Timor Gap

Under pressure, East Timor signs rotten oil deal

Green Left Weekly - January 25, 2006

Jon Lamb – On January 12, Australia and East Timor signed a deal establishing a 50-50 split of royalties from the lucrative Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea. The Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) rules out East Timor's right to establish a maritime boundary in the Timor Sea for at least 50 years, while guaranteeing the Australian government and big-business access to billions in royalties and downstream revenues from oil and gas fields that rightfully belong to East Timor.

The Greater Sunrise deal follows three years of bullying and stand-over tactics by Canberra, including threats to withdraw aid to the East Timorese government. Not only has the Howard government refused to abide by international law governing maritime boundary disputes, it has accused the poverty-stricken East Timorese nation of being "greedy", of wanting the resources it is entitled to under international law.

The response in East Timor to their government's agreement to the CMATS terms has been mixed. A major concern among various sectors is the Fretilin government's acquiescence in foregoing East Timor's territorial rights. On January 11, the directors of the Commission for Justice and Peace from the diocese of Dili and Bacau and the Centre of Information for the Timor Sea called for the maritime boundary dispute to be settled first.

A co-ordinator of the Melbourne-based Timor Sea Justice Campaign, Tom Clarke, described the deal as a "stop-gap, band-aid solution that will enable the commercial development of the field without the Australian government acknowledging East Timor's sovereign rights to this and other fields on East Timor's side of the median line".

He criticised the Australian government for refusing to negotiate permanent maritime boundaries until all of the oil and gas has been taken and to unilaterally deplete the Laminaria-Corallina and Buffalo fields.

While East Timor was forced into a compromise to defer settling the maritime boundaries, so too was the Howard government which was forced to accept that East Timor receive a 50% royalty share – a substantial increase from 18%. This means that East Timor's royalties will now be US$15 billion or more, a substantial increase from around $6 billion. This increase came about largely because the East Timorese negotiators refused to accept the original rotten deal, and were supported by various solidarity movements.

"The combined impact that Australian grassroots pressure, businessperson Ian Melrose's television commercials, international pressure, the work of trade unions and churches, and all of the Timor Sea Justice Campaign's supporters, have had in significantly shifting Canberra's position over the past 18 months", said Clarke.

The US-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) said on January 15 that while it understood the pressure on East Timor to sign the deal, it "believes that Timor-Leste could have gained more by holding out longer". "Worldwide and grassroots pressure on Australia was only beginning to be effective. Income from the Bayu-Undan field is already surpassing Timor-Leste's current financial needs, and will do so for the next 15 years", ETAN stated.

The CMATS allows for the Australian government to continue issuing contracts (or maintaining developments) in previously contested areas in the Timor Sea. East Timor is also likely to lose out on downstream revenue generated by the Greater Sunrise field, with the main operators – Woodside Petroleum, Conoco Phillips and Shell – indicating they favour re-processing the gas on land (possibly at the gas processing plant in Darwin) rather than piping it to the much closer East Timor.

Gas fields deal 'short changes' East Timor

Agence France Presse - January 16, 2006

A deal signed last week between East Timor and Australia to share billions of dollars in revenue from Timor Sea oil and gas deposits has short-changed Asia's poorest country, a rights group says.

The agreement divides revenues from the Greater Sunrise field between the two countries equally. It delays finalising their maritime border for 50 years, by which time reserves may be exhausted.

The US-based East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) says international law experts believe as the field and others covered by the deal are closer to East Timor's coast than Australia's, they should belong to the tiny nation.

ETAN says East Timor should receive all revenue. It says the agreement "prolongs Australia's refusal to recognise the sovereign rights of the people of Timor-Leste (East Timor)".

"Although the Government of Timor-Leste is temporarily acceding to this occupation, ETAN joins with many in Timor-Leste in the belief that the struggle for independence remains incomplete without definitive boundaries accepted by their neighbours," the group said.

East Timor has been locked in a struggle with Australia over the resource revenues since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. The dispute blew up when Australia insisted that a 1970s Timor Sea boundary agreed with Jakarta should remain in place after independence. Australia refused to negotiate the dispute at the International Court of Justice.

The 1970s boundary would have given Australia two-thirds of the maritime territory and 80 per cent of the Sunrise field. East Timor wanted the maritime boundary to be the midpoint between the two countries.

ETAN says East Timor has boosted its share of the field to half under the deal "but it has given up other potentially lucrative areas being explored now or in the near future".

East Timor's Prime Minister, Mari Alkatari, welcomed the deal last week, saying it paved the way for East Timor to develop its own petroleum processing industry.

Oil companies which had deferred the Greater Sunrise project because of the two governments' squabbling over the boundary, said they were studying the text of the deal before resuming work on the project.

Treaty to pump $25 billion to East Timor

The Australian - January 13, 2006

Nigel Wilson – Maritime boundary negotiations between Australia and East Timor have been put on hold for 50 years under a deal to share the Timor Sea's petroleum riches that will deliver up to $25 billion cash to the fledgling democracy.

Details of the deal – which adds more than $11 billion to the previously calculated value of the revenue transfer to East Timor – were disclosed after a new treaty was signed in Sydney yesterday.

John Howard, who witnessed the signing with East Timor counterpart Mari Alkatiri, said it would provide "a very important addition to the revenue stream coming to a tiny independent country".

The revenue transfer is equivalent to about $24,000 for each man, woman and child currently living in East Timor – one of the poorest countries in the world, with 42per cent of the population living below the poverty line.

The deal is the culmination of long-running negotiations between Australia and East Timor on how to split the oil and gas resources between the two countries.

Australia will pay East Timor an agreed fee to cover 50 percent of royalties and all other taxes the government collects from companies that develop the oil and gas fields.

But to achieve the full $25 billion, the giant Greater Sunrise gas project in the Timor Sea, operated by Perth-based Woodside, will have to go ahead within 10 years.

Woodside yesterday gave no indication the $5 billion project, which has been stalled since December 2004, would proceed.

A spokesman congratulated the two governments in signing the agreement but reiterated Woodside's position that it needed the agreement to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries before considering whether to proceed with Sunrise.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin used the signing to urge Woodside to reactivate Sunrise, which aims to develop the eight trillion cubic feet of gas in underground reserves about 450km north of Darwin.

Despite her previous support for the East Timorese getting a better revenue deal on Greater Sunrise, she would not back the concept of Sunrise gas being developed through facilities in East Timor.

Mr Alkatiri said East Timor was "fighting" to have the processing plant built in his country. But this option has been rejected by the Sunrise partners – Woodside, ConocoPhillips, Shell and Osaka Gas – as too difficult and too expensive.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who signed the agreement with his East Timorese counterpart Jose Ramos Horta, said the new agreements were on top of the "already very generous sharing arrangements" within the so-called joint petroleum development area between the two companies. East Timor gets 90 per cent of revenue from production of petroleum resources in the area, which Mr Downer said were worth up to $15 billion.

He said a maritime commission would be established to "enable high-level dialogue on a range of issues" facing Australia and East Timor in the Timor Sea, including the management of security threats to offshore platforms and co-operation in managing fisheries resources.

But some East Timorese were still critical of the new agreement, with the director of the Darwin-based Timor Sea Office, Manuel de Lemos, saying Australia stood to "gain substantially from the development of the Timor Sea in general and from the downstream processing in Darwin". He said: "It is important to remember that Timor-Leste (East Timor) gave up more than $US2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in revenue from the Buffalo, Laminaria and Corallina oil fields, which were claimed by East Timor."

Ian Melrose, the Perth businessman who spent $2 million on an advertising campaign attacking the Australian Government for being ungenerous to East Timor, welcomed the new agreement. Attending an East Timorese celebration in Melbourne last night, he said: "Everyone is happy. Nobody is a loser out of this deal."

Government 'bullied' East Timor over resource treaty

ABC News Online - January 13, 2006

The Australian Government has been accused of bullying and short-changing East Timor.

Australia and East Timor have formally signed a treaty to share the revenue from the main oil and gas field in the Timor Sea, ending a two-year dispute.

The deal means each country will take half the revenue from the Greater Sunrise Field and any negotiations on maritime boundaries will be postponed for up to 50 years.

Prime Minister John Howard says the agreement will further strengthen relations between the two countries.

But Timor Sea Justice Campaign spokesman Tom Clarke says East Timor would have had rights to all of the resources if Australia respected conventional maritime boundaries.

"You've got the poorest country in Asia, one of the smallest countries in the world, and then you have Australia, which is a very wealthy country," he said.

"It's a bit like if someone was dying of thirst in the desert, you're not going to be in a good position to negotiate the price of a glass of water and I think that's the case here.

"They're sharing the Greater Sunrise gas field 50/50 and the Australian Government has basically bullied the poorest country in Asia into postponing its claim to sovereignty of the area.

"So a permanent maritime boundary will not be established under this deal – they're basically leaving that issue for future generations to negotiate."

The Timor Sea Justice Campaign has also said the postponed decision on maritime boundaries means East Timor will not be able to gain control of the territory.

But Mr Howard says the foreign ministers from both countries have benefited both countries in signing the agreement.

"The treaty-signing is a very important event in relations between Australia and East Timor," he said.

"I congratulate Mr Downer and Dr Ramos Horta for the patient, careful, [and] on occasion laborious work that was involved in bringing out a fair and just outcome.

"It provides, over the years ahead, a very important addition to the revenue stream coming to a tiny independent country.

"There's great affection in Australia for East Timor, there's great sympathy for the people of East Timor, there is a great desire on the part of the people of Australia that the people of East Timor have a strong secure future."

Woodside happy but no go-ahead

Australian Associated Press - January 12, 2006

Woodside Petroleum on Thursday welcomed the Timor Sea gas agreement between Australia and East Timor but said the Greater Sunrise gas project would remain on hold for now.

The two governments on Thursday announced a deal that would see them share revenues from the Greater Sunrise field 50/50, while East Timor received 90 per cent of royalties from the rest of the area known as the joint petroleum area.

The two countries also agreed to put aside the dispute over their maritime boundary for 50 years.

Negotiations were protracted and at times heated, and at the end of 2004 a frustrated Woodside said it was putting Greater Sunrise on hold due to the lack of certainty.

Woodside on Thursday congratulated the two governments on getting to this stage, but said there were still a few steps to go before the joint venture partners in Greater Sunrise would be making any decisions.

"The first step for us is to understand what's in the agreement," Woodside spokesman Roger Martin said. "And the next step is for the agreement to be ratified by the Australian and [East] Timor parliaments, so there are a few more steps along the way."

Mr Martin said there was almost no-one working on Greater Sunrise at the moment and it was too early to say whether people would be reassigned to the project now a deal had been struck.

"It is now a matter for us of actually understanding what is in the agreement and understanding the timetable for application before we make decisions about getting a team together," he said.

The Greater Sunrise project is touted as a $US5 billion ($6.63 billion) development with the Timor Sea field estimated to contain about eight trillion cubic feet of gas and about 300 million barrels of condensate.

The field is 450 kilometres from Darwin and about 80 kilometres from East Timor.

The East Timorese have been keen for gas from Greater Sunrise to be processed in East Timor but Woodside said Darwin was its preferred option.

"We have previously stated a preference for the field to be connected by pipeline to an LNG plant in Darwin and that is still Woodside's position, but it is not something that has been settled," Mr Martin said on Thursday.

Woodside is the operator of the Greater Sunrise project and has a 33.44 per cent stake. US oil and gas giant Conoco Phillips has a 30 per cent stake, Anglo-Dutch multinational Shell 26.56 per cent and Japanese energy company Osaka Gas 10 per cent. The joint venture partners have already spent about $250 million on the project.

Timor stands to reap windfall from new energy pact

Australian Associated Press - January 12, 2006

Canberra – Australia and East Timor today signed off on a deal to share revenue from the Timor Sea's lucrative energy reserves, resulting in a potential $US10 billion windfall for the tiny nation.

Today's signing ceremony – witnessed by Prime Minister John Howard and his East Timorese counterpart Mari Alkatiri – is the culmination of long-running negotiations between the two nations on how to split the resource worth up to $A41 billion.

The deal sees the countries delay for 50 years a decision on a permanent maritime boundary in the Timor Sea and ensures a 50:50 royalty split from the sizeable Greater Sunrise energy field.

East Timor, one of the world's poorest nations, stands to reap up to $US10 billion when the Greater Sunrise project finally proceeds. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said East Timor would be $US4 billion better off under the new arrangement.

Under a previous agreement, East Timor was entitled to 18 per cent of royalties compared to the 82 per cent flowing to Australia.

Dr Alkatiri said the landmark agreement would provide a major boost to the tiny nation's revenues, while protecting its territorial sovereignty. "I am confident this is for the benefit of the people," he said.

Even with the certainty of the new pact, Australian energy giant Woodside Petroleum, operator of the Greater Sunrise project, is giving no indication of when the development may go ahead. Dr Alkatiri predicts production could be up to 10 years away.

Woodside put the project on hold at the end of 2004 because the uncertainty due to the protracted negotiations between Australia and East Timor. Company spokesman Roger Martin said there were still a few steps to go before the Greater Sunrise joint venture partners would be making any decisions on how to proceed.

Prime Minister John Howard believes the deal is a fair and just outcome and will strengthen relations between the two countries. "It means that the very close relationship between our two countries can not only continue but become even closer," he said.

But Tim Clarke, co-ordinator of the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, described the deal as a stop gap, band-aid solution because nothing was settled on the important maritime boundary issue. "It simply postpones the real issues of sovereignty for half a century," he said.

Mr Clarke said East Timor clearly had more claim over the energy field than Australia. "(But Australia) has bullied the poorest country in Asia into a series of dodgy resource sharing deals, to take billions of dollars that simply do not belong to us," he said.

The new pact allows for the arrangements under a 2002 Timor Sea treaty, which gives East Timor 90 per cent of royalties from oil and gas developments in the Joint Petroleum Development Area, to stand.

Mr Downer said that resource could be worth as much as $US15 billion to East Timor.

East Timor will now continue pressing Woodside to consider locating processing facilities for the development in Dili rather than Darwin.

The two nations got over their impasse after East Timor agreed to take that condition out of the political pact.

Dr Alkatiri said that a pipeline to Dili and an onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant were technically feasible and economically viable.

Woodside is giving little indication it plans to budge on its preference for a Darwin plant.

Church and civil society against signing gas deal

Lusa - January 11, 2006

Dmli – The Timorese dioceses of Dmli and Baucau and 12 non- governmental organizations today criticized in Dmli the initiative of the Government to sign Thursday an agreement to share petroleum revenues from the Timor Sea with Australia.

They defend, as an alternative, to first define the maritime border with Australia and only later proceed with exploration of the oil and natural gas in the Timor Sea.

In a communication signed by the directors of the Commission of Justice and Peace of the two dioceses and by the coordinator of the Center of Information for the Timor Sea – which includes 12 non-governmental organizations (NGO) – the revenues from exploration already in process are enough.

They cite facts that the oil and the gas are non-renewable resources and that the price of natural gas in international markets will increase in the next few years, as well as other reasons, to contest the signing of the agreement in Sydney.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri left today for Sydney, where he, together with his Australian equivalent, John Howard, will witness the signing of the document, which will be signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, Jose Ramos- Horta, for East Timor, and Alexander Downer, for Australia.

Union pushes for more Timorese jobs on gas projects

The Australian - January 10, 2006

Nigel Wilson – The Maritime Union of Australia is threatening an international industrial campaign to force oil giant ConocoPhillips to employ more East Timorese on projects north of Darwin.

However the first step in the campaign – a bid to disrupt the loading of the first cargo from the new Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas project – appears to have failed.

The Houston-headquartered ConocoPhillips may have delayed a confrontation by arguing tanker crewing is the responsibility of the Japanese companies that have contracted to buy 3.3 million tonnes of LNG a year from the Darwin plant.

MUA national organiser Mick Killick said yesterday ConocoPhillips had an obligation to hire and train East Timorese for its projects in the Timor Sea in areas that were jointly administered with Australia.

He said that under previous arrangements between Australia and Indonesia, labour for Timor Sea projects was to be split 50:50 between the two countries. But no such provision was contained in the Timor Sea Treaty between Australia and East Timor signed in 2002.

The Bahamas-registered LNG tanker Pacific Notus, which can carry 135,000cum of LNG, is moored off Darwin awaiting commissioning of the $US2billion ($2.65billion) plant at Wickham Point.

Loading of the vessel, which is operated by Pacific LNG, a joint venture of Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi and Nippon Yusen Kaisha, is expected to begin in about a week.

Mr Killick said Australian maritime workers were committed to seeing the Timorese included in the crew. "We've got young Timorese workers training and jobs in the offshore industry in the past and we intend to do it again."

ConocoPhillips spokesman Robin Antrobus said the company had employed many East Timorese on the processing platforms that supply the gas for the Darwin plant, a commitment acknowledged by East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

CAVR report

Jakarta stops visit on Timor atrocities

The Australian - January 26, 2006

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Relations between Indonesia and East Timor have soured, with Jakarta canceling President Xanana Gusmao's visit to deliver a report alleging Indonesian crimes against humanity.

Mr Gusmao had planned to deliver the 2500-page report to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tomorrow on his way home from the UN in New York.

But Jakarta blocked the visit yesterday, highlighting a potentially damaging breakdown in relations with East Timor, following publicity on the report's trenchant criticism of Indonesia.

