are the ones who have to try to outsmart [Australia] if we can," he said.

He said Australia was making a "serious commitment" in Solomon Islands, but questioned whether the operation would lead to long-term security in the South Pacific.

"At the end of the day, it will be us, the people in these islands, who will have to show maturity, leave behind our disagreements, our ambitions, and think of the greater good of the world economy," Dr Ramos-Horta said.

He said Australia should provide more training for East Timor's military and police to reduce the terrorist threat in the region.

"In Timor, we need Australian support in continuing to strengthen our defences, our security forces, our police and our counter- terrorism [capabilities]. "We don't have any experience in counter-terrorism," Dr Ramos-Horta said. "Poverty leads to renewed security challenges."

'War on terrorism'

Timor hits its back at warnings

Melbourne Age - July 15, 2003

Liz Minchin -- Australia and the United States should stop warning travellers that East Timor is a possible terrorist target because they are harming the country's fledgling economy, East Timorese Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said yesterday.

At the University of Melbourne for a four-day peace and reconciliation conference, Dr Ramos-Horta said the Australian Government had not shown the East Timorese any evidence of terrorist groups operating there.

"We don't have al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiah in East Timor, and for hundreds of years we have not had a single suicide attack ... Are there external threats? Maybe, but if so Australia has not told us," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website posted warnings in May, saying it had received "reports that terrorist elements in the region are planning attacks". The US State Department has advised US citizens to exercise extreme caution in East Timor.

But Dr Ramos-Horta dismissed the warnings and joked that he should instead start issuing travel advisories to East Timorese about the perils of travelling in Australia and the United States.

"My mother lives in Liverpool in Sydney, and her house has been robbed three times," he said. "Unlike in Timor, where you may lose a mobile phone or a laptop, in Sydney you lose the whole house.

"And in America, you don't go near any school because the students might shoot you and you don't go near the suburbs because deranged housewives with shotguns will shoot you."

Justice & reconciliation

Soldiers' rapes cannot be forgotten, Timor activist says

Interpress News Service - July 17, 2003

Marwaan Macan-Markar, Bangkok -- Ivete Oliveira refuses to let the past be buried, especially the past of women who were sexually abused by Indonesian soldiers during East Timor's struggle for independence.

She is determined that the men who lead her new nation -- Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's former guerrilla leader and its current president, and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jose Ramos Horta -- do not forget these victims either.

Yet her campaign and that of other East Timorese women to secure justice for the women abused during Indonesia's 24-year occupation -- is not an easy one, 26-year-old Oliveira told a hushed gathering at the UN conference center here this week.

"The men who lead our country are trying to close their eyes about this. They are more involved in the national interest and talk about the need for reconciliation with Indonesia," she said at a discussion that focused on war, women and peace.

"But we want to fight for justice," Oliveira, an advocacy officer at the East Timor office of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, told IPS. "It is not fair for the women who were raped during the struggle for independence. The military men who committed these war crimes are still free."

The message Oliveira brought to Bangkok echoes what surfaced in April during a public hearing of the Commission for Reception, Truth-seeking and Reconciliation (CAVR), held in Dili, East Timor's capital.

Fourteen women from across the half-island nation were invited to give testimonies about how their lives had been affected during East Timor's over two-decade struggle, before it became a free nation in May 2002.

Among them was Olga da Silva Amaral, who recounted her ordeal in 1982. "Before I was raped, they hit me in the head with a wooden chair until I bled, I was hit with a firearm in my left ribcage until I was injured, I was kicked in the back with military boots until I was unable to walk," she told the CAVR.

"But the torture continued," she went on. "I was given electric shocks to my ears, hands and feet. I was jumped all over until I felt that my blood no longer flowed and I had no more strength. That is when they raped me. They tortured me like this for months."

For women's rights activists in East Timor, these testimonies cannot be set aside because officials like Xanana say it is the time for reconciliation and looking ahead, instead of reopening old wounds.

In fact, these activists say they are reason enough for an international tribunal to be set up to try perpetrators of war crimes committed during East Timor's years under Indonesian rule from 1975 to 1999.

The CAVR, which bears similarities to the South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has been given a mandate to hear eyewitness accounts of the atrocities that happened when Indonesian troops invaded the former Portuguese colony.

An estimated 200,000 East Timorese -- a third of its population in 1975 -- died as a result of bombings, killings and starvation during the Indonesian occupation of what Jakarta considered its province.