A spokesman for Dr Yudhoyono denied that Mr Gusmao's visit was cancelled because of the report's damaging accusations that Indonesia, and especially its military, was guilty of appalling atrocities during its 24-year occupation of East Timor.

Mr Gusmao, a former resistance hero, has tried to dampen the report's impact, delaying its public release and declaring Indonesia should not pay the reparations it recommends and that Indonesians should not be prosecuted for war crimes.

East Timor's ambassador to Jakarta, Arlindo Marcal, said Indonesia had taken issue with the internationally funded Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report.

"There are many, many points, many issues on which they don't agree," he said. "I have the view that we are in a difficult situation. I think that relations have been hurt. But I don't think relations have been permanently damaged."

Dr Yudhoyono's spokesman, Dino Patti Djalal, said the delay in the meeting between the two leaders was because domestic pressures that required close attention had arisen. "There will be a meeting, but it's just a matter of working out when," he said.

Both Mr Gusmao and Dr Yudhoyono feature in the report. Mr Gusmao was interviewed as a leader of the resistance during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, and Dr Yudhoyono is listed as a military commander of a battalion in East Timor in the 1980s. The report has yet to be formally released, but it was obtained by The Australian a fortnight ago.

It notes that aircraft supplied by the West, including the US, were used against East Timorese civilians, and concludes that the Indonesian military probably killed five journalists, including two Australians, at Balibo in 1975.

Reports that the Indonesian military used rape and starvation as weapons of war, and the report's central claim that as many as 180,000 East Timorese died as a result of the Indonesian invasion and occupation, have been denied by Indonesia.

Mr Gusmao had intended to present Dr Yudhoyono with a copy of the report on his way back to East Timor from the US, where he gave a copy to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week.

Based on interviews with almost 8000 witnesses from East Timor, and statements from refugees in West Timor, the report also relies on Indonesian military papers and intelligence from international sources. It documents a litany of massacres, thousands of summary executions of civilians, and the torture of 8500 East Timorese – with horrific details of public beheadings, the mutilation of genitalia, the burying and burning alive of victims, the lopping-off of ears and genitals to display to families and the use of cigarettes to burn victims.

The military violence in East Timor culminated in the 1999 reprisals for the independence vote, when the Indonesian military and its militia proxies rampaged through East Timor, killing as many as 1500 East Timorese and destroying most towns.

A culture of impunity prevailed, and "widespread and systematic executions, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual slavery was officially accepted by Indonesia", the commission found.

Indonesia has yet to punish those responsible for the violence. Of 18 defendants tried by an adhoc tribunal in Jakarta, only one has yet to be exonerated, and he is free, pending an appeal.

Report: US arms helped Indonesia attack East Timor

Washington Post - January 25, 2006

Colum Lynch, United Nations – US political and military support for Indonesia was vital to its ability to invade East Timor in December 1975 and to sustain a brutal 24-year occupation that cost the lives of at least 100,000 people, parts of a Timorese inquiry made public Tuesday show.

East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation contended that the Ford administration "turned a blind eye" to the Indonesian invasion even though it knew that US-supplied arms would be used to carry it out. The report called on the United States, France, Britain and other military backers of Indonesia to pay reparations to victims of Indonesian oppression.

The commission relied on more than 4,500 pages of recently declassified documents collected by the Washington-based National Security Archive, a nonprofit research group, which posted a 119-page portion of the commission's 2,500-page report on its Web site Tuesday. The rest is expected to be made public in the coming weeks.

The commission was created in 2001 by the United Nations and East Timor to provide a comprehensive account of abuses during Indonesia's occupation, which ended in 1999. East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao delivered it last week to Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"The Commission finds that the United States of America failed to support the right of the East Timorese people to self- determination, and that its political and military support were fundamental to the Indonesian invasion and occupation," the report said. "The support of the United States was given out of a strategically-motivated desire to maintain a good relationship with Indonesia, whose anti-communist regime was seen as an essential bastion against the spread of communism."

The national archive gave the commission National Security Council documents showing that US officials were aware of Indonesian plans to invade East Timor a year before the invasion and did not discourage it. Other documents showed that US officials had evidence that Indonesia had used US naval vessels in support of air bombardment during its invasion of East Timor, but decided to remain silent about it.

The commission's report cites a Dec. 6, 1975, meeting in Jakarta – the day before the invasion – in which Indonesia's former ruler, President Suharto, asked then-President Gerald R. Ford and then-Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger for their "understanding" if his government took "rapid or drastic action" against East Timor, according to a declassified account of the conversation first made public in 2001.

Ford assured Suharto that "we will understand and will not press you on the issue," the documents say. Kissinger pressed Suharto to delay an invasion until the president had returned to the United States. "It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly," Kissinger is reported to have said.

Kissinger did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening. A spokeswoman, Jesse LePorin, said he is recuperating from shoulder surgery.

In 1998, Kissinger was asked at Arizona State University about the invasion and, according to the Arizona Republic, replied: "You may not believe this, but Indonesia is a country of 180 million people, and they didn't ask our permission. Also, we were negotiating an end to the Vietnam War at that time, and we were not looking to make another enemy in Southeast Asia."

Report says Jakarta's takeover of East Timor aided by US arms

Associated Press - January 25, 2006

Washington – US-supplied aircraft played a crucial role in enabling the Indonesian military to crush East Timorese resistance to its invasion and occupation of the territory in the late 1970s, according to a report by an East Timor commission.

The Indonesian offensives "resulted in the severe suffering and hardship to tens of thousands of civilians sheltering in the interior at the time," the report said.

Indonesia, fearing a leftist takeover in East Timor following the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, invaded the territory in late 1976 and subsequently annexed it.

According to the report, the United States felt compelled to support Indonesia's military government. The support included that of the Carter administration (1977-1981), which had made protection of human rights a centerpiece of its foreign policy, the report noted.

Efforts to reach Richard Holbrooke, a former UN ambassador who served as the Carter administration's top official for East Asia, were unsuccessful.

Successive US administrations all consistently stressed "the overriding importance of the relationship with Indonesia and the supposed irreversibility of the Indonesian takeover," the report said.

In 1977, reports began to emerge from East Timor about Indonesia's use of US-supplied OV-10 Bronco aircraft amid claims that they may have been used for spraying chemical defoliants.

The US Embassy in Jakarta responded to questions from the US Congress on the subject by saying it had received "no reports that Indonesians have used chemical sprays in areas" aligned with the resistance movement.

Indonesia's use of OV-10s in East Timor "has thus far been limited to machine guns, rockets, and perhaps bombs," said the recently declassified cable to the US State Department.

The report was prepared by East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR). Copies were distributed by the Washington-based National Security Archive, a research institute on international affairs. In preparing the report, East Timorese officials received assistance from a number of foreign governments, including the United States, and international non- govenrmental organizations.

According to the study, US officials generally declined to acknowledge the culpability of the Indonesian military for the large number of fatalities in East Timor. "Instead," the report said, "they maintained that the deaths were due to drought, an argument that the commssion finds to have been without merit."

East Timor was granted independence from Indonesia in May 2002. The report noted that US President Bill Clinton in 1999 persuaded Indonesia to accept deployment of an international force on East Timor to help end "massive" rights violations in the territory committed by Indonesian forces and pro-Jakarta groups.

In so doing, Clinton demonstrated the "considerable leverage" that the United States could have exerted earlier had the will been there, the study said.

Balibo Five report sparks fresh calls for judicial inquiry

Australian Associated Press - January 25, 2006

Sydney – A new report backing claims that Indonesian soldiers deliberately killed the Balibo Five journalists has sparked fresh calls for Australia to hold a full judicial inquiry into their deaths.

A report by East Timor's Commission for Truth and Reconciliation says that, based on interviews with witnesses to the deaths in 1975, it believes the five Australian-based newsmen were probably executed by Indonesian soldiers.

The five television journalists – Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart of the Seven Network, and Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters of Nine – were killed while covering Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

Official reports have insisted the men were killed in crossfire between warring Timorese factions, but their families have always feared they were murdered.

Mr Shackleton's widow, Shirley, today said while she welcomed the report's finding it would prove useless the Australian government held a judicial inquiry into the deaths.

There were many witnesses willing to identify the Balibo Five's killers, but only before a full judicial inquiry, she said. "The Australian government has lied through their teeth for 30 years," Mrs Shackleton said.

"It doesn't mean anything unless the Australian government gets its courage together and says it will have a full judicial inquiry. I want a full judicial inquiry into these murders."

The latest findings on the Balibo Five were contained in a 2,500 page report handed to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week. The report highlights many atrocities during the 24 year Indonesian occupation of East Timor and details the deaths of about 180,000 people.

A coronial inquest into the death of Balibo Five cameraman Brian Peters is to begin in Sydney in July. The deaths of the Balibo Five have sparked controversy about how much the Australian government knew about the incident and when.

British Foreign Office documents obtained last December by relatives of the newsmen showed the British and Australian governments knew what happened to the men and tried to cover up the killings.

Media reports and eyewitnesses have alleged for three decades that Indonesia's former Minister for Information Mohamad Yunus, formerly known as Yunus Yosfiah, opened fire at the Balibo Five.

But appearing before a powerful Indonesian parliamentary committee in 2001, Yunus rejected the allegations and accused witnesses implicating him in the killings of lying.

Report supports claims troops murdered journalists in 1975

Associated Press - January 24, 2006

Guido Guilliart, Dili – An internationally funded report supports claims that Indonesian soldiers intentionally killed five foreign journalists who were covering Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor.

The Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, compiled over a two-year period, was presented to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan last week. It has yet to be made public, but portions of the 2,500-page document detailing atrocities carried out during Indonesia's 24-year rule of East Timor were seen by The Associated Press.

The Indonesian government claims the journalists two Britons, two Australians, and a New Zealander were caught in a firefight as advancing troops took over the town of Balibo on Oct. 16, 1975.

But commissioners who compiled the new report said their own witness interviews indicated the journalists were probably intentionally killed by Indonesian soldiers. They called for "further investigation of the elusive truth of this matter."

The commission said that while some witness accounts varied it believed one of the journalists was shot at around 6 a.m. as he tried to get back to a house sheltering his colleagues.

Then the Indonesian soldiers "deliberately fired" on the other journalists, who were standing in the doorway shouting "Australia, Australia" for at least two minutes with their hands in the air.

"Some of the journalists might have fallen at the doorway," the commissioners wrote. "But at least one journalist escaped into the house and was killed at the rear of the house."

The commissioners said testimonies indicated the troops then "dressed up the dead journalists bodies, some or all, in uniforms and then photographed them with machine guns."

They acknowledged that they were not in a position to reach definitive conclusions on what happened in Balibo, but stressed that their findings supported the case for further investigation.

The Indonesian invasion in 1975 marked the beginning of the country's brutal, 24-year occupation of East Timor in which more than 180,000 people were killed.

The violence peaked in 1999 when the Indonesian military and its proxy militias launched a wave of attacks on supporters of the country's independence killing 1,500 and laying waste to the half-island. UN troops finally restored order and East Timor gained full independence in May 2001 after a short period of transitional rule.

Treat Timor report with an open mind, activists say

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Human rights activists have criticized the government's defensive stance on a report by an independent commission, which claims that up to 180,000 people died during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor (now Timor Leste).

The Timor Leste government submitted the report to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan on Saturday (Indonesian time).

Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights, and Ifdhal Kasim, coordinator of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said Monday the government should treat the report with an open mind.

They said Indonesia and Timor Leste and should focus on peaceful, legal solutions to past human rights abuses in Timor Leste. A defensive reaction would be counterproductive and could lower Indonesia's standing in the international community.

The inability of Indonesian courts' to convict any high-ranking military officers implicated in the rioting around the 1999 UN- sponsored referendum had already tarnished Indonesia's image, they said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed his deep concerns about the report, while Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono rejected it outright.

Prepared by the independent East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation the report alleges that the Indonesia Military used starvation and sexual violence as weapons to control the territory during the occupation. It also accused soldiers of using napalm and chemical weapons to poison food and drinking water.

The commission investigated human rights abuses that happened from 1975, when Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony, through 1999.

Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao had kept the report secret for fears of irritating Indonesia, but it was leaked to the Australian media before it was sent to the government and the UN.

Ifdhal and Abdul Hakim said the report contained many truths because it was based on reports from thousands of witnesses who endured or witnessed rights abuses.

"Indonesia should also admit that president Soeharto's decision to invade East Timor was wrong and we realized later that (the decision) had neither political nor economic advantages," Abdul Hakim said.

The government should study the report, and then give its version of the story to the Timor Leste government and the international community, clarifying where the report was wrong.

"Like other countries such as Japan, Korea and South Africa, Indonesia should confess it has made mistakes and should offer an apology," he said.

"The government should lobby the UN and Timor Leste not to bring the human rights abuse cases to the International Court of Justice and to settle them through reconciliation like other countries like Peru, El Salvador and Argentina did in their transitions from authoritarian regimes to a democratic governments," he said.

Abdul Hakim believed it wouldn't be easy for the UN to take former Indonesian officials to the international court because Timor Leste would probably not want to prosecute them, preferring to maintain good relations with Indonesia for the sake of its economy.

The commission's main role in writing the report was to seek the truth about the past and then encourage reconciliation, they said. "But Indonesia has to be ready to make an apology to Timor Leste and pay compensation to all the victims of human rights abuses," Ifdhal said.

Jakarta dropped napalm on Timor

The Australian - January 23, 2006

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesia's own military films provide the proof that the Soviet equivalent of napalm, opalm, was used on the people of East Timor during Jakarta's 24-year occupation of the former Portuguese colony.

An internationally funded report by an independent commission into the occupation obtained a copy of the films, refuting Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono's assertion on Friday that Indonesia had never used napalm against the East Timorese.

"This is a war of numbers and data about things that never happened," he said in Jakarta. "How could we have used napalm against the East Timorese? Back then we didn't even have the capacity to import, let alone make napalm."

Yet the UN Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report, obtained by The Australian, says the Indonesian military used opalm bombs and other incendiary devices during counter- insurgency campaigns in East Timor.

"The US-supplied OV-10 Bronco planes employed were equipped with light weapons, rockets and opalm, a Soviet equivalent of napalm bought by Indonesia during its campaign in West Irian in 1962," the 2500-page report says.

"The commission received copies of Indonesian military propaganda film about the campaigns of the late 1970s, including extensive footage of preparation for bombing raids at Baucau airport, and footage of the raids themselves.

"In this footage, Indonesian military personnel are filmed clearly loading bombs labelled opalm into the OV-10 Broncos at Baucau airport. The planes are then shown taking off." The commission also refers to a military document, which provides the details of weapons used in the campaigns, including: "opalm bombs, bombs with widespread non-targeted impact, and the use of OV-10 Bronco and Sky Hawk airplanes".

One of the almost 8000 witnesses the commission interviewed for the report remembered the burning bombs.

"The trees and grass would burn when the bombs hit them and the water would become undrinkable because it was contaminated with poison," Lucas da Costa Xavier told the commission. "Many civilians died from drinking the water contaminated with shrapnel from bombs dropped from the planes, and many died of burns – it was the dry season, so the grass burned easily."

The commission found the Indonesian military resorted to "all available means to overcome resistance to the invasion and occupation – the means included chemical weapons which poisoned water supplies, killed crops and other vegetation, and napalm bombs and other incendiary devices, whose effect was to indiscriminately burn everything and everyone within their range, including men, women and child civilians".

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao presented the commission's report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on Friday, but it has so far remained under wraps.

Mr Gusmao received the report last October, and has said his trip to the US would mark the beginning of its "intensive dissemination". He intends to personally present a copy of the report to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before returning to East Timor.

In New York, Mr Gusmao again stated his opposition to an international tribunal or reparations from Indonesia for the war crimes committed during the occupation, as the commission recommended.

Always a very pragmatic leader, the former resistance hero said the fall of Indonesian dictator Suharto in 1998 provided justice for the East Timorese, and the beginning of the end of the occupation of East Timor.

"We accept the results of the report as a way to heal the wounds," he said. "The figures (of casualties) can be disputed. But it is not so important to look at the figures. It is more important to look at the lessons."

Mr Gusmao said he advocated "restorative" justice over "punitive" justice, citing South Africa, where a Truth and Reconciliation Commission exposed the brutal excesses of apartheid and for the first time gave the mostly black victims a voice.

Bloody history of East Timor and our part in it

Melbourne Age - January 23, 2006

Scott Burchill – The report of the United Nations inquiry into Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of East Timor will come as no surprise to activists who opposed the policies of successive Australian governments, beginning in 1975, nor to the people of East Timor.

However, the report, which documents torture, rape, slavery and starvation leading to the unnatural demise of as many as 180,000 civilians (from a pre-invasion population of 628,000), should shame those ministers, journalists, diplomats and academics who played down or ignored consistent human rights abuses in the former Portuguese colony – incredibly described as "aberrant acts" by former foreign minister Gareth Evans.

This group, known as the Jakarta lobby, not only sought to protect the reputation of the Soeharto dictatorship at every opportunity. They went out of their way to oppose East Timor's claim for independence (a "lost cause" – former diplomat Richard Woolcott) and accused critics of the regime in Jakarta of not only exaggerating the scale of the repression, but of being "racist" and "anti-Indonesian" (Woolcott).

Their influence on official policy has been considerable. Rather than indict those responsible for crimes that would have made Slobodan Milosovic and Saddam Hussein blush, governments from Whitlam to Howard ignored regular reports of atrocities that the Catholic Church believes constituted the greatest slaughter relative to a population since the Holocaust. Why?

When "stability", oil and gas reserves and "good relations" with Jakarta were (mistakenly) thought to be at stake, the state terrorism of the Indonesian military was uncomfortable for Canberra but acceptable, providing most of it could be concealed from the Australian public.

When that proved impossible, as in the case of the 1991 Dili massacre, damage control designed to protect the bilateral relationship rather than humanitarian concern was the order of the day.

The Howard Government's approach to Islamist terror could scarcely be a greater contrast in behaviour.

The double standard continues today. While NATO spends millions trying to track down Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, Soeharto remains comfortably retired in the suburbs of Jakarta, with neither Canberra nor Washington showing any interest in bringing him to account for his considerably more serious crimes.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian legal system is cracking down on small-time drug traffickers but shows no stomach for prosecuting senior military officers responsible for the heinous acts detailed in the UN report. Despite promises to refer these officers to an international tribunal if Indonesia failed to bring them to justice, Alexander Downer now seems equally reluctant to see those he misleadingly described as "rogue elements" in court.

The hefty price of maintaining stability in the archipelago has been paid in Timorese blood and anguish, and yet it still proves elusive. This is because rebellions and secession are partly a reaction to what is being "stabilised" behind Indonesia's political boundaries.

The recent arrival of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers reminds us that turning a blind eye to repression in the name of stability is not only a dereliction of our ethical duty, it is politically shortsighted and usually results in blowback. Unfortunately for these latest arrivals, the Government that will decide if they qualify as refugees could not be less sympathetic to their claim for independence. John Howard and Alexander Downer are more committed to West Papua's retention within Indonesia than most of the residents of its eastern-most province appear to be.

And yet after reading the UN report on East Timor, who can dismiss their accusations of political persecution and genocide? Is history repeating itself?

It may be expecting too much for each member of the Jakarta lobby who played such a prominent and nefarious role in East Timor's nightmare to reflect on the UN's findings and examine their conscience.

However, governments such as Australia's, which contributed to the immiseration of the East Timorese by recognising Jakarta's illegal invasion and brutal occupation, still owe these people a great deal, the least of which are reparations and the truth about their modern history as detailed in this devastating report.

[Dr Scott Burchill is senior lecturer in international relations at Deakin University.]

TNI chief denies 183,000 massacred, napalm used in Timor

Associated Press - January 22, 2006

Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief on Sunday denied that the country's forces massacred or starved to death more than 180,000 civilians and used napalm against them during its 24-year occupation of East Timor.

Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's comments came in response to claims in an internationally funded report handed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan by East Timor President Xanana Gusmao on Friday.

The Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, compiled over a two-year period, says 183,000 people were killed or starved to death during Indonesia's rule of East Timor, according to Pat Walsh, an adviser to the investigating panel.

It also says troops used the chemical agent napalm against the population and deprived people of food, according to a leaked copy of the report given to The Australian newspaper.

"I am not at all sure whether such a huge number of deaths came about as a result of the actions of Indonesia's Armed Forces and police at that time," he said.

"It is not true that we deliberately carried out massacres using napalm and starving people. That is not true at all," he said, adding that the military keeps data that will exonerate the actions of the Indonesian security personnel.

On Friday, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono also denied the veracity of some of the claims in the report.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and ruled the tiny half-island territory with an iron fist until 1999, when a UN-organized plebiscite resulted in an overwhelming vote for independence.

In a final act of vengeance, withdrawing Indonesian troops and their militia auxiliaries destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and killed at least 1,500 people.

The international community pressured Jakarta in 2002 to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Indonesians allegedly responsible for the violence.

But the trials have been widely criticized as a sham, with all 17 police and military commanders indicted receiving acquittals. The other, a Timorese militia leader, is free on appeal.

Indonesia and East Timor have repeatedly said they don't want to open old wounds and have rejected recommendations made in the 2,500-page report.

Among them are that Indonesian troops involved in the bloodshed face new trials and that international arms suppliers and nations that supported the violent 1975 invasion compensate victims.

Napalm, or jellied gasoline, is a flammable weapon that was widely used by American forces in the Vietnam War. The United Nations banned the use of napalm against civilian populations in 1980.

Death tally may rattle Timor-Indonesia ties

National Public Radio (NPR) - January 21, 2006

Debbie Elliott, host:

A leaked report charges that Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor led to the deaths of more than 100,000 people, and alleges that many of them were deliberately starved by the Indonesian army. East Timor's president gave the report to the United Nations on Friday, but he strongly resisted making the charges public. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports.

Corey Flintoff reporting:

President Xanana Gusmao was required by East Timor's law to give the UN a copy of his country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. Otherwise, he may have preferred to keep it quiet. Gusmao is a former rebel leader who fought the Indonesian occupation and spent years in Indonesian jails, but he views the report as counterproductive to East Timor's current relationship with its gigantic neighbor.

President Xanana Gusmao (Indonesia): The main objective of the report is to present the situation of 24 years of war. The numbers, the figures can be disputed.

Flintoff: The report still hasn't been officially made public, but a copy that was leaked to an Australian newspaper details massive human rights violations, most of them committed by the Indonesian military during the occupation that ended in 1999.

Mr. Eduardo Gonzalez (Senior Associate, International Center for Transitional Justice): What the report says, basically, is that the absolute majority of the deaths related to the conflict are deaths that are directly related to the use of famine as a weapon of war, and that is probably one of the most shocking findings.

Flintoff: Eduardo Gonzalez works for the International Center for Transitional Justice which advised the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Gonzalez says the report shows that as many as 80,000 people died when the army encircled and starved the villages that were believed to support the East Timorese rebels.

Mr. Gonzalez: In this report there is also very shocking revelations about the use of torture, the use of sexual violence, the forced displacement of populations.

Flintoff: The report also charges that Indonesia used napalm and chemical weapons to poison food and water and burned or buried some victims alive. Indonesia set up its own human rights court to try some members of the military, but a UN report issued last summer said the process was inadequate and that perpetrators were not held accountable. Human rights campaigners called it ludicrous.

Last week Indonesia's state secretary told reporters that it won't help to look at the past. He noted that Indonesia and the East Timorese government have created a separate group called the Commission of Truth and Friendship. President Gusmao said, too, that he believed that commission was the best way to bring closure to East Timor without seeking to punish specific Indonesians.

President Gusmao: We don't advocate punitive justice but restorative justice. He happened in South Africa. It happened in other countries, also.

Flintoff: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommends that the United Nations take a stronger role in investigating abuses in East Timor, a move that would relieve the tiny country's government of the burden of taking on its powerful neighbor. Even so, Eduardo Gonzalez says East Timor must take a stand.

Mr. Gonzalez: It is important that the Timorese authorities realize that 100,000 people killed are not a footnote in the history of their country and that we are talking about enormous crime, fundamental atrocity, and it is high time to stop sacrificing the rights of the victims in the altar of political expediency.

Flintoff: The commission also recommends that reparations be paid to the victims and their families, with the bulk of the money coming from Indonesia. Reparations would also come from countries and corporations that are alleged to have supported the Indonesian occupation and that includes the United States which is accused of supplying arms to the Indonesian military.

Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Washington.

Timor atrocities detailed - At least 100,000 died

Washington Post - January 21, 2006

Colum Lynch and Ellen Nakashima, United Nations – Indonesian security forces and militias they supported killed at least 100,000 East Timorese people – and perhaps as many as 180,000 – over 24 years through torture, starvation, arbitrary execution and massacres, according to a report presented to the United Nations by Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Friday.

The 2,005-page report, which Gusmao delivered to Secretary General Kofi Annan, provided the most detailed account to date of Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of the island nation, a former Portuguese colony. It also charged the country's armed resistance movement with committing "serious human rights violations" after Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, including the torture and execution of pro-Indonesian prisoners, the convening of mock trials and the violent purging of dissenters within its own ranks.

East Timor's government said that it would not seek to prosecute those responsible for atrocities, citing fears that attempts to hold powerful Indonesian generals accountable for crimes could undermine fragile democratic transitions underway in East Timor and Indonesia.

Gusmao told reporters here Friday that East Timor's hard-fought independence from Indonesia in 2002 would have to stand as the country's chief symbol of justice for victims' families.

"We have consciously rejected the notion of pushing for an international tribunal for East Timor because, A, it is not practical, B, it would wreck our relationship with Indonesia, and, C, we are serious about supporting Indonesia's own transition towards democracy," East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta told a small group of reporters in New York. "In today's Indonesia or in the foreseeable future, there will be no leader strong enough who can bring to court and prison senior military officers who were involved in violence in the past... They are still too powerful."

The report, key portions of which were made available to The Washington Post, also charged Indonesia with using napalm against Timorese civilians and using "starvation as a weapon of war," condemning thousands of adults and children to death in camps for displaced Timorese.

"The commission finds that the government of Indonesia and the Indonesian security forces are primarily responsible and accountable for the death of 100,000 to 180,000 East Timorese civilians who died as a result of the Indonesian military invasion and occupation," said the report by the East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, set up by the United Nations and East Timor in 2001.

Indonesia's defense minister, Juwono Sudarsono, challenged the report's accuracy Friday, denying the country used napalm or deliberately starved civilians.

"This is a war of numbers and data about things that never happened," he told reporters in Jakarta. "How could we have used napalm against the East Timorese? Back then we didn't even have the capacity to import, let alone make napalm," he said.

The commission's three-year-plus investigation examined more than 71,000 reports of rights violations by Indonesia and more than 8,000 allegations against pro-independence militia from the Front for an Independent East Timor, which has accepted responsibility for past practices.

It also confirmed earlier reports that more than 1,500 people were killed in a series of massacres in 1999 surrounding East Timor's vote to break away from Indonesia.

The report painted a grisly portrait of Indonesian practices, describing beheadings, rapes, the sexual enslavement of Timorese women and children, and the torture of victims in the presence of their families. In some cases, torturers burned people alive and stuffed them in snake-filled sacks.

The panel recommended that countries and companies that provided military support to Indonesia during the 24-year occupation, including the United States, Britain and France, pay reparations to those whose rights were violated. It also urged UN members to deny travel visas and freeze the assets of senior Indonesian officials, including former Gen. Wiranto, the armed forces commander in chief in 1999.

A UN panel last spring recommended the Security Council set up an international war crimes tribunal if the two governments declined to do it. But Security Council members have said that while they support the pursuit of justice, it would be hard to justify creation of a tribunal that is opposed by East Timor. A spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations declined to comment, saying the report had not yet been formally presented.

Both the Timorese and the Indonesian governments have said they want to focus on reconciliation, not punishment for the crimes of 1999. In August, the countries established a truth and friendship commission to determine the facts surrounding the violence, but not to lead to trials.

[Nakashima reported from Singapore.]

Indonesia dismisses report on Timor atrocities

Jakarta Post - January 21, 2006

Jakarta – The government played down Friday a report leaked to the Australian media alleging that Indonesia's 24-year-long occupation of East Timor (now Timor Leste) caused the deaths of up to 180,000 people.

However, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia was looking forward to continuing the reconciliation process with its tiny neighbor and former colony, according to his spokesman.

"The President is concerned about the news of the Timor Leste report. But he has not received any direct explanation from the Timor Leste side," Dino Patti Djalal said.

"We were surprised because (news about) the report came not from the (East Timor) government but from another party. As yet, we haven't seen it," Dino said.

Indonesia and Timor Leste had already closed the dark chapter in their relations and had agreed to move forward, Dino claimed. "That is the spirit that we should hold on to," he told The Jakarta Post.

The 2,500-page report by the independent East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) was leaked to the Australian media sometime this week.

The commission submitted its report to the East Timorese government months ago, but reports said President Xanana Gusmao wanted to keep it secret for fear of irritating Indonesia. He has since relented and was to hand it to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on Friday.

The report, carried by The Australian newspaper Thursday, alleged that the Indonesian military used starvation and sexual violence as weapons to control the tiny country during its 24-year occupation.

Based on interviews with almost 8,000 witnesses as well as Indonesian military papers and intelligence from international sources, it detailed thousands of summary executions and the torture of 8,500 people, it said.

Thousands of East Timorese women were also allegedly raped and sexually assaulted during the occupation.

The report also accused Indonesian soldiers of having used napalm and chemical weapons to poison food and water supplies during the 24 years of East Timor's annexation since 1975.

The potentially damaging claims were rejected by Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono. He said the administration of former dictator Soeharto had "no means to import, let alone to produce" napalm weapons.

"So, why have some foreign human rights activists accused us of using napalm to kill East Timorese guerrillas?... In the Vietnam war, American soldiers used napalm to quell the guerrillas, while we have never allowed it in any kind of military operation," Juwono said.

He called the report, which mentioned the deaths of up to 180,000 people during the occupation, "a war of numbers and data about things that never occurred" in Indonesia.

Similarly, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Yuri Octavian Thamrin said the report was "unreal" and "impractical" because it was written purely from human rights perspective.

He cited an example of the Dayton Accord, an agreement to end the three-year war in the former Yugoslavia, which used many approaches, a part from human rights.

"It is also said that the Timor report was drafted by non- Timorese people. These people, currently living in London, New York or Geneva, might not understand the development in Indonesia-Timor Leste relations. Both countries have to live side-by-side perpetually as neighbors by geography, and both have agreed to move forward," Yuri said.

He said President Gusmao planned to meet Susilo in Jakarta on Jan. 27, but could not say whether the meeting would discuss the report.

There are fears release of the report could inflame tensions with Indonesia and militia groups that are still active near the East Timor border.

The US-based East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) urged the UN to publicize and discuss the findings in a bid to prevent a repeat of what happened in East Timor elsewhere and help find justice for the victims.

"Widespread understanding of the truth commission's report and recommendations is essential in charting a course of justice for victims," John M. Miller, the national coordinator of the rights group, said in a statement quoted by AFP.

"If such crimes are not to be repeated, the international community must acknowledge the devastating impact of the 1975 US-backed Indonesian invasion and quarter-century of illegal occupation," he said.

Leaders favour silence on horrors with Indonesia

The Australian - January 19, 2006

Sian Powell, Jakarta – good relations with Indonesia have always been of prime importance to the independent nation of East Timor.

The half-island of one million people is surrounded on three sides by giant Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago with a population of 230million.

East Timorese leaders have found it politic to stay more or less silent on the horrors of the bloody years of occupation.

President Xanana Gusmao, a one-time resistance hero, has fostered amity with Indonesia, even publicly hugging the former head of the Indonesian armed forces, General Wiranto.

Just this month there were reports that Mr Gusmao had invited the notorious militia leader Eurico Gutteres back to East Timor, reports hastily denied after an uproar.

Yet on a broader scale, relations are still brittle. Most Indonesians believe a rigged UN ballot in 1999 stole East Timor from them, along with all the valuable Indonesian investment in infrastructure there. They regard the East Timorese as a thankless and benighted mob. Many East Timorese fear and resent Indonesians – most have lost someone to Indonesian violence or neglect.

So the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report is a grenade tossed into a flammable international arena.

The Indonesian Government will probably try to ignore the report, even though Mr Gusmao has said he will personally travel to Jakarta to give a copy to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

East Timor will do its best to smooth over the damage to its friendship with Indonesia. Mr Gusmao is required by law to present the report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but he has obviously been reluctant to release it publicly.

He has repeatedly made it clear the future matters more than seeking retribution for the past – and he carefully downplayed the commission's report in a speech to parliament.

"The grandiose idealism that they (the commissioners) possess is well manifested to the point that it goes beyond conventional political boundaries," he said. And in an obvious reference to Indonesia, he added: "The report says the 'absence of justice... is a fundamental obstacle in the process of building a democratic society'. My reply to that would be 'not necessarily'."

Indonesia should not misunderstand report: Horta

Antara - January 20, 2006

New York – Indonesian politicians should not misunderstand the move of Timor Leste's independent commission to report its investigation results to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Timor Leste's Foreign Minister Ramos Horta said here on Friday (Saturday in Indonesia).

Horta made the remarks in response to reactions in Indonesia over the report to the UN made by Timor Leste's Acceptance of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR).

"The submission of the report is only a formality that must be fulfilled as a condition for the formation of the CAVR," Horta told ANTARA commenting on the CAVR report which was submitted by Timor Leste's President Xanana Gusmao to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The Indonesian government played down in Jakarta on Friday (Thursday in New York) a report leaked to the Australian media alleging that Indonesia's 24-year-long occupation of East Timor caused the deaths of up to 180,000 people.

"We were surprised because the news (report) came not from the Timor Leste government but from another party. As yet we haven't seen it," Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.

Djalal said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhohyono was concerned about the news of the Timor Leste report. But he had not receieved any direct explanation from the Timor Leste side.

Horta said the CAVR had no intention to tarnish the good relations between Indonesia and Timor Leste with its report.

"We do not ask the UN Secretary General to take any action on the report," Horta said who came here to accompany Xanana Gusmao on his visit to the United Nations.

He said that there could be misunderstanding by some quarters in Indonesia who reacted to the CAVR report.

"There could be politicians in Indonesia who commented prematurely before trying to understand substance of the report," he said.

Misunderstanding the report and its substance could provoke comments which in turn would also tarnish the harmonious relations between the two countries, Horta said.

In the meantime, Xanana said that the CAVR report could serve as a reference for the Commission of Trush and Friendship (CTF) which was jointly set up by Indonesia and Timor Leste.