Activists say rape was used as a weapon of war, resulting in hundreds of women being systematically abused.

Violence peaked in the weeks after a UN-sponsored referendum in 1999, when close to 80 percent of East Timorese voted to secede from Indonesia.

Pro-Jakarta militia went on the rampage, destroying and burning buildings across East Timor. Hundreds of civilians are believed to have been killed. In at least one incident in Suai district, militia slaughtered at least 100 women and children, and others have related how they were raped by militia members.

Currently, the judicial mechanisms to prosecute the crimes committed during this period are a special rights court set up in Indonesia to try senior police and military officials.

Since January 2001, a Special Panel on Serious Crimes in East Timor has also been trying militia leaders and those accused of rights violations.

The panel indicted another 57 people this month. This brings the number of people, including soldiers and pro-Jakarta militia, indicted to 296, of whom 216 are at large in Indonesia. A total of 32 people have been convicted after trials in Dili.

But these attempts at justice are not enough for some rights groups, who are calling for the creation of a special international tribunal to satisfy the needs of justice.

"Such tribunals will provide integrity and maintain high standards needed to try people for war crimes that were committed," says Sunai Phasuk of Forum Asia, a Bangkok-based regional human rights lobby.

"What is happening today is that the military officers and those involved in human rights abuse in East Timor are roaming free and enjoying impunity," he adds.

Agrees Oliveira: "We need a tribunal to end this impunity, otherwise women in Aceh and West Papua provinces will also be abused like what happened in East Timor." Aech and West Papua are home to separatist struggles, and Jakarta in May sent in troops to impose martial rule in Aceh.

The cry for justice that Oliveira and other East Timorese women are making for the victims of the war-related rapes highlights the new nature of warfare, according to the UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

"The battlefields have become the bodies of women. The use of rape has become systematic, as a weapon of war," Noeleen Heyzer, UNIFEM executive director, said at this week's discussion that accompanied the local release of 'Women, War, Peace,' a book published by the UN agency in 2002.

This is reflected in the book's stories of women who have been victims of war across the world, she added. "Systemic rape against women must be seen as a crime against humanity."

The UNIFEM book said that civilian casualties in war are at an all-time high -- "more than 75 percent in the wars of the 1990s" -- as opposed to the 15 percent civilian casualty rate during World War I.

Heyzer agreed with Oliveira that the culture of impunity enjoyed by men who use rape as a weapon of war must be challenged. "We have to bring to justice those who have committed crimes against women," she said.

Human rights trials

Two ex-militia leaders jailed over East Timor murders

Associated Press - July 16, 2003

Dili -- An East Timorese court Wednesday sentenced two pro- Indonesian militia leaders to eight and 12 years in prison for murdering five independence supporters during the country's bloody break from Jakarta rule in 1999.

The convictions bring to 34 the number of people -- most of them militiamen -- brought to justice in East Timor over the violence that accompanied the United Nations-supervised independence ballot.

Benjamin Sarmento was convicted of four counts of murder, and was sentenced to 12 years, while Romeiro Tilman was found guilty on one count. He received eight years.

Earlier sessions of the court had heard that all the victims were known independence supporters and that the murders took place in central East Timor between April and September 1999. It was not immediately clear whether the two men would appeal.

Violence surrounding the UN-sponsored independence vote left up to 1,500 East Timorese dead and most of the country's infrastructure destroyed. Witnesses said Indonesia's military and local government organized much of bloodshed through militia proxies it created to intimidate independence supporters.

Under international pressure to punish those responsible for the violence, Indonesia last year agreed to try 18 senior police and military officials in a special human rights tribunal.

However, the court in Jakarta has so far acquitted 12 suspects and convicted five -- all of whom are free pending appeals -- leading to charges by human rights activists that the trials were a sham.

17 Indonesian officers among 57 new indictments

Agence France Presse - July 10, 2003

Dili -- Prosecutors in East Timor Thursday indicted 57 people, including 17 Indonesian military officers and four former pro- Jakarta militia leaders, for their part in deadly violence during the country's 1999 independence bid.

A statement issued by East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit, said the men were accused of crimes against humanity including murder, torture and persecution in surrounding the UN-backed vote to breakaway from Jakarta.

They include four senior Indonesian military officers, one special forces agent, 12 East Timorese serving in the Indonesian military as non-commissioned officers and four former pro-Jakarta militia leaders, the unit said.