"There are stipulations allowing the CTF to have access to the Ad Hoc tribunal in Jakarta, the Serious Crime Unit in Dili and access to the CAVR itself," Xanana said.

Xanana said that Timor Leste's government had no influence in the investigation and report of the CAVR.

Australia looks to Timorese for way ahead on abuse claims

Sydney Morning Herald - January 20, 2006

Damien Murphy – Australia would be guided by East Timor's attitudes on how it wished to come to terms with human rights abuses that took place before independence, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said yesterday.

He was commenting on a report detailing atrocities during Indonesia's 24-year occupation compiled by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation due to be delivered today to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

The Foreign Affairs spokesman said the Government had yet to see a copy of the report and was unable to comment.

"[But] we note that the President, Xanana Gusmao, and the Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, have publicly expressed reservations about international community reparations," he said.

"Australia will continue to be guided by East Timorese preferences of how to take forward the processes of justice for human rights abuses in East Timor up to and including the 1999 atrocities."

Stories based on a leaked copy of the report were published by The Australian yesterday and included claims that the Indonesian government and military were responsible for the deaths of up to 180,000 East Timorese during Indonesia's occupation of the former Portuguese colony.

It also reportedly revealed the Indonesian military used starvation as a weapon to exterminate the East Timorese.

The Foreign Affairs spokesman said Australia welcomed the appointment by East Timor and Indonesia of a Truth and Friendship Commission in August last year to establish the truth about human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 and recommend ways to promote reconciliation.

The acting Opposition Leader, Jenny Macklin, said East Timor needed to look ahead and Australia could give more assistance. "We are yet to see this report... but I think we can take the lead that's being provided by Xanana Gusmao," Ms Macklin said. "[Mr Gusmao] is really saying that the important issue for East Timor is... to really do everything possible to enhance development and opportunity for people in East Timor." Australia should do all it could to help, she said.

New Zealand should compensate East Timor, MP says

NZPA - January 20, 2006

New Zealand should lead the way by offering reparation to East Timor, Green MP Keith Locke said today after details of a damning United Nations report into what happened under Indonesian occupation were published.

The Australian newspaper quoted the report, which is yet to be presented to the United Nations, saying Indonesia killed up to 180,000 East Timorese through massacres, torture and starvation during its 24-year occupation.

It said 90 per cent of the 180,000 deaths – almost a third of the pre-invasion population – were caused by starvation and disease, and that starvation was used as a weapon.

Indonesia should pay reparation, the report said. It also called for Australia, Britain and the United States to offer reparation for providing backing for its military during the years of occupation – 1975-1999.

Mr Locke told National Radio today that New Zealand had played a lesser role and had "much lower level" of military links than Australia.

He added: "Politically, New Zealand didn't go quite as far as Australia – Australia accepted the occupation," he said.

However Mr Locke said New Zealand's position was to accept that East Timor could not become independent. He said the position had been, against the background of the Cold War, that it had to support former Indonesian President Suharto's regime to avoid a small, radical state.

Mr Locke said New Zealand's reparation could be small but meaningful. "I think we could provide a bit of an example to those other three countries to do what the report recommends," he said.

"Offering reparations would be a recognition that politically we went down the wrong track and we're very sorry for it and this is our message to the East Timorese people that we've learnt the lesson from that and put it behind us."

The report was prepared by East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation for the UN. The 2500-page report is based on interviews with 8000 Timorese, refugees in Indonesia's West Timor, Indonesian military papers and foreign intelligence sources.

Indonesian State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Thursday that East Timor and Indonesia had already agreed to work together for reconciliation and solving problems.

"Therefore, there is no need to look at the past because it won't help... Better to look at the future," he said when asked about the report.

The report said Indonesian soldiers and police were responsible for about 70 per cent of the 18,600 unlawful killings or disappearances between the invasion in 1975 and a vote for independence in 1999.

The Australian newspaper did not say who caused the other 30 per cent, but pro-independence guerrillas fought Indonesian forces throughout the occupation of the former Portuguese colony.

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 after Portugal abruptly quit the harsh, mountainous area just north of Australia. When Timorese voted to break away in 1999 it triggered a wave of violence by militias backed by Indonesian army elements. The UN estimates about 1000 East Timorese were killed in the violence, in which most of the towns were also destroyed.

New Zealand sent hundreds of peacekeepers to East Timor after it broke away from Indonesia and has also given aid.

Whitlam condemned for approval of 1975 invasion

The Australian - January 20, 2006

Sian Powell – Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has been condemned for his tacit approval of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975, his refusal to acknowledge famine on the half- island and his alleged lobbying against its Catholic church leader.

A 2500-page report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation criticises Australia for failing to "use its international influence to try and block the invasion" and criticises Mr Whitlam personally for his appeasement policies.

The report notes Mr Whitlam preferred Indonesia to annexe East Timor following Portugal's disengagement from its former colony. It also details his meetings with Indonesia's then dictator- president Suharto, in which he made his thoughts clear.

Mr Whitlam believed East Timor "too small to be independent", the report says, a belief he conveyed to Suharto in meetings in Indonesia and Australia in 1974 and 1975, just before the invasion.

"The government of Gough Whitlam made it clear to president Suharto that it shared the Indonesian government's preference that Timor-Leste be incorporated into Indonesia," the report says, adding that Australia turned a blind eye to Indonesia's potential use of force and how it would affect East Timor's population of more than 620,000 people.

An Indonesian general quoted in the report said the Australian position helped "crystallise" Indonesia's thinking on East Timor. The report relied on a number of sources, including interviews with Harry Tjan, a key adviser on East Timor to president Suharto.

Mr Whitlam continued to campaign on Indonesia's behalf after he left office, the report says. "Following a visit to Timor-Leste in 1982, on which he reported directly to president Suharto, he was instrumental in having Dom Martinho da Costa Lopes removed as the head of the Catholic Church in East Timor and later that year he appeared before the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation and petitioned to have the question of Timor-Leste removed from the UN agenda," the report says.

Monsignor Lopes had written to Australia in late 1981, warning of another impending famine. In March 1982, Mr Whitlam visited East Timor, and met with Monsignor Lopes, but publicly disputed his claims. Australia maintained its pro-Indonesia position through successive governments.

UN verdict on East Timor

The Australian - January 19, 2006

Sian Powell, Jakarta – The Indonesian military used starvation as a weapon to exterminate the East Timorese, according to a UN report documenting the deaths of as many as 180,000 civilians at the hands of the occupying forces.

The 2500-page report, obtained by The Australian, has been suppressed for months by the East Timorese Government and will infuriate Indonesia, which has punished only a handful of soldiers for the murders, assaults and rapes that occurred during its 24 years of occupation. Napalm and chemical weapons, which poisoned the food and water supply, were used by Indonesian soldiers against the East Timorese in the brutal invasion and annexation of the half-island to Australia's north, according to the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report.

The violence culminated in the 1999 reprisals for the independence vote, when the Indonesian military and its militia proxies rampaged through East Timor, killing as many as 1500 people and destroying most of the towns.

The report blames the Indonesian government and the security forces for the deaths of as many as 183,000 civilians, more than 90per cent of whom died from hunger and illness.

It claims Indonesian police or soldiers were to blame for 70 per cent of the 18,600 unlawful killings or disappearances between 1975 and 1999.

Based on interviews with almost 8000 witnesses from East Timor's 13 districts and 65 sub-districts, as well as statements from refugees over the border in West Timor, the report also relies on Indonesian military papers and intelligence from international sources.

It documents a litany of massacres, thousands of summary executions of civilians and the torture of 8500 East Timorese – with horrific details of public beheadings, the mutilation of genitalia, the burying and burning alive of victims, use of cigarettes to burn victims, and ears and genitals being lopped off to display to families.

Thousands of East Timorese women were raped and sexually assaulted during the occupation and the report concludes that rape was also used by the Indonesian military as a weapon of war.

"Rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence were tools used as part of the campaign designed to inflict a deep experience of terror, powerlessness and hopelessness upon pro-independence supporters," the commission found. The deaths amounted to almost a third of East Timor's pre-invasion population.

The report found that after taking into account a peacetime baseline mortality rate, the number of East Timorese whose deaths could be directly attributed to Indonesia's deliberate starvation policy was between 84,200 and 183,000 people from 1975 until 1999.

East Timor, one of the world's poorest nations, with a population of just over one million people, had a pre-invasion population of 628,000.

The Indonesian security forces "consciously decided to use starvation of East Timorese civilians as a weapon of war", the report says. "The intentional imposition of conditions of life which could not sustain tens of thousands of East Timorese civilians amounted to extermination as a crime against humanity committed against the East Timorese population."

A culture of impunity prevailed in the occupied territory and "widespread and systematic executions, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual slavery was officially accepted by Indonesia", the commission found.

"The violations were committed in execution of a systematic plan approved, conducted and controlled by Indonesian military commanders at the highest level."

The report, due to be handed by East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao to UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan tomorrow, also criticises Australia for its long-term de jure recognition of the Indonesian occupation and its failure to try to prevent the use of force in East Timor.

It recommends reparations from Indonesia and the members of the UN Security Council, including Britain and the US, who gave military backing to Indonesia between 1974 and 1999, as well as those nations that provided military assistance to Jakarta during the occupation, including Australia.

The report will worsen the already noxious reputation of the Indonesian military, which has largely escaped punishment for human rights crimes in East Timor. All bar one of the accused at the Indonesian tribunal on East Timor was acquitted or found innocent on appeal.

The commission carefully notes that many of the Indonesian military officers who played key roles in the occupation have since been promoted and details their ascension in the military.

The report said many of the current senior members of the Indonesian military "could be held accountable" for the violations in East Timor.

Titled Chega!, which means "Enough!" in Portuguese, the report is one of the most detailed and comprehensive of its kind ever compiled.

Sponsored by international donors, including Australia, and 3 1/2 years in the making, the report was given to Mr Gusmao in October.

But he is only now preparing to publicly release it. Last night Mr Gusmao, in Bali en route to New York to hand over the report, said it was an extremely important document, "because it's representative of the law".

It is understood he was both concerned about offending East Timor's giant neighbour and worried the report's detailed and trenchant criticism of the resistance – which also summarily executed and tortured civilians, particularly in the 1970s – could lead to social and political anarchy.

Forced march ended in massacre

The Australian - January 19, 2006

Sian Powell – One of the most enduring horrors of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor was the "fence of legs" campaign in 1981, which rounded up civilians – young and old, sick and hungry – and made them march across the island.

The fence of legs was intended to flush out resistance fighters, and most importantly Fretilin leader Xanana Gusmao, now the fledgling nation's leader.

Instead, the weakened East Timorese fell sick and died in horrendous numbers, and the march ended in a massacre.

The report by the UN's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation has found that as many 60,000 civilians were forced into the marches.

In mid-1981, one human fence began walking westwards from Tutuala in the far east of East Timor, while another began marching along the Viqueque corridor to the northeast. The two fences converged on Mount Matebian, and then fanned out to Lacluta.

The report found that when the advance reached Lacluta in September, hundreds of people were massacred by Indonesian troops. "The commission received evidence of a large massacre of civilians, including women and children, at this time," it says.

Indonesian authorities admitted to only 70 being killed, while Monsignor Costa Lopes of East Timor's Catholic church said the death toll was closer to 500.

An East Timorese resistance fighter told the commission the killings were conducted by Battalion 744, later to be commanded by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, now Indonesia's President.

"I witnessed with my own eyes how the Indonesian military, Battalion 744, killed civilians in front of me," Albino da Costa said.

"They captured those unarmed people, tied them up then stabbed them to death. There was a pregnant woman captured and killed just like that. I saw it from a close distance, just 100m from where it happened."

The operation found far more villagers than guerilla fighters cowering in the bush.

It is likely that many Timorese refused to give up the resistance fighters, and those coerced "assistants" comprising the fence of legs – many of them children – failed to notice them.

The commission found the operation had "very serious humanitarian consequences" on an already weakened civilian population. Many died in the struggle across East Timor's rugged terrain. The forced march took place over the planting season, and most of the subsistence farmers forced to participate could not plant their crops, leading to yet another famine.

The fence of legs operation was not an isolated incident. The Indonesian military routinely used civilians in campaigns – several thousand children were recruited as operations assistants, according to the commission.

For the fence of legs campaign, the commission found that the Indonesian military recruited children as young as 10.

East Timorese civilians were savagely punished if they failed in the duties they were coerced into by the Indonesian military.

"On 14 July 1980, Rubigari, Rai Olo, Rubi Gamu and Loi Gamu were forced by TNI (the then Indonesian military) to guard the post at night," one witness testified.

"My father, Rubigari, fell asleep when it was his turn to do the night watch. He was caught by three members of TNI Battalion 202. They shouted at him, kicked and hit him with their weapons until his ribs were broken, and he died right there."

Up to 183,000 Timor deaths under Indonesia

Associated Press - January 7, 2006

Dili – A UN-sanctioned panel investigating human rights violations during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor found that as many as 183,000 people were killed, disappeared, starved or died of illnesses linked to the conflict, an adviser said.

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao presented the team's 2,500- page Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to parliament late last year, but it has not yet been made public.

Investigators found that at least 102,800 people were killed or disappeared – 70% of them at the hands of Indonesian security forces or their militia - from 1975 to 1999, said Pat Walsh, an adviser to the commission.

At least 84,200 others died from "excess" hunger and illnesses linked to the conflict, Walsh said in an e-mail to news organizations seen Saturday.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and ruled it with an iron fist until 1999, when a UN-organized plebiscite resulted in an overwhelming vote for independence.

In a final act of vengeance, withdrawing Indonesian troops and their militia auxiliaries destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and killed at least 1,500 people.

Previous estimates of the number of people who died during Indonesia's rule have generally hovered around 200,000 – or a third of East Timor's population. "The figure of 183,000 is (the commission's) upper-bound estimate of total conflict-related mortality," Walsh wrote.

International experts who assisted in the research say the findings are based on triple survey statistical methods.

The team determined mortality rates for periods before and during Indonesia's occupation – needed for the sake of comparison – by taking testimonies from 8,000 people affected by the violence. It also conducted a random survey of 1,400 households to learn how family members had died in recent decades.

The team then collected names and dates of birth and death from 319,000 graves at all the public cemeteries in East Timor, to help come up with a total mortality estimate, international experts said.

Timor rights group calls for debate on alleged atrocities

Agence France Presse - January 19, 2006

Jakarta – The United Nations should publicise a report it was due to receive alleging that Indonesia's occupation of East Timor caused the deaths of up to 180,000 civilians, a rights group said.

The report by the independent East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation alleged that Indonesia's military used starvation and sexual violence as weapons to control the tiny country during its 24-year occupation, according to an Australian newspaper.

The US-based East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) urged the UN to publicise and discuss the findings in a bid to prevent a repeat of what happened in East Timor elsewhere and help find justice for the victims.

"Widespread understanding of the truth commission's report and recommendations is essential in charting a course of justice for victims," John M. Miller, ETAN's national coordinator, said in a statement.

"If such crimes are not to be repeated, the international community must acknowledge the devastating impact of the 1975 US-backed Indonesian invasion and quarter-century of illegal occupation," he said. "The truth is known. Now is the time for justice," he added.

Indonesian soldiers used napalm and chemical weapons to poison food and water supplies during their 1975 invasion of the territory, a former Portuguese colony with a mostly Roman Catholic population, the CAVR report said, according to The Australian newspaper.

Based on interviews with almost 8,000 witnesses as well as Indonesian military papers and intelligence from international sources, it detailed thousands of summary executions and the torture of 8,500 people, it said.

Thousands of East Timorese women were also allegedly raped and sexually assaulted during the occupation.

"Rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence were tools used as part of the campaign designed to inflict a deep experience of terror, powerlessness and hopelessness upon pro-independence supporters," the commission was quoted as saying.

ETAN said that the recommendations of the report, compiled by East Timorese as well as international experts, included its worldwide distribution and a referral to the UN's Security Council, General Assembly, Special Committee on Decolonisation and Commission on Human Rights.

The CAVR report claimed the policies of Indonesia's military against East Timor's civilian population caused the deaths of between 84,000 and 183,000 people – up to a third of the territory's population – between 1975 and 1999. More than 90 percent of the deaths were due to hunger and illness, it said.

The Indonesian security forces "consciously decided to use starvation of East Timorese civilians as a weapon of war", the report said.

The commission submitted its report to the East Timorese government months ago, but President Xanana Gusmao wanted to keep it secret for fear of irritating Indonesia. He has since relented and will hand it to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York.

There are fears release of the report could inflame tensions with Indonesia and militia groups that are still active near the East Timor border.

But East Timor's ambassador to the UN, Jose Luis Guterres, has played down the likely impact, saying much of what is in the report was known and should not harm good relations between his government and Indonesia.

Indonesia annexed East Timor with the tacit approval of major powers but the brutality of the occupation turned world opinion against Jakarta and led to a vote for independence in 1999.

The vote sparked bloody reprisals by Indonesian-backed militia groups who killed hundreds of people before an international force restored order. East Timor became independent in 2002 and remains Asia's poorest country.

Justice & reconciliation

Reveal Timor Leste history: Expert

Jakarta Post - January 22, 2006

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A historian is urging the government to examine the reasons behind Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 and any excesses in its 24-year occupation, so that the country can rid itself of "ignorance and hatred".

Taufik Abdullah told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that any admissions of past wrongdoings by the government "would not tarnish our image." Instead it would "release us from a dark episode in our history that could certainly pave the way for a real reconciliation with the people of Timor Leste."

Taufik was responding to a report by Timor Leste's independent Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation released to the United Nations Saturday by President Xanana Gusmao. Failure to deal with the past had led to Indonesia having many problems, Taufik said.

Historical accounts from previously classified documents in the United States and Australia showed that both governments had known in advance of Indonesia's plan to invade East Timor in 1975, he said. They had not objected to the invasion because they feared a communist presence near their large Asian ally. "Indeed, we were also trapped in the Cold War; and even the US administration 'endorsed' the invasion," Taufik said.

In history, acts of violence often occurred because of many reasons, such as feelings of insecurity or ignorance, he said. "A nation is considered a great one if it never forgets its heroes... and a nation is also a great one if it insists on releasing itself from its historical ignorance and feelings of hatred," he said.

Reconciliation without justice meaningless: Baucau bishop

AsiaNews - January 21, 2006

Baucau – The people of East Timor are afraid that the names of the thousands of lives lost during Indonesia's occupation of the country will be forgotten in the name of reconciliation with the former occupier. They want their president to provide more information and be more open to dialogue over the issue. And Mgr Basilio do Nascimento, bishop of Baucau, is taking on the task of voicing this concern which is worrying "most Timorese".

Reached by phone, the prelate spoke to AsiaNews about the report on Indonesian crimes in East Timor that was presented to the United Nations.

Yesterday in fact East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao handed the report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The document was prepared by the East Timorese Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation over the last three and half years.

More than 2,000 pages long, the report documents a catalogue of atrocities perpetrated by Indonesia during its 24 years of occupation that began with the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1974 and the landing of Indonesian invasion forces in late 1975.

Based on the testimony of some 8,000 witnesses, the report details how the Indonesian military used methods such as deliberate starvation and rape, how Indonesia's occupation cost the lives of between 84,000 and 183,000 people between 1975 and 1999, how 90 per cent died from hunger and diseases brought on by Indonesian repression. The report goes further and suggests that the military used napalm bombs and other chemicals to poison food and water in the 1975 invasion.

"Peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation are important principles," the bishop said, "but we cannot forget what people suffered; they must be included in the government's initiative."

"Talking about friendship between nations in theoretical terms does not work for those who saw their beloved endured in those years," he explained. "Those who govern us must view the population as a necessary party to the issue".

The prelate as well as many human rights groups want the report to be made public. "No one knows what its content really is- people want more, they want explanations," he insisted.

According to the spokesman for Indonesia's Foreign Ministry Yuri Thamrin, "the recommendations (of the report) are unreal, impractical, because they are purely formulated [...] by those who do not live in East Timor". Indonesia's State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra added that it is time to "look at the future".

In New York, President Gusmao said that report's main purpose is to establish the truth as to what happened so that it may not happen again. But"it is not so important to look at the figures. It is more important to look at the lessons. We don't advocate punitive justice but restorative justice," he explained.

Referring to the president's words, Bishop do Nascimento said he hoped one day that Gusmao will be able "to explain exactly what he means. And he should do it here [at home], meeting people." In 1999, a majority of people in East Timor opted for independence in a referendum supervised by the United Nations. Independence was formally proclaimed in 2002.

Afterwards, the governments of Indonesia and East Timor turned down a UN recommendation to set up an international tribunal on the grounds that it would damage relations between the two countries.

Instead, in March 2005 they established a joint Truth and Friendship Commission which has the power to pursue those accused of war crimes in the courts but which can also offer amnesty.

Human rights groups as well as the local Catholic Church insist however that the United Nations intervene so that "justice for the people of East Timor be done" by an international tribunal. (MA)

Bishop calls for amnesty for militia

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2005

Kupang – Atambua Bishop Anton Pain Ratu has called on the Timor Leste government to grant amnesty to former pro-Jakarta militia as part of efforts to end refugee problems in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara province.

"The Timor Leste government should make a breakthrough, they should tell pro-Jakarta militias that they will be given amnesty when they return home. The policy could encourage the refugees to return home in order to help resolve refugee problems in West Timor," said the bishop on Thursday night.

Thousands of pro-Jakarta militias are still living in refugee shelters in West Timor regency after a UN-sponsored ballot in 1999, which ended in Timor Leste separating from Indonesia.

They are living in decrepit tents and barracks where communicable diseases are rife. The refugees also have no access to employment.

Transition & reconstruction

President Gusmao pushes UN for continued presence

Lusa - January 24, 2006

Washington – East Timor needs a continued United Nations presence after the scheduled pullout of the UNOTIL mission in May, particularly to prepare for elections and train police to prevent border tensions with Indonesia, President Xanana Gusmao has told the UN Security Council.

Addressing the Council Monday in New York, which had met to discuss a report by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Timor, Gusmao pressed for a continued UN presence in his country after the May 20 withdrawal of the 45-member UN office in Timor.

He urged the Council to consider the creation of a special political bureau to assist police training and preparations for general elections next year.

"Taking into account elections in 2007 and the need to guarantee sustained dialogue and cooperation between Timorese and Indonesian security forces to prevent border tensions and conflict, we think the deployment of 15 to 20 officials with military connections in the framework of a Special Political Office would be of crucial importance".

The Timorese leader also told the Council that Dili and Jakarta have reached accord on delineation of 99% of their common land borders and the remaining areas will be agreed upon in coming weeks.

He also briefed UN diplomats on the contents of a report describing atrocities committed by Indonesian security forces during Jakarta's 24-year occupation of his country.

The 2,500-page report from Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) claims that between 84,000 and 183,000 Timorese were either killed or starved to death during Jakarta's brutal rule of Timor from 1975 to 1999.

Widespread rape and torture were also carried out by occupying Indonesian forces, the internationally funded document alleges.

While acknowledging the accuracy of the CAVR report, Timorese leaders have urged a healing of wounds with Jakarta and a focus on building good relations between the two neighboring states.

East Timor: Let's do a deal

South China Morning Post - January 24, 2006

The East Timorese have two tetchy, uncharitable neighbours in Indonesia and Australia, neither willing to lend a genuine hand to the nation, says Peter Kammerer

East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was in a buoyant mood after sealing his young country's latest oil and gas deal with Australia earlier this month. With money from a previous pact already guaranteeing the budget could finally be balanced, the agreement seemed to ensure his people's escape from poverty and rise to self-sufficiency.

National leaders have to be optimistic, especially those from countries as new as East Timor. Few nations have started from such a low base or had so traumatic a history; brave faces, even in moments of lost face, are required. For many observers, this was one of those occasions.

Glowing with achievement, Mr Alkatiri enthused that his nation of 800,000 people, which won independence from Indonesian occupation in May 2002 after a 24-year struggle, was finally going places.

"Our budget has increased almost two-fold and we are investing three or four times more in infrastructure," the prime minister told the South China Morning Post from Sydney, where the pact was signed. "For the next fiscal year we are hoping to invest one time more for education and health. This will make a very, very big difference for the whole country."

He conceded that reversing the poverty-mired, stagnant economy and finding jobs for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed remained challenging. "This cannot be done overnight. We have planning and programmes and have been investing in infrastructure. Thousands of people are working now, but still, others are waiting for the opportunity."

But relations with Indonesia and Australia, termed by some observers as bullies of the tiny nation sandwiched between them, were good because "we're in between two giants and we need to have good relations with both", Mr Alkatiri observed.

As for mending the wounds of Indonesia's often brutal occupation, he was certain that reconciliation lay in a truth and friendship commission both governments had set up, rather than an international tribunal.

"I don't believe that the United Nations Security Council will approve a resolution setting up a tribunal," he said. "If there is not this possibility, you have to be creative and try to get the truth known by everybody. That is why we and Indonesia have set up the truth and friendship commission, because this is the only mechanism we now have to get the truth known by the innocent people, the Timorese people and all people around the world. History will also do its part to bring justice."

For Australian expert on East Timor, George Quinn, this was the voice of a pragmatist: the oil and gas deal had increased the nation's revenues from what is known as the Sunrise field from 18 per cent to 50 per cent, at the expense of rights to contest other energy reserves with Australia.

"Despite the fact that it has involved quite a substantial sacrifice, he has taken what he would consider to be a pragmatic solution to get some immediate outcomes," said Dr Quinn, a researcher at Australian National University in Canberra who has met Mr Alkatiri several times. "He probably feels that the window of opportunity is closing, and that unless he can nail down an agreement and get something in the pipeline as far as substantial revenues are concerned, then the window may close and he may find himself with social unrest on his hands."

Whatever the prime minister's optimism as a result of oil and gas revenues finally flowing into the economy, East Timor is far from shrugging off its difficulties, Dr Quinn believes. "East Timor still has huge problems – its infrastructure is poor, its level of education and the quality of its manpower are poor," he said.

Heavy reliance is still placed on international support, even though the UN and donor nations have already poured billions of dollars into building the nation. The education system is essentially funded by the Portuguese and Brazilian governments, the European Union has a large share of the health budget, and roadworks and other infrastructure have a big Japanese contribution.

Nor would it seem East Timor's problems with Indonesia – which a report President Xanana Gusmao presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last Friday blames for the deaths of more than 100,000 East Timorese and massive human rights violations – are over. On January 6, three alleged Indonesian militiamen were shot by East Timorese police near the porous border with Indonesian-ruled West Timor, sparking a heated exchange between the two countries.

The truth be known, the deal Mr Alkatiri struck on January 12 was most likely the best he could have achieved after several years of tough bargaining with Australia. The two nations dispute their sea border, beneath which lie rich oil and gas reserves.

East Timor has claimed an exclusive economic zone around its coastline, and in parts this overlaps with Australia's claimed area.

The small nation's negotiating position has been based on a line drawn exactly midway between the two countries' coastlines, a common method under international law. Australia, which made agreements on its maritime border with Indonesia before East Timorese independence, disagrees with such an approach.

So vehement is the Australian government about its position that in the months leading to independence, it secretly withdrew from the two recognised forums on which the new nation could have had the matter adjudicated, the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

Negotiations between the two nations have since sputtered on, with few agreements and Australia continuing to earn billions of dollars in tax revenues from companies working in the disputed area.

The January 12 agreement increased East Timor's share of revenues from the Sunrise field, straddling the disputed areas, to 50 per cent, but waived its right to contest the maritime boundary for 50 years, or until the oil and gas runs out, whichever is sooner.

Mr Alkatiri estimates between US$13 billion and US$20 billion could be made from the deal for his country, up from the previous estimates as low as US$2 billion, depending on oil prices. Work on the field is expected to begin in the next two years and production in six or seven at the earliest. The prime minister said the deal opened up the possibility of a pipeline being built from Sunrise to East Timor's capital, Dili, and the construction there of a liquified petroleum gas refinery there.

"This will have a very big multiplier effect, doubling or even tripling all other revenues," he said.

So far, the mining companies involved have shunned the idea, preferring a pipeline to the northern Australian city of Darwin, which, although further away, already has such facilities.

For East Timor, the matter is more than just pride: with its few industries of coffee and cassava production all but destroyed under Indonesian rule, oil and gas have been seen by its leaders as the only immediate economic lifeline. An oil fund approved by parliament last year using an earlier deal with Australia, under which East Timor gets 90 per cent of revenues from another field, already contains about US$350 million.

Charles Scheiner, a New York-based oil and gas researcher with the non-governmental group La'o Hamutuk – also known as the East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis – believes between US$6 million and US$7 million is presently going into the fund each month.

"The petroleum fund legislation says that money from oil revenues goes into the fund and it is used each year when the government makes its budget," Mr Scheiner said. "Whatever deficit there is in the budget is taken from the fund. The last budget was US$120 million and it was bare-bones, and many UN projects will dry up. At that point, the fund will be the bulk of the budget."

Oil and gas were being perceived by the government as its financial lifeblood, he said. In four years, 89 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and 94 per cent of its revenues were projected to be coming from the sector.

"It's very dangerous," Mr Scheiner concluded. "They need to be developing other sectors of the economy. But it takes time to develop anything else, and this can be done quickly."

His Dili-based La'o Hamutuk colleague, Alex Grainger, agrees. "We're extremely concerned because the attention to the non-oil economy has been quite rudimentary to date," Mr Grainger said. "The government is running a very unsustainable trade deficit, importing about US$112 million in goods and only exporting US$7 million in coffee. There are options other than coffee, but we see them lying in the people themselves."

He estimates unemployment in urban areas is 20 per cent and in the countryside at between 80 and 90 per cent, with underemployment running similarly high.

Nor has the government's efforts to attract foreign investment made many inroads. The executive director of the Timor Institute of Development Studies, Joao Saldanha, puts this down to the nation's isolated location, far from the region's primary markets of Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. But despite the problems, East Timor's people were generally content, he said.

"We've had five years of peace and people are happy with that," Dr Saldanha said from his Dili office. "Even if there is suffering in terms of jobs and food, compared with the desperation and conflict of 24 years, people are happy. They will most likely let their true feelings about what is happening be known in the electoral process [in 2007].

Gusmao asks UN to set up political office when mission ends

Associated Press - January 23, 2006

Edith M. Lederer, United Nations – East Timor's president urged the UN Security Council on Monday to keep a small political office in the country after the UN wraps up its six-year operation in May.

President Xanana Gusmao hopes the office will help with next year's elections and support critically needed police training, as well as justice and finance reforms.

Gusmao called for deployment of 15 to 20 "military liaison personnel" as part of a new Special Political Office to ensure cooperation between East Timorese and Indonesian security elements "to prevent tensions and conflict along the border."

Gusmao addressed the council three days after delivering a report on Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor to Secretary- General Kofi Annan. The report by the independent Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation blames over 100,000 deaths and massive human rights violations including starvation, torture, sexual enslavement and the use of napalm primarily on Indonesian security forces.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and ruled the tiny half-island territory with an iron fist until 1999, when a UN-organized plebiscite resulted in an overwhelming vote for independence. Withdrawing Indonesian troops and their militia auxiliaries destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and killed at least 1,500 people.

The United Nations sent a UN peacekeeping force and administered the territory until East Timor became independent in 2002. A UN political mission is scheduled to wrap up its operations in May.

The independent commission asked the five permanent members of the Security Council the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France as well as the Indonesian and Portuguese governments and governments that sold weapons to Indonesia and supported Indonesia's policy to pay reparations to the victims. It also suggested that contracts for international judges who served on special panels for serious crimes be renewed and that resources be allocated to investigate and try all crimes committed between 1975 and 1999.

Gusmao rejected both recommendations, saying East Timor and Indonesia "are both nascent democracies struggling to put behind us years of conflict, and our fates are in many ways enjoined."

"I have had to ask myself if it is in our national interest, which must include social harmony, to adopt a process that I am told by some friends will bring justice, and have this process go on for years, and possibly set back our democratic consolidation, that is being undertaken in East Timor and Indonesia respectively. The answer that I came to, after wide consultation with the people, was that it is not," he said.

He said the recommendation to bring to court every crime committed since 1975 could easily lead to "political anarchy and social chaos."

Gusmao said East Timor would follow the "restorative justice model" established by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who headed South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which granted amnesty for the truth, with the goal of healing deep divisions in society.

He quoted Tutu as saying: "Justice as retribution often ignores the victim and the system is usually impersonal and cold. Restorative justice is hopeful."

The international community pressured Jakarta in 2002 to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Indonesians allegedly responsible for the violence. But the trials have been widely criticized as a sham, with all 17 police and military commanders indicted receiving acquittals.

Indonesia and East Timor set up a joint truth and reconciliation commission in August 2005 and Gusmao said he expects it to conclude its work this year, with the possibility of an extension. He also chided the international community for not supporting this initiative.

"The commitment that we should all undertake is not to allow, under any circumstances, a recurrence of political violence in our beloved homeland," Gusmao said.

He said East Timor's relations with its two closest neighbors Indonesia and Australia "continue on a sound basis."

East Timor and Indonesia have reached agreement on 99 percent of the border and the remaining 1 percent should be resolved "in the next few weeks," Gusmao said.

East Timor and Australia signed an agreement on Jan. 12 that provides for a 50-50 share of oil and gas resources in the Greater Sun Rise area, "one of the richest in the entire Asia- Pacific region, and a 50-year moratorium on our maritime boundary, without prejudice of our sovereign claims," he said.

UN finds waste in peacekeeping work

Washington Post - January 23, 2006

Colum Lynch, United Nations – An internal UN probe of the department that runs international peacekeeping operations has uncovered extensive evidence of mismanagement and possible fraud, and triggered the suspension of eight procurement officials pending an investigation, according to UN officials and documents.

UN investigators have uncovered rampant waste, price inflation and suspicion that employees colluded with vendors in awarding contracts for a variety of peacekeeping programs, said a confidential report presented to several governments Monday.

Peacekeepers, for example, spent $10.4 million to lease a helicopter for use in East Timor that could have been secured for $1.6 million, and paid $2.4 million to buy seven aircraft hangars in Congo that were never used, the report said. An additional $65 million or more was spent for fuel that was not needed for missions in Sudan and Haiti, said the report, which called for an investigation into whether UN staff members improperly "colluded to award" one UN supplier an $85.9 million fuel contract for the Sudan mission. The failure of UN managers to enforce basic standards has led to a "culture of impunity" in UN spending, according to the report.