The indictment is related to "planned and coordinated" attacks, allegedly launched by Indonesian troops and militiamen on civilians seeking refuge with police in September 1999, which left at least 13 people dead, it said.

"The victims included targeted pro-independence supporters and the 12 year-old son of an independence leader," the statement added.

The military and its supporters waged a savage intimidation campaign before East Timor's August 1999 independence vote and a revenge campaign afterwards during which tens of thousands were forced over the border into West Timor.

An estimated 1,000 people were murdered. The territory finally gained independence last May after a period of UN stewardship.

East Timor's prosecutors have filed a series of indictments in an attempt to bring Indonesian military members, officials and militiamen to justice.

In late February the unit charged Jakarta's former defence minister and military chief, Wiranto, for crimes against humanity along with six other senior officers and the then-governor.

Indonesia refuses to hand over any suspects. East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has also criticised the February indictments, saying good relations with the former ruler should take priority.

Interpol joins hunt for killers

Sydney Morning Herald - July 8, 2003

Jill Jolliffe, Dili -- A new tactic by East Timorese prosecutors to bring war crimes suspects to trial has resulted in nine Interpol arrest warrants being issued.

Chief prosecutor Longuinhos Monteiro yesterday confirmed that the international police organisation had issued red notice alerts for nine wanted men, Indonesian and Timorese. All are accused of killings during Indonesia's 1999 scorched-earth withdrawal from East Timor.

"It is the beginning of a whole new procedure," he said. "I have now signed another 43 applications for Interpol warrants."

Interpol's wanted list for crimes against humanity in East Timor is headed by Djoko Saroso, former commander of the Indonesian army's feared 745 Battalion. He is accused of command responsibility for killings in the eastern city of Lospalos and in the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes in September 1999.

The mutilated body of the Jakarta-based correspondent of the Financial Times was found in the Becorah suburb of Dili soon after 745 Battalion travelled through the area.

Since the UN set up a serious crimes unit in Dili to gather evidence against perpetrators of the 1999 violence, the taskforce has issued 170 arrest warrants for suspects now in Indonesia. But the Government of Megawati Soekarnoputri has refused to hand them over, despite an obligation to do so under a Security Council resolution.

Mr Monteiro said he was starting with the first indictments issued by the crimes unit in 2000 then working up to recent cases, which include that of Indonesia's former defence chief General Wiranto. "We will follow exactly the same procedure in his case," he said.

East Timor became a member of Interpol in February, opening the possibility of arresting the accused if they travel outside Indonesia. Police from member countries are obliged to extradite them for trial by a special court in Dili.

East Timorese leaders, including President Xanana Gusmao, distanced themselves from the prosecutions after General Wiranto's indictment but prosecutors are determined to assert their independence with continued efforts to bring the accused to justice.

Only one of the other eight wanted men is Indonesian. Rahman Zulkarnean of the elite Kopassus special forces is also accused of killings in Lospalos. The remainder are East Timorese from the paramilitary Team Alfa organisation.

News & issues

Gusmao pays two brave priests a timely visit

Melbourne Age - July 12, 2003

Jill Jolliffe, Fatumaca -- On a sentimental journey to an unusual former guerilla support base, East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has paid homage to two priests who dedicated their lives to his country's freedom.

Just a day after he vetoed a draft law on immigration approved by Parliament, he also drew a political lesson. "In terms of this proposed law, these men would have been forbidden to help our guerillas," he said.

One of the clauses in the bill, criticised as xenophobic by the parliamentary opposition and human rights groups, states that "foreigners cannot provide religious assistance to defence and security forces". Other clauses restrict foreigners from participating in any political activity.

The support base in question was the Don Bosco mission school at Fatumaca, 25 kilometres outside Baucau, nestling in the shadow of the mountain ranges from which the former guerilla chief led his comrades in their 24-year battle against the Indonesian army.

Italian priest Eligio Locatelli, 66, and Father Joao de Deus, a 75-year-old Portuguese, allowed the freedom fighters to use the school for secret meetings. The latter included Mr Gusmao's first encounter, in 1983, with the young Bishop Carlos Belo, who later won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Officially, Mr Gusmao travelled to Fatumaca to present diplomas to the school's latest graduates, but the reunion with his loyal friends predominated. When the three men met on Wednesday evening, there was electricity in the air. Mr Gusmao raised an affectionate toast "to we three old fellows", after which they spent hours laughing over old times and swapping war stories.

Both priests were arrested and beaten by the Indonesian military on various occasions, but never abandoned the nationalists. After Father de Deus survived one particularly savage beating, Bishop Belo issued a pastoral letter asking all Catholics to pray for him. Father Locatelli helped broker a six-month ceasefire between the guerillas and the Indonesians, also in 1983.

In an interview with The Age, Mr Gusmao said the debate over the Immigration and Asylum Bill was "a benchmark for our young democracy". His veto followed a finding by the Constitutional Court that the bill was unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri attacked the court's decision, saying he won't "change a comma" of the bill. The Government can push it through on a second reading with a two-thirds majority, but its inflexibility has raised the possibility of a stand-off between presidential supporters and the governing Fretilin party.

Mr Gusmao urged respect for the court's ruling, but said he would not push the issue further for now. "The problem is that today we're speaking of restricting foreigners' rights, to defend state security and national interests, but tomorrow we might be talking about restricting our own citizens' rights," he said.

Saying that he saw his role as primarily "moral and educational", Mr Gusmao was happy to let others draw the implications from his gesture of admiration for the two foreign priests who defended the East Timorese as their own.

Health & education

East Timor's classrooms of hope

Melbourne Age - July 14, 2003

Brad Collis -- When Sipriano Martins was in high school he had a code name to hide his identity. It was Saruntu, which means "fight like a crazy man". That was back in the mid-1990s when Sipriano was risking his life as a courier for East Timor's Falintil guerillas fighting to free the country from Indonesian occupation.

Today, at the age of 24, Mr Martins is finally coming to terms with the fact that the fighting is over and his education is back on track -- but the struggle is by no means finished.

East Timor's first elected government is only one year old. For Mr Martins and his classmates at the University of East Timor's rebuilt agriculture faculty, education is not about jobs and career, but about nation-building. They fought for and won freedom, and are acutely aware of the onus on their generation not to squander the opportunity.

All of the students from the faculty -- restored by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research along with Australian universities -- are expected to return to their villages after graduation and use their skills to help improve food production. Subsistence farming is not enough to ensure a secure basic food supply and even staples such as rice have to be imported.

It's also back to basics for lecturers, particularly those who graduated in Australian universities or Australian lecturers working in East Timor as volunteers. In the faculty of agriculture, which has the huge task of creating an agricultural economy for the country, there are four second-hand computers for 1200 students who are squeezed into six lecture rooms.

"There are no PowerPoint demonstrations here," says the dean, Flavian Soares. "We're still in the chalk-and-talk days, but, given that everything was destroyed, we're actually making good progress."

Most of the faculty's senior students are in their mid-to-late 20s, their education interrupted by the destruction of the university after the independence vote in 1999 and events of the past four years. Some, like Sipriano Martins, belonged to the clandestine courier network and almost all were part of the youth mobilisation that went from village to village explaining democracy and the referendum that triggered the Indonesian military's fury. Scores of their friends and classmates disappeared.

The feeling of the young fighters-turned-students was summed up by 24-year-old Aluiziu Assis, who is impatient to take his knowledge of animal disease and vaccines back to his home town, Manatuto. "We're optimistic about the future because we have learned already that we can make change," he says, "and from now on it's going to be Timorese helping Timorese."

Mr Soares sees his students as embodying the country's new circumstance. "We are facing the need and the opportunity to think differently. Before, everything we did was controlled. When many of these students started university their motivation was political change. Now their motivation is economic change. Science and economic competition are the worlds in which we now have to think and work."

Such talk, however, tends to be the language of the city and the university. In the villages, where most East Timorese live, it's primary school teachers like Maria Madalena who have the responsibility to build education at the grass roots.

The new government has made school compulsory, which means there are nowhere near enough teachers. Ms Madalena has to manage six classes and the average class size is 50 to 60 children.

"Experienced teachers can manage, but it's hard for new teachers," she says. "A lot of children are still traumatised by the violence and killing that followed the independence vote. You have to be watchful for schoolyard fighting because that's usually a sign.

"When I identify a troubled child I give them a leadership task, just to help them recover some confidence. There's no professional support, it's all up to the teachers. Many children come from illiterate homes, so there's very little home help."