Together, it says that there are "strong" indications of fraud involving contracts whose value totaled about $193 million, nearly 20 percent of the $1 billion in UN business examined by the auditors. "We have no idea yet as to the scope of this, but I believe that we have significant evidence of fraud and corruption," the UN undersecretary for management, Christopher Burnham, told reporters Monday. Burnham, a former Bush administration official, went further than other UN officials in characterizing the seriousness of the wrongdoing.

Burnham, however, said that the decision to suspend the eight officials – including Andrew Toh, who recently oversaw the UN procurement department, and Christian Saunders, the director of the UN procurement division – did not represent a finding that they had done anything wrong. The two have both denied any wrongdoing.

The UN findings come as the organization is struggling to recover from a financial scandal involving abuse of the $64 billion oil- for-food program in prewar Iraq and reports of widespread sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers.

US prosecutors, meanwhile, are conducting their own investigation into criminal wrongdoing in UN contracting. The US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York in August charged a former UN procurement officer, Alexander Yakovlev, with receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes on behalf of companies doing business with the United Nations. Yakovlev pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Monday's revelations came as UN peacekeeping operations are expanding rapidly, with more than 70,000 uniformed police and blue-helmeted troops posted in 18 missions around the world. The United Nations is gearing up for a new peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan, and has asked the Security Council to authorize an increase of 4,000 peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.

"We know that we have some areas of difficulty that have to be strengthened," said Jane Holl Lute, a senior peacekeeping official, noting that UN officials alerted the investigators to possible wrongdoing. "We are operating in a highly complex, highly volatile operating environment in places around the world that are difficult, austere and, as evidenced by the killing of eight Guatemalan peacekeepers today in the Congo, dangerous."

John R. Bolton, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the procurement scandal would not prompt a retreat from UN peacekeeping. But he said it underscored the need for far- reaching administrative changes in the world body.

"It is very disturbing. It shows the sad record of mismanagement that we are trying to deal with through the reform process," he said. The UN Office of Internal Oversight, which conducted the inquiry, cited several cases in which they found "fraud indicators," or cause for suspicion.

The helicopter deal in East Timor was one of them. UN procurement officers had been offered a $1.6 million lease for an Mi-26 helicopter, the report said, but the procurement documents did not reflect that offer. The UN report called for an investigation into why officials paid $8.8 million too much and into their dealings with vendors.

The report did not name individuals or companies suspected of breaking UN procurement rules. But an earlier draft, made available to The Washington Post, included some names of companies and UN staffers.

For instance, it identified SkyLink Aviation Inc., a Canadian firm, as the company that supplied fuel to the UN mission in Sudan. A spokesman for SkyLink, Jan Ottens, confirmed that his company had that contract and he denied any wrongdoing. He said SkyLink actually lost "bundles" of money from the fuel contract.

Ottens said the problem was that the United Nations overestimated the amount of oil it would need because it anticipated the deployment of tens of thousands of peacekeepers that never arrived.

He also said auditors failed to note that his company billed the United Nations only for the oil that was used, representing about half the cost envisioned by the fuel contract. He said his company, meanwhile, had to absorb the costs of setting up the infrastructure for delivering far greater quantities of oil than the United Nations eventually bought. "We were misled" by the United Nations, he said. "We are very unhappy with that fuel contract."

Security & boarder issues

We don't need help, declares Alkatiri

The Australian - January 13, 2006

Dan Box, John Kerin – East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has declared that the fledgling nation does not need Australia's help to deal with border skirmishes.

Dr Alkatiri, who is in Australia to sign a resources deal, was responding yesterday to an incident in which East Timorese police shot and killed three Indonesians and former militia members.

East Timor claims the three men, former members of the Red and White Iron militia who moved to East Nusa Tengarra after East Timor's violent separation from Indonesia in 1999, entered the country illegally and attacked police.

But Indonesia Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda condemned the shooting, saying the East Timorese used excessive force.

Indonesian military officials have alleged the three men intended to fish in a nearby river when they were shot last week.

Dr Wirayuda has demanded the two countries establish a joint investigation.

East Timor's police chief, inspector Ismail Babo, handed over the bodies of Candido Mali, 24, and Stanislao Maubere, 40, to Indonesian police yesterday. The other dead man was Jose Maria Freitas, 38. The killings sparked protests in West Timor town of Atambua involving about 1500 former militiamen, who burned posters of East Timor president Xanana Gusmao.

Dr Alkatiri said Australia had helped train the East Timorese police and military to the point where it could deal with the situation.

"We have good relations with the Government in Jakarta and we do believe that through diplomatic channels we will reach agreement on this," he said.

Australia deployed more than 4000 troops to East Timor during its battle for independence in 1999 but has wound down its presence to fewer than 50 troops.

Ex-militiamen rally against killing by Timor police

Agence France Presse - January 9, 2006

Atambua – Around 1,500 protesters burned pictures of East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Monday following the killing of three former pro-Jakarta militiamen by East Timor police near the border with Indonesia.

Most protesters were fellow former militiamen or refugees who picketed a parliamentary office at Atambua in Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara or West Timor, demanding justice over the killings on Friday.

Wearing headbands in Indonesia's red-and-white national colors, they hoisted placards condemning the shooting.

The three former members of the Red and White Iron militia took Indonesian citizenship after East Timor voted for independence from Jakarta in 1999.

Local Indonesian military officials said they intended to fish in a river near the border but had crossed 50 meters into East Timorese territory when they were killed by border police.

Two other people with them managed to escape. East Timorese police had taken the bodies of the three men to the town of Maliana.

"We are going to seal off the border line should our demands for compensation for relatives of the three not be met by the East Timorese government," said protest leader Dominggus Pareira.

The crowd disbanded peacefully and left for the nearby border town of Mota'on trucks and motorcycles to pick up the bodies of the three men, which were due to be returned from East Timor later Monday.

In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda described the incident as "an excessive use of violence" and urged East Timor to prosecute the policemen who carried out the shooting.

He said Jakarta and Dili may form a joint investigation into the incident.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also called for an investigation and hoped the incident would not mar reconciliation efforts through a Commission of Truth and Friendship, Hassan told reporters.

Timorese-Indonesians irate over shooting

Jakarta Post - January 12, 2006

Semarang – A group of Timorese-Indonesians living in Central Java demanded on Wednesday a thorough investigation into an incident on Friday in which three former militia members were killed by Timor Leste border police.

"We strongly condemn the shooting," said Batista Sufa Kefi of the National Committee for East Timorese Political Victims.

Batista said he had sent a letter to the Central Java Legislative Council, urging it to convey the protest to the central government.

"We ask the Timor Leste government to take responsibility for the incident and demand that they apologize to the Indonesian government," he said.

Batista went on to add that Indonesia should close down the border with Timor Leste to prevent intruders from entering Indonesian territory.

He urged the government to take a stern stance on the incident, including severing diplomatic relations with Timor Leste if necessary.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda earlier said the shooting was the result of "excessive force" and demanded a joint investigation. His Timor Leste counterpart Jose Ramos-Horta has expressed regret but said the victims were former militiamen who entered his country illegally and allegedly attacked police.

Police involved in border shootings acted in self-defense

Lusa - January 11, 2006

Dili – Police in East Timor who shot dead three ex-militiamen trying to enter the country last week were acting in legitimate self-defense, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.

Tensions between Dili and Jakarta have been high since the incident and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda called on Monday for a joint investigation, saying Timorese police had used "excessive force".

Timorese Foreign Minister Josi Ramos Horta expressed regret at the fatal shootings, but said the victims were ex-militiamen had entered Timor illegally and attacked police.

Dili has identified all the slain Indonesians as former pro- Jakarta militia members and one, Josi Mausorte, is on a United Nations list of Timor war crimes suspects.

Giving more details of events Jan. 6 when a group of five Indonesians ran into a routine police patrol just over the border of East Timor, Alaktiri said the group tried to disarm the three-man patrol.

"The officers were ambushed by these individuals who tried to disarm two of them. The third officer had to react in self- defense otherwise we would have had three dead policemen", said the Timorese leader.

"East Timor cannot be a backyard for ex-militiamen who come and go as they please without passports or visas", he added.

Alkatiri defends shooting deaths of three Indonesians

Agence France Presse - January 11, 2006

Dili – East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday that his country's police force had acted in self defence when they shot dead three former pro-Jakarta militiamen near the border.

He also criticised Indonesia for failing to prevent militiamen from infiltrating East Timor.

The incident Friday sparked a diplomatic row between Indonesia and its former province of East Timor, with Jakarta accusing East Timorese police of excessive use of force.

"Our policemen were ambushed by these three individuals that entered our country without documents, visas or passports," Alkatiri told a press conference.

One of two teenagers who managed to escaped the shooting said they and their three colleagues had intended to fish in a river near the border but had unwittingly crossed into East Timorese territory.

The three former members of the Red and White Iron militia took Indonesian citizenship after East Timor voted for independence from Jakarta in 1999.

Alkatiri said Indonesia has failed to prevent militiamen from infiltrating East Timor.

"Indonesia knows that it has people like this in its country. It is Indonesia's responsibility first of all to control those people, and to not allow them to cross the border and come here to provoke us," he said.

Around 1,500 mostly East Timorese who moved to Indonesia's West Timor after the 1999 referendum took to the streets of Atambua near the border on Monday to condemn the shootings.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda described the incident as "an excessive use of violence" and urged East Timor to prosecute the policemen who carried out the shooting.

Pro-Jakarta militias, which the United Nations says were directed by the Indonesian military, staged a deadly campaign of violence against independence supporters in East Timor before and after the referendum

An estimated 1,400 people were killed by the militias and whole towns were destroyed.

Indonesian parliament denounces Timor Leste border shooting

Antara News - January 10, 2006

Jakarta – The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday denounced the shooting of three Indonesians by Timor Leste border police last Friday (Dec. 6).

"We should remind (the Timor Leste police) that the shooting should be the last. Don't repeat it, or face the consequences," Hopuse Speaker Agung Laksono said.

The shooting was a betrayal of the Indonesian nation and therefore, the entire nation must denounce it and file a strong protest to the Timor Leste government, he said.

He called for a joint investigation by Indonesian and Timor Leste officers into the shooting. "The investigation is needed to know the motive behind the shooting and avoid varying conclusions on it. More importantly, so that similar incidents can be prevented from happening in the future," he said.

The three were shot dead about 50 meters into Timor Leste territory from the border it shares with Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province.

Indonesian Military officials contend the men – former members of the Red Cross and White militia group who moved to East Nusa Tenggara after Timor Leste's violent separation from Jakarta in 1999 – intended to fish in a nearby river when they were shot.

The shooting is the second in less than a year. Earlier on April 21, 2005, Indonesia's 1st Lt. Teddy Setiawan was also shot by the Timor Leste border police.

Too many TNI members at Timor borders

Tempo Interactive - January 6, 2006

Jakarta – Atambua Bishop Mgr Anton Pain Ratu feels the allocation of 1,500 TNI personnel from the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) on the borders of Indonesia and Timor Leste is too much.

To secure the border areas, Ratu suggested that the Indonesian Military (TNI) to maximize the Military District personnel command without having to ask Kostrad's members. "Everywhere, there are the TNI posts. It will make impression that Indonesia is unsafe," Ratu stated on Thursday night (05/01).

Timor Leste, said Bishop Ratu, was not a threat for Indonesia. This country has just started to train its troops to use weapons. The number of citizens is only about 900,000 people. There are 200 million people in Indonesia. "If it's not a threat, why is the TNI concentrating on the borders?" Ratu stated.

Indonesia-East Timor Commander of Security Troops Task Unit Lt. Col. Ediwan Prabowo said that the number of TNI personnel on the border of Atambua and North Central Timor Leste has 1,500 personnel, consisting of three Kostrad battalions, two combat platoons and other technical factors.

"This number is still small. On the borders of other countries, the numbers are tens of thousands. Every two kilometers, there is a military post. However, on the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste, the security is too relaxed," Prabowo said. (Jems de Fortuna-Tempo News Room)

News & issues

East Timor bribery claims ignored

Sunday Telegraph - January 22, 2006

Jim Dickins – Police failed to investigate allegations an Australian public servant passed massive bribes to East Timor's Prime Minister.

Documents lodged with a United States court claim an Australian acted as the bagman in a conspiracy involving US energy giant ConocoPhillips. Bribery of foreign officials is a criminal offence punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.

But Australian Federal Police admitted to a delegation from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development they never investigated the case.

A statement of claim lodged with US District Court last year alleges East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri accepted more than $3 million from ConocoPhillips in 2002, paid by the Australian public servant acting as an intermediary.

The deal allegedly allowed ConocoPhillips, one of the world's biggest fuel refiners, and Australia to retain favourable concessions over Timor Sea gas reserves negotiated during Indonesia's violent occupation.

Mr Alkatiri has strenuously denied accepting the money and threatened to sue for defamation.

The statement of claim was lodged on behalf of another US energy company, Oceanic Exploration, which lost a lucrative claim on the reserves after Indonesia's 1975 invasion. It included details of Darwin bank accounts allegedly held by Mr Alkatiri and bribe amounts supposedly deposited there.

Oceanic was pursuing ConocoPhillips for billions in compensation until its case was struck out of court earlier this year.

The AFP said it would normally pursue reports of alleged bribery, if combined with supporting information, but it did not do so in this case because it would have been "inefficient".

In a report released last week, the OECD said the omission was concerning. As well as contravening the Commonwealth Criminal Code, bribery of foreign officials breaches Department of Foreign Affairs guidelines for diplomats.

Press groups fear criminal defamation law in Timor

International Journalists' Network - January 10, 2006

Journalists and freedom of expression advocates in East Timor are calling for international opposition to a new law that would punish defamation with jail time and unspecified fines.

The country's prime minister recently approved an executive decree that would criminalize defamation. Gill Silva Guterres, head of the Timor-Lorosa'e Journalists' Association (TLJA), told IJNet that it's now in the hands of East Timor President Xanana Gusmao.

The president must either veto the decree or sign it into law.

Guterres called upon colleagues at home and abroad to write to Gusmao's office and urge him to veto the decree.

The law would add criminal penalties for defamation, rather than treating it as a civil offense. It would allow courts to imprison convicted journalists for up to three years and fine them unspecified amounts.

Guterres said the law favors public officials and religious leaders and protects them from criticism. It offers little protection for reporting facts that may be construed as defamation, he said, adding that the sanctions would be a setback for the dream of a democratic East Timor.

"The chilling effect of this law will prevent people, particularly journalists to pursue the truth because of the three year's imprisonment as stipulated in this decree law," Guterres said.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said the law would stifle the freedom of expression that the East Timorese people need to participate in their hard-won democracy. "The new laws will dissuade journalists from speaking up on good governance and transparency in the conduct of state affairs," SEAPA said in an alert.

East Timor issue overtaken by 1975 events

Australian Associated Press - January 1, 2006

Canberra – It may have become a big deal later, but East Timor did not figure prominently in the deliberations of the Whitlam government in its final year.

Cabinet documents made public today for the first time show not one submission was made to Cabinet specifically relating to East Timor. Further, the key events relating to the former Portuguese colony occurred at the end of the year when Whitlam and his ministers had other matters on their minds.

On October 16, 1975, five Australian journalists were murdered at Balibo. The same day, the Opposition in the Senate voted to defer supply, launching the political crisis that ended with Whitlam's dismissal on November 11.

Indonesia invaded East Timor on Sunday, December 7. Six days later, Whitlam was defeated at the general election which handed the whole unholy mess to incoming prime minister Malcolm Fraser.

Asked about East Timor at the media conference for the National Archives of Australia release of the 1975 cabinet documents, Whitlam referred to his 1997 book Abiding Interest.

Reading an extract, he said he encountered journalist Greg Shackleton before his ill-fated trip to East Timor and warned him there was no way the Australian government could protect him or his colleagues.

"It is a Portuguese colony and the Portuguese government ought to accept responsibility instead of just clearing out and dropping their bundle," he said. "We have supported all along the idea of self determination. The Portuguese ought to help in that process."

In his book The Whitlam Government 1972 -1975 he said his government could easily have exploited East Timor and the death of the newsmen as a great patriotic issue.

"I say this quite seriously, because nothing would have been easier than for us to have exposed the irresponsibility of a senate denying supply to a government on the eve of a state of emergency and a possible conflict with our principal neighbour," he said.

Whitlam certainly expressed a desire for East Timorese self- determination, manifested in a communique following his meeting with Indonesian President Suharto in April 1975.

But at best the messages were mixed with Whitlam previously stating an independent East Timor was non-viable and that in many ways it was part of the Indonesian world.

At that time East Timor was just one of a substantial number of struggling ex-colonies seeking to make their way in an uncertain world. Australia had already made a substantial investment in PNG which gained independence in September 1975.

Australia with Malcolm Fraser as prime minister condemned the Indonesian takeover in a series of annual votes at the United Nations. However it was Australia which became the first country to officially recognise East Timor's incorporation in 1979.

The issue of Labor culpability or otherwise in Indonesia's takeover of East Timor was canvassed in great detail in 1999 in the leadup to the independence ballot, Australia's subsequent leadership of the INTERFET operation.

In February 1999, the Labor foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton slammed both Labor and the Coalition, declaring it had been a long and tragic history that reflected little credit on either side of mainstream Australian politics over the previous quarter century.

That sparked a blazing row involving Whitlam and former labor foreign affairs minister Gareth Evans.