Ms Madalena has been teaching since 1966 when East Timor was a Portuguese colony. After the 1975 invasion by Indonesia she fled into the hills and hid for three years until she felt it was safe to return and resume teaching.

Today, while a new education sector is still being built, teachers get by with a mix of the previous Portuguese and Indonesian curriculums. They concentrate solely on the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic. By Australian standards it may sound meagre, but Ms Madalena says it's a crucial beginning. "The situation is going to be difficult for a while; for the students and for the teachers. Our main role, really, is to create hope for the future.

"I often ask my classes, 'Who do you want to be like?' They all shout, 'Xanana Gusmao, our President!' I tell them, 'Good, so you know why it's important that you work very, very hard'. "

Since 1999 the Australian aid agency, AusAID, has been helping to rebuild East Timor's education sector, at first by putting money into reconstruction, and now by helping to develop textbooks. It is also funding a program to help teachers improve their skills.

Local media monitoring

East Timor local media monitoring

UNMISET - July 7-16, 2003

July 7, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that during his official visit (July1-3) to the District of Bobonaro, President Xanana Gusmao held a meeting with the community of Coeliman. The community expressed their concerns about the negative attitudes of the National Police and Falintil-FDTL representatives. Members of the Coeliman's community, Mr Aniceto Lopez and Felicita said that members from those defense and security institutions arrested and beat them without holding a warrant. They said " we were involved in the resistance to free our country, but now we have become victims in the era of freedom". President Xanana promised that he will reprimand the FDTL and the Police. (This is another report in the continuing series regarding President Xanana's visit to the District of Bobonaro).

The celebration of the United States of America's 227th Independence Day on Friday at the Unites States Ambassador's residence in Lecidere-Dili was interrupted by a demonstration organized by the Timor-Leste Alliance for the International tribunal. The demonstrators carried banners and placards saying "Establish The International Tribunal, Stop the War within the Country, Victims of 1975 and 1999 ask the United States Government to support the establishment of the International Tribunal". The Coordinator of the group, Mr Thomas Freitas from NGO La'o Hamutuk, said that the objective of the demonstration was to congratulate and also to convey the message to the US Government and the nation to uphold the basic values of the nation, support the establishment of the International Tribunal for Timor-Leste, stop military aid to the Indonesian Armed Forces and urge the Indonesian Government to uphold human rights, find a peaceful settlement of the Aceh and West Papua conflict and stop the military presence in Iraq.

The United Nations Police (UNPOL) on Saturday handed over its responsibility in the Suai District to the National Police. Those presented at the ceremony were the Interior Minister, Mr Rogerio Tiago Lobato, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma, The Commander of the Peace Keeping Force, Gen Tam Kim Guek, the Commander of UNPOL, Ms Sandra Peisley, the Commander of the National Police, Mr Paulo de Fatima Martins, the Vice President of the National Parliament, Mr Jacob Fernandes, representative of the Falintil- FDTL and the Suai District Administrator, Mr Abel dos Santos.

The Timor Post reported that Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri today has resumed his "Open Government" visits, this time going to the District of Lautem (July 7-12). Mr Alkatiri and his cabinet members will visit every sub-district to hear the concerns and problems faced by the community. According to the schedule, today the Prime Minister will visit the Sub-District of Luro and hold a meeting with the community. In the afternoon the Prime Minister will inspect the community health center and an agriculture husking machine.

Timor Post has sought opinions from the members of the National Parliament regarding the meeting between the Government, the Falintil-FDTL and the National Police. The spokesperson for the Fretilin Party in the Parliament, Mr Francisco Branco, said that the meeting between the Government, the Falintil-FDTL and the National police was a positive step taken by the Government towards nurturing dialogue at the supra structure level. Mr Branco said that because there is a problem, the leaders must sit together to solve it in a delicate manner. The spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party in the Parliament, Mrs Maria Paixao, said that the Opposition Parties welcomed this meeting and she is very optimistic about the result of the meeting. According to the spokesperson for the Democratic Party, Mr Rui Menezes, the meeting between the Government, Falintil-FDTL and PNTL was an effort to reduce the tension between the Government and the Veterans and Former Combatants. At another press opportunity, the spokesperson for the ASDT Party, Mr Feliciano C. Fatima, said that the meeting between the Government, FDTL and PNTL was a reminder to the leaders responsible for the security of the nation to solve the problems according to the capabilities of each institution.