In evidence before a parliamentary committee in December 1999, Whitlam released a letter he sent to President Suharto in February 1975 promoting self-determination through a Portuguese proposal to retain responsibility for East Timor for up to eight years, leading to a transitional government and free elections.

To clear the decks, the government agreed to an expedited release of all foreign affairs documents and cables relating to Australia, Indonesia and East Timor for the period.

Published in 2000, they revealed that Australian officials knew well in advance of Indonesia's invasion plans by way of an established back-channel.

In another cable, Australian ambassador to Indonesia Richard Woolcott warned the government against publicly denouncing Indonesia's invasion of East Timor because it risked exposing the secret information flow.

The documents also showed a meeting between Mr Whitlam and President Suharto in 1974 may have been the catalyst for the takeover.

At that meeting, Mr Whitlam said he supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor as long as it was not violent.

A month later, Australian officials were told by Indonesia military officials that Mr Whitlam's comments had helped them crystallise their own ideas on East Timor.

Daily media reviews

January 31, 2006

Branco: Campaign to bring down Fretilin

Head of the Fretilin bench in the National Parliament, Francisco Branco, has said that Father Domingos Soares alias Maubere is carrying out a systematic campaign to bring down Fretilin, as indicated in the homily he gave at the Same Parish Church last Sunday. Speaking to journalists on Monday and after having received reports from Fretilin members who were present at the mass, Branco said that Father Domingos told churchgoers that the students sent to Cuba by the Government, will turn Timor-Leste into a communist country, and that if Fretilin wins the next general election, they will kill all the priests and nuns. He also reportedly said that the Government should divide up the oil money among the population. Branco said that there is no Government in the world that would distribute national income among the people, but that the people will feel its affects via a program of national development in the areas of health, education, agriculture and infrastructure. Regarding the accusation related to the killing of the priests and nuns, he said that if there is proof of such a plan, the matter should be dealt with in court and not just commented on. (TP)

Lu Olo agrees with Annan call

President of the National Parliament Francisco Guterres (Lu-Olo) has said that he agrees with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call for the Timor-Leste leadership to pay attention to the Penal Code which will soon be promulgated by the President of the Republic. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Guterres said that it is important that the intention of the law is to protect all citizens of the country and not just its leaders. He said that while the international legal instruments that Timor-Leste has ratified are like an umbrella for all countries of the world, each individual country is required to establish its own national laws that guarantee rights and liberties for all its citizens. (TP)

President Gusmao on Reconciliation Seminar

President of the Republic Xanana Gusmao has declared that he respects the opinion of civil society concerning reconciliation workshops. Speaking at a 'Truth and Friendship' seminar held at the Ministry of Education yesterday, President Gusmao said that reconciliation is not just a political issue but also one of humanity, which arises in the everyday lives of the people. (TP)

Military will face harsh punishment if found guilty

Indonesian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Ahmed Bey Sofwan, reportedly said the five Indonesian National Military (TNI) allegedly implicated in sexual abuse of a Timorese woman in the border of Oecussi, would face harsh punishment if found guilty. Sofwan said although he has not yet received any information about the case, he hopes that, if true, the case would be processed according to Indonesian laws which are severe against domestic and sexual violence. He added that he is also waiting for confirmation about this matter from PNTL Commander Paulo Martins. (TP)

Timor still need international judges

President of the Court of Appeals, Claudio Ximenes, said although there are 10 Timorese judges working in the courts, the assistance of international judges is still required.

According to Ximenes the judges have received basic training and are now ready to commence work with the assistance of the international judges. He added that the same assistance would be provided to the other judges that will commence working in July 2006 following their training. The 10 judges will be working in the districts courts of the Oecussi, Baucau and Suai. (TP)

Basilio: Timorese people strong feeling of justice

The Bishop of Baucau Diocese, Basilio do Nascimento, said the Timorese people have strong feelings for justice, which they are demanding. Bishop Basilio said the population is not happy when they see that justice is partial. Regarding the issue of fault finding in Timorese politics, he said that Timor-Leste is a newly formed, democratic country and people are entitled to have their own opinion. But if people start physically fighting one another, he said, than this is no longer a democracy but savagery and it shows a lack of education. He pointed out that the negative side of the Timorese people is that no one wants to be a looser and this attitude can lead to conflict. Therefore he asks everybody to practice common sense in determining what one can and cannot do. Commenting on the general situation in the country post- UNOTIL, Bishop Basilio said Timorese people characteristically carry out activities peacefully and he sees the overall situation in Timor-Leste as stable. (STL)

January 28 & 30, 2006

PD asks Alkatiri to resign

Suara Timor Lorosae and Timor Post headlines on Saturday reported on PD's demand for Prime Minister Alkatiri's resignation. STL reported that PD's Secretary General, Mariano Sabino Lopez, said that if the Prime Minister considers the information that his party president presented to the people regarding the accusations made against Alkatiri by Oceanic Exploration "defamation" then he should no longer be in charge of this nation because he behaves like a dictator and a totalitarian and does not reflect Timor- Leste as a democratic country.

MP Francisco Branco (Fretilin) said the accusations by Partido Democratico (PD) are not new. Branco said PD keeps asking the Prime Minister to step down. He added that the accusation made by Oceanic Exploration is considered a case of defamation by Prime Minister Alkatiri and members of Parliament from Fretilin. He said that the case is currently registered in a District of Columbia Court in the United States of America but the law is not applicable to non-USA citizens. Timor Post reported Fernando Arazjo Lasama as saying that PD would continue to raise the question of the Oceanic Exploration Company until Prime Minister Alkatiri settles the case. (STL, TP)

CAVR report is a test for Indonesia

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Josi Ramos-Horta, said the CAVR report is a test for Indonesia to see whether they will accept the CVA report, which will be put together later.

"I believe there are no other options. The two States must move forward with CVA process in the interests of both Timor-Leste and Indonesia and Indonesia must be prepared to accept the report," Ramos-Horta said. He said the report of CAVR would be presented to Indonesia via its embassy in Dili. It is not necessary to be handed directly to President Susilo Bambang.

In a separate article Prime Minister Alkatiri said CAVR's report was not written by President Gusmao but by the Commission and that their opinion is an independent one. On the cancellation of the meeting between the two presidents, Alkatiri said that the meeting can always take place at a later date.

Diario Noticias also reported on Metronews that President Susilo Bambang and President Gusmao have agreed to meet in two weeks to discus ties between the two countries including the CAVR report. According to this daily, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Wirajuda, said that President Susilo Bambang respects the attitude President Gusmao exhibited when he addressed the UN Security Council and pointed out that the Commision was not part of the Government. He said that President Gusmao has shown goodwill in resolving the human rights problems via the CVA/TFC

Condoleeza Rice concern with penal code

Speaking to the media upon his arrival in Dili from New York on Saturday, President Gusmao said United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is concerned with the defamation clause of the Penal Code, which can lead to the end of democracy in Timor- Leste.

President Gusmao said Rice really appreciates the development of this nation and will continue to provide support. Gusmao also said that during his official visit, many Ambassadors had presented their concerns regarding the Penal Code, which can have ill affects on the democracy in Timor-Leste. He added that he has requested that the Security Council create a Special Political Mission following UNOTIL mandate on 20 May 2006. (DN)

Members want same leadership until 2010 Members of Fretilin in Beobe, Viqueque District have declared their trust in the leadership of Francisco Guterres "Lu'Olo" and Mari Alkatiri to hold on to the leadership until 2010. The statement was made during Fretilin district congress meeting on Saturday 28/1, where Mari Alkatiri and members of the party attended. (TP)

January 27, 2006

Indonesian reconstruction not based on reality

Prosecutor General, Longuinhos Monteiro said that 90 percent of the Indonesian reconstructed version of the shooting incident at the border is not based on reality. Monteiro said the reconstruction was based mainly on the two eyewitnesses' statements, even though they were privy to information from the Border Police as well as results from the autopsy. He disagrees with the way the reconstruction was put together by the Indonesian team, noting that their method is different from the way the expatriates/internationals have taught in Timor-Leste. The Prosecutor General said due to his disagreement on the reconstruction, the team would meet again today in Batugadi for further discussion. (Diario, TP)

Fretilin prepares for national congress

According to media reports, Francisco Guterres "Lu'Olo" will go to Lospalos District and Mari Alkatiri to Viqueque, as part of the program in preparation for the congress starting today, 27 January and will continue with visits every weekend to different districts concluding in Oecussi District and Atazro Sub-District. (Diario)

Better To use Timorese rather than Cuban teachers

MP Maria Paixco (PSD) said it is better to give intensive training to Timorese teachers who are diploma graduates to teach the Timorese rather than bring in Cuban teachers. Paixco pointed out that the Minister of Education's plan to bring in Cubans to teach the illiterate in the rural areas is not practical since the majority of that population know nothing of the Spanish language. She pointed out that it would be better to ask assistance from CPLP countries. She agrees that Cuba has the best programs to eliminate illiteracy, but it is in Spanish and not Portuguese or Tetum. (TP)

January 26, 2006

Government already identified damages

The Government has instructed the department in charge of natural disasters to prepare and respond urgently to the needs of the people who suffered severe damages to their homes and crops as a result of strong winds from a recent storm. The Minister of Solidarity, Work and Community Reinsertion, Arsenio Bano, said 240 houses were damaged during the storm in Ainaro District and the Government is waiting for more information from other areas. Bano said although there is information on damages to schools, his priority will be to assist the people whose houses were affected. (TP, STL)

Judicial system weak in processing corruption cases

Director of NGO Lalenok ba Ema Hotu (LABEH), Christopher Henry Samson, said to date, cases of corruption have not been processed in the courts because the judicial system is weak in such cases. Samson pointed out that if the court cannot function properly neither can the Provedor's Office. Although there is commitment and goodwill to fight corruption, the National Parliament must also establish legislation on both corruption and anti- corruption. He said his organization has been receiving threats for talking about corruption and he believes the same will happen to the Provedor's Office when an investigation begins on corruption. Samson added that his organisation only expresses what is based on facts but he doesn't know to whom the information should be given.

Lisbon-trained military intelligence officers get diplomas

The first 19 members of East Timor's military intelligence service received diplomas Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Defense Minister Roque Rodrigues and Portuguese Ambassador Joco Ramos Pinto. Trained in military and counter-intelligence by Portuguese instructors, the 19 officers and soldiers constitute the first personnel of Dili's fledgling Military Intelligence System (SIM).

At the ceremony, Portugal offered 20,000 USD worth of geographic data and IT systems to allow SIM to elaborate maps for military use.

The Lisbon financed and administered training course, which included Portuguese language and IT instruction, was launched in June 2004 (Lusa)

Joint investigation team begins its work

The Indonesian-Timor-Leste joint team designated to investigate the killing of three former militiamen on 6th January in Malibaka, began its work on Tuesday. The two teams reportedly met to decide on the logistics of the investigation. No deadline, however, was set for the process. (TVTL)

Fretilin doesn't need to force anyone

Reacting to PST's claim that militants of FRETILIN had forced some PST followers in Manatuto District to join FRETILIN, the party's President Francisco Guterres "Lu Olo" reportedly stated that his party does not need to force anyone to join. "Everyone has the freedom to affiliate or not to affiliate with a party," he added. Lu Olo also declared that he had not received any information about the case. (TVTL)

Emergency budget

The Government of Timor-Leste put forward a proposal for an extra budget amount of over10 million USD to deal with emergency situations.

The Minister for Planning and Finance, Madalena Boavida, told journalists that the Health Department would get the biggest share of the budget. The proposal reportedly increased the Government budget from over 130 million USD to over 140 million USD. (TVTL)

January 25, 2006

Timor does not have to tolerate everything

Following a discussion on the budget ratification for 2005/06 at the National Parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Alkatiri remarked " I would like to say again that, as the Prime Minister, I would like to maintain good ties with all nations especially our two neighbors, Australia and Indonesia, but by 'good relations' does that mean we must tolerate everything?" He said Timor-Leste would assume rightful responsibility if the joint investigation into the 6 January border incident proves this to be the case. According to media reports, the investigation between Indonesia and Timor-Leste starts today. (TP) UN flies Domingas Tefa to Oecussi

A Timorese woman has allegedly been sexually abused (raped) by a number of Indonesian National Militaries (TNI) for illegally crossing the border into Aplal in the sub-district of Miomafo, West Timor District, the media reported on Wednesday. According to reports, the United Nations provided helicopter assistance to transport Domingas Tefa, aged 27, back to Oecussi. MP Antonio da Costa Lelan told the media that he put in an urgent request to the police in Oecussi to bring Tefa to Dili to undergo an investigation to help find those responsible for the crime. (TP)

Alkatiri: I'm prepared to resign

The media reported that information is starting to circulate that some members of Fretilin are tying to create a "shadow cabinet" to replace the party's old leadership. Fretilin's Secretary General, Mari Alkatiri, reportedly said he is remaining calm because he believes these reports are only rumours. However, he said, he would be ready to step down if the party's congress decides that he should stop his functions. Alkatiri reminded members of Fretilin Central Committee (CCF) not to pay attention to any rumors that will surface from now until the elections process. He told party members during a CCF meeting that rumors were not only coming from Timorese but from foreigners as well. (TP, STL)

Indonesia should not close its eyes to the facts of history

Aderito de Jesus, Timor-Leste Human Rights Advisor for International Law, said the CAVR report is an important part of Timor-Leste history that the Government of Indonesia must respect and to which it should not close its eyes. De Jesus said the history is based on facts and everybody including the Indonesian Government must respect it. He believes that the Indonesian Government should apologize to the people of Timor-Leste, particularly to the families of victims, and acknowledge their mistakes before discussing good ties between the two nations. He said that it should not be the Timorese seeking forgiveness. Aderito de Jesus said CAVR's report which has been handed over to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan by President Gusmao and Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta, is a positive step and now it's up to the UN to make a decision based on the many recommendations. However, from his point of view, De Jesus said, the UN makes decisions very late due to the priority given to its members' political and economic interests.

De Jesus added that the democracy in Indonesia would only progress if those involved in crimes against humanity are taken to an international or national court. (TP)

Former militiamen returned to Timor

Three former militiamen captured by PNTL in Covalima were brought before the Minister of Interior, Rogerio Tiago Lobato said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the three, Minister Lobato reportedly stated that those who oppose law and violate human rights should be brought to court. One of the three, with the initials "ASM," allegedly said that he returned to Timor-Leste because he was living a hard life in Betun, West Timor. He further acknowledged that he was a member of the Laksaur militia group and violated human rights in Timor-Leste in 1999 adding that he was prepared to bear any consequence for his involvement. (TVTL)

PST condemns the militants of Fretilin

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Dili, the President of PST, Nelson Correia, stated that his party strongly condemned the attitude of some Fretilin militants who forced PST militants to become Fretilin members. Mr Correia argued that this attitude was against human rights as outlined in the RDTL's Constitution. Correia further stated that PST would call on the National Parliament, especially Commission A to investigate the case. The case referred to allegedly occurred in Cairui, Manatuto District on 26 December 2005. (TVTL)

January 24, 2006

Kofi Annan: Timor still needs UN assistance

Speaking to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that the current UN mission in Timor-Leste, UNOTIL, scheduled to end on May 20th, should be followed up with a UN Political mission. The recommendation comes as a result of Presidential and Parliamentarian elections scheduled to take place in 2007 which will require an international presence and support. (STL)

Indonesian authorities shocked by CAVR report

The President of the National Parliament, Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres, told media on Monday, that President Xanana Gusmao's presentation of the CAVR report to the UN Security Council Commission was fueled by internal policy of the Timor-Leste Government and that there's no need for the Indonesian Government to react to the CAVR report since it has nothing to do with bilateral ties between Timor-Leste's and Indonesia. (STL)

Horta on the accuracy of CAVR report

Timor-Leste's Foreign Minister, Josi Ramos Horta, reportedly confirmed the accuracy of the CAVR report which stated that 183,000 Timorese lost their lives during the Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999. The report said that Indonesians either killed or starved the population to death. Minister Horta also emphasized that the presentation of the report is not to accuse Indonesia but to help everyone understand the cloudy past and to make sure that the same tragedy is never repeated. ( STL, TP)

Eurico G: There is no militia in the border

Former militia commander, Eurico Guterres denied a statement made by T-L Foreign Minister Ramos Horta that members of the militia still exist on the border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Guterres claims that the militia groups referred to by Minister Horta were formally dissolved in 1999 in an official ceremony held in Haliwen (Atambua), West Timor at which time most of the guns brought over from Timor-Leste were handed over to the local authority. Eurico Guterres made those statements at a Press Conference held in Atambua, West Timor on Wednesday, 18 January 2006. (TP)

Josi Luis to be Fretilin Secretary-General

There are speculations among Fretilin party militants that the next Secretary-General of that party will be Josi Luis Guterres. According to information gathered by STL through Fretilin Central Committee or CCF, it was discovered that Josi Luis Guterres is one of the figures who is liked by the locals as much as the international community. (TP)

MPs react to Horta and Gusmao's statements

The assertion made by both Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta and President Xanana Gusmao that the number of Timorese (102,000) that died during the 24-year Indonesian occupation is not as crucial as the need for the event to be analysed to prevent its repetition has elicited mixed reactions within the Parliament. MP Leandro Isac (Independent) reportedly criticized the two Timorese leaders as no longer feeling the pain and suffering of the population claiming they have lost their sensitivity. "Once again I demand moral responsibility from the leadership to feel the pain of the people. If the national leadership no longer cares about the people's feelings, they should be brave enough to resign. I'm brave enough to say that they should resign if they are no longer sensitive to the people's suffering," Isac stressed.