July 8, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that a member of the National Parliament from the Democratic Party, Mr Rui Menezes, yesterday told reporters that according to information he received the organizing committee which selected the candidates for the Cuban medicine scholarship was practicing nepotism in the selection process. Mr Menezes explained the process in detail, beginning with the number of participants who attended the initial selection test. According to Mr Menezes, 200 participants followed the written test. However, only 67 participants passed the written test. The 67 participants were reduced to 20 participants as the definitive recipient list for the scholarship after another written test. However someone changed the definitive list by inserting a strange testing number 38/MED Sch/VI 2003 on behalf of FDSM (acronym of someone's name), which was not included in the initial list. Mr Menezes said that based on this evidence the organizing committee for the selection allegedly had practiced nepotism by putting a non selected person in the list.

President Xanana Gusmao yesterday received the credentials of the Thailand's Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Mr Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhaya at the Palace of Ashes -- Dili. Also presented at the ceremony were the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Jose Ramos Horta and President's Chief of Staff, Mr Agio Pereira. President Xanana said that Thailand has contributed through the UN Peace Keeping Force and has given development assistance in many areas. Ambassador Ayudhaya told reporters that his country has given contributions in the areas of defense through the UN PKF and capacity building in education, health and agriculture.

Members of the Veterans' Association yesterday attended training on "business management" organized by the East Timor Study Group in Becora-Dili. The article said that the training is aimed at enhancing the skills of the veterans in business management. The President of the Veterans of Resistance Association, Mr Paulo A. Belo, said that by attending this training he hopes that the veterans can improve their skills in running small and large businesses and by doing so they could improve their lives in the future.

The Timor Post reported that the Speaker of the National Parliament, Mr Francisco Guterres Lu-Olo, yesterday said that the National Parliament has three options in regard to the veto undertaken by RDTL's President on the Immigration and Asylum Law. Mr Lu-Olo said that the first option is that the National Parliament could review the bill and it needs 2/3 in the final vote. The second option is that the National Parliament stays quiet and does nothing and lets the foreigners come in and do whatever they want and we will accept the consequences. Mr Lu-Olo said that the third option is in line with his views that geographically Timor-Leste lies between Indonesia and Australia, therefore its needs regulations to safeguard the national interests.

President Xanana Gusmao yesterday held a press conference to explain his decision in sending the Immigration and Asylum Law to the Appeals Court as the highest judicial system in the country for examination. President Xanana said "I have heard many comments regarding this matter such as the Constituent Assembly created the Constitution, and the laws generated by the National Parliament serve the people. But I would like to say that our constitution was not created by us, but it was a copy of the Portuguese Constitution". President Xanana said that there were no constitutional experts involved in formulating Timor-Leste's Constitution.

Timor Post also reported allegations of nepotism in the Cuban Medicine Scholarship selection as per STL report.

July 10, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda arrived in Portugal on Wednesday for a two day official visit. The main focus will be on the development of bilateral ties. He will be meeting his Portuguese counterpart and among other issues, they will discuss the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, trade and the situation in Timor-Leste.

The Inspector General, Mr Mariano Lopes da Cruz, yesterday said that his office is willing to undertake an investigation into the allegations of nepotism in the selection of the Cuban Medicine Scholarship candidates. He requests that the institution in charge presents an official report to his office in order to do so. (See July 8, Media Monitoring for the full story).

STL has sought opinions regarding President Xanana Gusmao's comments that Timor-Leste's Constitution was a copy of the Portuguese Constitution. Members of the National Parliament, Mr Francisco Branco, the spokesperson for the Fretilin party and Mr Carlos Sarmento, the spokesperson for the Liberal Party said that President's comments are against his own appeal few months ago for the political leaders to avoid destructive criticism.

The Timor Post reported that the spokesperson for the Fretilin Party in the Parliament, Mr Francisco Branco, yesterday told reporters that his faction has not yet decided their position regarding the Immigration and Asylum Bill. The Bill was vetoed by President Xanana after the Appeals Court ruled that the draft of the Immigration and Asylum bill was "unconstitutional". Mr Branco said that his faction will present their views in due time.

The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Timor-Leste, Mr Kamalesh Sharma, yesterday met with President Xanana Gusmao at the Palace of Ashes-Dili. After the meeting, Mr Sharma told reporters that it was a regular meeting to report about his visit to the Districts of Bobonaro and Covalima. Mr Sharma said that his visit was aimed at assisting and assessing the destruction caused by the catastrophic flood in these areas. Mr Sharma said that they also talked about the Director General of UNESCO's visit to Timor-Leste and how UNESCO can assist Timor-Leste in the areas of education and culture. At another opportunity, the Vice President of the National Parliament, Mr Jacob Fernandes, also met with President Xanana to discuss the President's letter of notice to the National Parliament regarding his 17 day holiday. However, the Parliament suggested that the President reduce his holiday to 15 days in order to avoid a formal authorization from the Parliament as stipulated in the Constitution. Mr Fernandes said that if the President asks for less than 15 days, the parliament just needs a letter of notice from the President. If the President wants to take more than 15 days, he needs authorization from the National Parliament.

July 11, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that the Association of Majelis Amanah Rakyat (GIAT MARA), Malaysia welcomes 28 young Timorese yesterday who are in Kuala Lumpur to participate in a program of vocational training. The training is being provided by the Government of Malaysia in cooperation with GIAT MARA. The Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to Malaysia, Mr Djafar Amude Alkatiri, also attended the welcoming ceremony. This six month programme offers a variety of training, in carpentry, mechanics, printing, tailoring, electricity and many other skills. Ambassador Alkatiri said that all these were the successful results of good cooperation between GIAT MARA, the Embassy of RDTL, Timor-Leste's Islamic Community, and the Manufahi Youth Association.

President Xanana Gusmao said yesterday at Fatumaka Technical School that he will not interfere in the Government's plan to create a Special Unit Force within the National Police. President Xanana said that he respects the Government's decision. The RDTL President said that he will focus on the reconciliation program mainly in the areas close to the border such as Oecusse, Bobonaro and Suai.

The Timor Post reported that the Bishop of Dili and Baucau, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento, yesterday told reporters that if the Immigration and Asylum Bill is left intact it will keep foreigners away from Timor-Leste. The Bill will also limit the Catholic overseas missionaries serving their members in Timor- Leste. Monsignor Nascimento drew the analogy of the Immigration and Asylum Law as a father who wants to embrace his children. However, if the father embraces too tightly, it will cause breathing problems. (In short Bishop Nascimento refered to the bill as over protective).

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri yesterday told reporters in Tutuala that the Government will not interfere in the process of the Immigration and Asylum Law now being discussed in the Parliament, which has been vetoed by the President. Mr Alkatiri said that this process of debate is aimed at nurturing democracy in Timor- Leste.

July 14, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that the Deputy Commissioner of the Bobonaro's District, Mr Semedio Talo M., on Friday said that the Oeleu's community in the Sub District of Bobonaro had seen unidentified armed groups walked across their villages. Mr Talo said that last week there was a clash between groups identified as former militias and the community live near the border. Mr Talo said that the clash has resulted in one policeman's uniform tore by an arrow shot by unidentified person. And a man was arrested while the others escaped into West Timor. The article said that in order to pursuit the unidentified armed groups the National Police has carried out sweeping operation in close coordination with UN PKF from Australian Battalion in the areas of Oeleu, Saburai, Sasa and Atus in the Sub District of Lolotoe.

The UN POL Commissioner, Ms Sandra Presley, held a press conference on Friday to explain the fight among five aldeias in the Leolima's Suco, Sub District of Hato-Udo, District of Ainaro. Ms Presley said that 24 persons have been detained by the local police for questioning. Ms Presley said that the motive of the conflict is under investigation. (The article did not mention when the incident occurred).

The Timor Post reported that former Timor Leste's refugees in South Celebes Province of Indonesia on Friday filed the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Provincial Social Department to be responsible for the kidnapping of the East Timorese children from the "Mujahidin orphanage". The article said that 2 teenagers, Sebastiao Vasco or Fauzan (17 years old) and Celestino Alves or Muhaimin (15 years old) were returned to their home town in Timor-Leste by UNHCR few days ago.

July 15, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that the Speaker of the national Parliament, Mr Francisco Guterres (Lu-Olo), yesterday said that he got information from a credible source which saying that a diabolic teaching is being introduced by a group of foreigners into the community. Mr Lu-Olo has asked the National Police to investigate the case.

The Chancellor of Dili University, Dr Lucas da Costa, said that it is better for the National Parliament to conduct a profound review of the Immigration and Asylum Bill in order to avoid further controversy which could be end with national conflict. "I said this, because Timor-Leste has 4 sovereign institutions such as the Government, the National Parliament, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste's President and the Appeals Court. If we see from constitutional perspective, the National Parliament has the right to produce laws. But the Appeals Court ruled the draft of the Immigration and Asylum bill unconstitutional. Therefore the National Parliament should take a close look at the legal aspects not political" said Dr Lucas.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said that his government is doing all it can to minimize rights violations in Aceh. He said that he understands the concerns of the international community and said that two-month campaign to crush separatists has so far claimed an estimated 150 civilian lives. Mr Wirajuda said that Indonesia is a democratic state and has the necessary mechanisms to ensure that military and police operations keep all excesses to a minimum, including human rights violations. He made the latest statement in an interview with Portugal's Publico daily newspaper.

The Timor Post reported that the President of the Veterans' and Ex-Combatants' Commission, Mr Duarte Viana, held a meeting few days ago at the Suco of Waibobo with members of the Veterans' and Ex-Combatants' Association of the Sub-Districts of Ossu, Venilale and Quelicai to disseminate and share information regarding the registration of the former Combatants and Veterans. Mr Viana explained to the participants about his commission's mission. However, during the meeting the Popular Council for the Defense of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (CPD-RDTL) spokesperson, Mr Amaro Bosco, said that they would only complete the questionnaire with a condition that the armed forces' name of Falintil be restored. Mr Bosco said that the CPD-RDTL urged the Government to provide a heroes cemetery for those who lost their lives for the liberation of this country as the main priority. (The CPD-RDTL only recognizes the name of Falintil without the addition of Forcas de Defesa de Timor-Leste or FDTL). In response to the CPD-RDTL objections in registering their names to the commission, Mr Viana said that he will present their objections to the President, the Parliament and the Government.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri on Wednesday said that the elected Chief of Sucos must provide a development plan for their Sucos. Mr Alkatiri said this during a meeting with the community of Iliomar Sub District.

3. The government will confiscate all the weapons currently under the possession of civilians, said Prime Minister Alkatiri during the open governance session with the population of Lautim, on Friday. He stated that only institutions like PNTL and F-FDTL are entitled to have weapons.

July 16, 2003

Suara Timor Lorosae reported that a Member of Parliament from Christian Democratic Party, Mr Antonio Ximenes, on Monday demanded the Government to be transparent about the December 4th riot. Mr Ximenes urged the Government to release the report of the investigation on the December 4 (2002) riots. Mr Ximenes argued that it is important that the report must be transparent in order to allow the community to know those responsible for the riots, which left two students dead and several buildings burned including the Prime Minister's residence. He said the Government has not met its promised of making public the results of an investigation concluded 72 hours after the events took place. Ximenes added that if the Government is not transparent on this investigation, it is likely that such violent events will occur again.

The Commander of the Falintil-FDTL, Gen. Taur Matan Ruak, yesterday commented on rumors were saying that some invisible personalities were behind the scenario of confronting the Defense Force (F-FDTL) and National Police (PNTL) aimed at setting up dictatorship regime in the country. Mr Ruak sent a clear message that the Falintil-FDTL's position is independent as stipulated by the Constitution. Mr Ruak appealed to the community to stay calm.

A Parliamentarian member from Fretilin Party, Mrs Cipriana Pereira, yesterday commented on the controversial Immigration and Asylum Bill saying that if the national leaders do not want to solve the problem of the Immigration and Asylum Bill (articles 11, 12) through a dialogue, then they want to bring the nation into the mob rule (the strongest is the winner)

The Timor Post reported that the Commander of the Falintil-FDTL, Gen Taur Matan Ruak, yesterday told STL and Timor Post that former Falintil guerillas handed their fire guns over to Government, except 3 persons. However, Falintil-FDTL has provide the police a complete report (self identification and their possessions) in order to trace them and to confiscate their guns. General Ruak said this in response to rumors that members of the former Falintil are using their fire guns and did not hand it over to the Government or Police.

A member of the National Parliament from Fretilin, Mr Antonio Cardoso, yesterday urged the National Parliament to investigate the assistance fund program "build the society for development" from Portugal which totals US$ 3 million. Mr Cardoso said that Eur$ 2 million was given to the Catholic Church (Diocese's Dili and Baucau). And Eur $ 1million was channeled through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Mr Cardoso urged the National Parliament to invite Dr Jose Ramos Horta to clarify the matter.