Commenting on Ramos-Horta's statement that an international tribunal would not be feasible, Leandro Isac said the decision on an international tribunal rests with the UN, as this is the body responsible for the 1999 referendum. He hopes that the Security Council, especially Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will hold on to the fundamental principles of the UN, which have been consistent in its support of Timor-Leste.

MP Branco (Fretilin) agrees with both leaders pointing out that CAVR was an independent commission and that President Gusmao followed the procedures established by UNTAET in presenting the report to the Secretary-General. Branco added that whatever recommendation the UN Secretary-General provides, it will be based on the Security Council decision. (TP)

PSD to take Fretilin militant to court

Joco Gongalves wants to take the Head of the village of Vemasse in Baucau District, Carlos Freitas, to court for lowering his party's flag. Gongalves said he would also like to take the police officers to court, allegedly responsible for providing protection to Freitas. He criticized the actions of the Head of the village saying that he was violating the political parties' legislation currently in force in the country, which stipulates that every party is entitled to present their program, ideologies, leader's identity and party's symbol. " Every citizen from the President of the Republic to the Heads of villages and hamlets must obey this law. You are not above the law just because you are the Head of the village. We cannot create another law. This is in violation of party legislation," Joco Gongalves said. He added that prior to raising his party's flag there, he informed Freitas who refused to cooperate saying that he was in charge of that area and that he makes the decisions. Carlos Freitas reportedly told Goncalves that he did not want the PSD flag raised in that area. MP Elias Freitas said the flag was lowered because members of the party did not inform the Head of the village, and that flag raising was not part of the party clarification session program for that day [weekend]. The President of the National Parliament, Francisco Guterres, said he has not received any information yet on the case but noted that the laws also say there must be coordination between local authorities before any flag raising takes place. (TP)

January 21 & 23, 2006

Annan agrees with Timorese BPU's actions

STL reported that, in the most recent report to the Security Council on UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), Secretary General Kofi Annan brought up the 6 January border shooting incident. During the discussion, he referred to the three Indonesians killed as "infiltrators". In another report, the Secretary- General mentioned other border incidents but called this most recent one, currently under the joint investigation of Timor- Leste and Indonesian Governments, "the most serious one". Reacting to the UN Secretary-General's report, Indonesian First Political Secretary to the UN, Muhammad Anshor, described it is as an "exaggeration". Mr. Anshor was also reported as arguing that UNOTIL has drawn a partial conclusion on the incident. (STL) Horta: Timor will not recommend international tribunal

Speaking to a number of journalists in New York, T-L Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta confirmed that Timorese still disagree with the idea of the establishing an International Tribunal to try human rights perpetrators in regard to Timor-Leste. Minister Horta explained further that the establishment of international tribunal will not be practical because it will only hinder the bilateral ties of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, and that Timor-Leste is seriously trying to assist its neighbor in transitioning toward a democratic nation. (STL)

Allegations against Alkatiri and Lu Olo

Fretilin's Secretary-General, Mari Alkatiri has rejected allegations that the shooting incident on the border which led to the death of three former militia, was his and the Party President's initiative to gain popularity. According to media reports, these allegations are also a way of preventing Xanana Gusmao becoming the President of Fretilin.

Alkatiri pointed out that Gusmao is the President today because that is where he wanted to be. He said, by now, everyone must have heard that President Gusmao does not want to be a candidate for 2007 Presidential elections. In this case, Fretilin will propose a candidate for President because it has the majority of seats in Parliament and a number of qualified people. If the PM's party wins both elections, he continued, people might tend to make accusations of having a dictator in Timor-Leste. Alkatiri appealed to members of Fretilin before attending the congress to give importance to the decision-making process because the outcome will be critical, as there are national and international predictions that Fretilin will win the 2007 elections.

Timor Post and STL also reported that Fretilin's President, Francisco "Lu'Olo" Guterres appealed to members of Fretilin's Central Committee (CCF) to work and cooperate together as any decision made during the Party's congress will have a political impact not only on the Party but on the nation as well. Guterres argued that the intention of protests that occurred on 4th December 2002 was to shake Fretilin's leadership, but because the Party is based on the principles of democracy and freedom of choice, they did not succeed. He acknowledged that there have been some weakness but with courage, hope and determination, the difficulties can be overcome. Guterres said his party could win with the majority of votes in the next elections. Fretilin's congress is scheduled to take place 27-29 May 2006. Reports claim that the theme of the congress will be " Strengthening Fretilin to Consolidate the Victory". (TP)

Domingos Sarmento to be ambassador to Japan

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adalgisa Magno, told media that the Minister of Justice, Domingos Sarmento, has been nominated by the Government of Republic Democratic of Timor-Leste to represent Timor-Leste's Ambassadorial seat in Japan. Vice Minister Magno said, "it's just a matter of time" as to when Ambassador Sarmento occupies his awaiting position in Japan since both the President and the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste have approved his nomination. (STL)

Border community activates security system

Speaking at the National Parliament, MP Jose Andrade da Cruz said that the border community members have activated a security system on the border area to keep an eye out for any infiltration. MP da Cruz said that the local border community members started the initiative in response to the trauma caused over the 6 January incident and that he hopes that both Timor- Leste and Indonesia will resolve the issue soon and neutralize the border. (STL)

JSMP's annual report

The NGO Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) is reportedly concerned about the political decision made by the RDTL Government. Speaking to journalists, the Director of JSMP, Tiago Sarmento, stated that his organization's observation in the past year, and the reality of Timor Leste, show that the Government's political decision can go against justice, citing the establishment of CTF as an example. Mr Sarmento also spoke about the lack of human resources in the judicial area that affects the judicial system and could result in the pending of many court cases. (TVTL)

January 20, 2006

New coordination office to follow UNOTIL mission

A Coordination Office will succeed UNOTIL following the conclusion of the mission, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Josi Ramos-Horta told Lusa Thursday. Ramos-Horta said that the Timorese authorities continue to be interested in the presence of the United Nations for the "continuation of support to public administration and preparation for the 2007 elections". "We would prefer that [the continuation of work performed by UNOTIL] is done through a parallel office," he said noting that assistance from United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is in place in collaboration with international agencies. He added that the government of Timor-Leste is not asking for another peace mission and agrees that UNOTIL's mandate should end. According to Lusa, Prime Minister Alkatiri has already written a letter to Kofi Annan expressing Dili's position. Adding to Minister Horta's statement, the Vice President of the National Parliament, Francisco Xavier do Amaral, was quoted as saying that the UN presence in Timor-Leste is still needed due to concerns the country is currently facing. (TP, Lusa, STL)

Indonesia's FM delighted over joint investigation

Director-General of T-L Minister of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirahjuda expressed Indonesia's satisfaction with Timor-Leste's decision to form a joint investigation with Indonesia regarding the 6th January border shooting incident, Timor Post reported. Speaking before his departure to attend UN Security Council's meeting and handover CAVR's report to UN, President Xanana Gusmao was quoted as saying, "Timor-Leste and Indonesia's bilateral ties will not be disturbed by the 6th January border incident shooting". President Gusmao further confirmed the formation of the joint investigation team by both Timor-Leste and Indonesia. (TP)

All citizens can be nominate as ambassador for Malaysia

Responding to rumors circulating alleging that the President of Muslim Community, Arif Abdulla Sagran, is a candidate for Timor- Leste's Ambassador to Malaysia, PM Alkatiri said, "All the citizens of Timor-Leste have a right to be a candidate for Timor-Leste's Ambassadorial position in other countries, but all will depend on the final decision of Timor-Leste Government on whether the person is capable of upholding the task or not". When asked about his thoughts on the potential candidate, the PM remarked," If T-L Government has nominated Arif A. Sagran then he will be the Timorese diplomat to be stationed in Malaysia." Some members of Timor-Leste National Parliament also backed the nomination of Arif Abdullah Sagran. (TP, STL)

Tropical storm destroys homes, crops

Tropical cyclone "Daryl" has battered East Timor for the past week and already destroyed 200 houses and corn crops in several districts of the new nation, a Dili official said Thursday.

A source in Timor's Natural Disasters Bureau told Lusa that the worst affected region was Atauro Island, about 25 km north of Dili, and an official on the island said one village had been without electricity for four days due to storm-damaged power lines.

The category 2 storm is currently off the north coast of Australia and is expected to ease as it moves south over the weekend. (Lusa)

Opposition parties demanded UNOTIL's extension

Reacting to a statement made by Foreign Minister Ramos Horta who has reportedly sanctioned UNOTIL's impending departure, leaders of some opposition parties stated that the presence of the UN is still needed in Timor-Leste. Head of KOTA bench at the Parliament, Clementino Amaral said that the UN is still needed until the 2007 elections to guarantee democratic and peaceful elections. Meanwhile, the leader of ASDT, Francisco Xavier do Amaral, said that the situation is still not favourable for the UN to leave.

First Battalion of F-FDTL moves to Baucau: From Lospalos, TVTL reported on a ceremony marking the farewell of the First Battalion of F-FDTL from the District to Baucau as well as the inauguration of a resistance monument built by the soldiers. Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, the Commander of the First Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Falur Rate Laek, stated that the Battalion was moving because its barracks in Baucau had been renovated and ready to be used.

The ceremony was reportedly attended by the State Secretary for Coordination in Region I, Jose Maria dos Reis and the District Administrators of Baucau, Viqueque and Lautem Districts.

Australia: Treat West Papuans like Timorese

Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today called on the Federal Government to treat the newly arrived West Papuan asylum seekers in the same way as the East Timorese who fled Indonesian repression in the 1990s by letting them live in the community, not mandatory detention.

"Australia should treat the West Papuan asylum seekers like we treated the East Timorese in the 1990s, claims for asylum should be assessed while they live in the community rather than locking them up in detention," said Senator Nettle.

"These people are our neighbours and we owe a historical debt to treat them with respect and dignity. They assisted our diggers in World War II and General Douglas MacArthur had his headquarters in the West Papuan capital Jayapura during the war.

"The Government has a chance to show it has learned from recent scandals and should now implement a better approach to asylum seekers by not putting them in a detention centre. They should not be sent to Christmas Island.

"Australia has accepted West Papuan asylum seekers in the recent past and with the escalation of repression of the West Papuan independence movement by Indonesia, there is a clear case that these people need our protection.

"They've trekked across the jungle and made a dangerous sea voyage.

It is clear they are activists in the West Papuan struggle for freedom and independence. The Government should recognise this and treat these people with dignity and compassion. (www.scoop.conz - Press Release: Green Party)

January 19, 2006

CAVR recommendation sensitive: Gusmao

President Gusmao has stressed that CAVR recommendations are really sensitive because it asks for compensation from the UN Security Council for the victims of human rights violations during the Indonesian occupation.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Gusmao explained, " Sensitive in this way: I said that I'm going to address the Security Council and if I follow CAVR recommendations, I must demand to the permanent members of the Security Council that they have to compensate our victims. Then they would turn around and say, don't forget the money we have provided and the resolutions we passed for you." The President said he feels embarrassed that in the report the population demands compensation. He added that as the President and on behalf of the people of Timor-Leste, he will thank the UN Secretary General for organizing the referendum in 1999. The over 2000-page report will be presented to the UN Secretary-General on Friday, 21 January. President Gusmao also said a copy would be handed over to the Indonesian authorities. He pointed out that he will also discuss with the Security Council whether or not Timor-Leste still needs the UN mission assistance and whether the international community is willing to support the country. (TP)

Gusmao to raise safety of Timorese in Indonesia

President Gusmao reportedly said that according to plans he will meet with President Susilo Bambang Yodoyono on his return from New York to raise the issue of the two Timor-Leste students beaten in Jogjakarta by former pro-Indonesian Timorese following the shootings on the border.

In a separate article of Timor Post, Prime Minister Alkatiri appealed to the population, especially those living along the border, not to panic following the shooting incident at the border. Alkatiri said he already received the first investigation report but cannot reveal who is in the wrong.

"We cannot panic too much. It's true three people died on the border and an investigation is being conducted. Yesterday I received the first report from the investigation. We must still work together. If we are wrong, we must recognize our wrongdoing. If they [Indonesia] are wrong, they must recognize their wrongdoing," the Minister said.

Suara Timor Lorosae reported PM Alkatiri urging Timorese population not to visit West Timor for the time being.

Timor Post also reported MP from Bobonaro District, Josi de Andrade as saying that the situation at the border remains normal and there are no impediments. He said the Indonesian officers continue to carry out their tasks as they had previously, including checking documents to ensure that they are in order. Andrade is of the opinion that Indonesian authorities will not tolerate illegal activities aimed at Timorese citizens due to the ensuing process of friendship and reconciliation with Timor- Leste. (TP)

Don't consider Indonesian and Timor as enemies

Indonesian Ambassador, Ahmed Sofwan, asked Timorese population not to perceive actions taken by Indonesian citizens against Timorese in Indonesia as acts of hatred directed at Timor-Leste, reported STL. Ambassador Sofwan stressed that such conflicts occur in other parts of Indonesian, such as Poso andSulawesi among others. He added that this is a national concern throughout Indonesia and he hopes that the Timorese population will not consider this as anti Timor-Leste. The report reiterated that the Indonesian Government wants both countries to have harmonious bilateral ties and a peaceful environment on the border. (STL)

Timorese citizens guarded after entering border

The Indonesian daily, Post Kupang, reported that since the shooting incident took place on the border on 6 January, the condition of Timor-Leste and Indonesian Mota Ain transit entrance is still fragile. The report said that up to now, those who cross at the Mota Ain border transit have not been faced with any real threat but, on the other hand, there are very few who have actually crossed the border transit and those that do must be guarded once they are in the Indonesian territory. (STL)

Bishop Ratu, SVD express dissatisfaction with PNTL

Commenting on the shooting of the three Indonesians at the border, Bishop Anton Pain Ratu, SVD, expressed his dissatisfaction with the BPU (PNTL), reported Post Kupang. The Bishop said that the taking of three lives is a disrespectful act. He added that there must have been other ways of resolving the conflict other than killing the three. (STL)

Preparations for 2007 Elections Vice-Minister for State Administration, Valentim Ximenes said his Ministry has got a good start on preparations for the Presidential and Parliament Elections in 2007. Ximenes said they are working on the budget and the equipment required but the most important element is that the legislation will differ from the recent chefe suco 'village and council' elections. "As the central Government structure responsible for the elections, we are already thinking of asking for international technical assistance," Ximenes said, adding that they will contact the UN Electoral Division in New York to collaborate on developing the electoral law. He said that they are already working on gathering international assistance from Australia, Portugal, European Union and Japan to help with voter education. (TP) p16

Portugal and TL signed agreement on planning

Portugal signed an agreement worth 32.6 million USD to assist with the development of Timor-Leste for this year. The agreement was signed in Dili on Thursday by the Foreign Affairs Vice- Minister Adalgiza Magno and the President of the Portuguese Institute for Development Assistance, Ruth Albuquerque. Funds will be utilized in the areas of public security, media, justice and the Office of the President. The Annual Planning Cooperation (PAC) for 2006 will increase Portuguese participation in multilateral programs including assisting the UN Development Program with the developing of the justice system.

By mid year, Portugal and Timor-Leste will begin negotiations on the Triennial Cooperation Agreement for the period of 2007/2009. (TP, Lusa)

January 18, 2006

More PNTL to be stationed at border

The President of the National Parliament, 'Lu'Olo' Guterres said the Foreign Ministry must investigate further to find out why Timor-Leste citizens are being stopped from legally entering Atambua and then take up the issue with Indonesia. "I think we must take a cautious decision on how the Indonesian Government can reply to us regarding this border problem," Lu'Olo said. "But, we must follow the conventions and international laws that Timor-Leste, as an independent nation, has already ratified. I think Indonesia will also respect these legalities," he added. In regard to the burning of the Timor-Leste flag, Guterres commented that it is a very serious matter and that he has received information saying that the Indonesian Government is not carrying out an investigation to find out who is responsible for the act. He said Timor-Leste is waiting for an Indonesian Government-led investigation to find out what measures will be taken. Timor Post also reported in a separate article that around 275 newly- recruited police officers will be stationed at the border to strengthen security there. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, PNTL commander, Paulo Martins, praised the work of the UPF saying that although they are limited, they are enthusiastic about maintaining a secure border. Martins added that the situation at the border is back to normal and under control. Responding to reports of hold-ups of vehicles at the border by former militias, Paulo Martins suggested that the question be raised with the Indonesian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Ahmed Bey Sofwan. In a separate report, the commander of Unidade Policia Protesaun Komunitaria (Community Protection Unit Police), Joco Belo, said they have been working closely with the community which has resulted in a decrease in crime along the border. He added that his men together with the UPF have urged the population living along the border not to cross over even to herd back their animals that have strayed across the border. (TP)

Women living along the border organize security

The Head of Organizagco Popular Mulheres Timor (OPMT) for Bobonaro District, Fatima Vaz has organized a gathering of all the women living on the border in that area to participate in the popular security initiative to prevent further problems from taking place at the border. Vaz said that the idea was born out of a need to address the constant problems that occur in Bobonaro District. She added it is time for women to be active again as they had been during the 24 year struggle.

Fatima Vaz said that her initiative was especially in response to troubled areas like Atabae, where former militias frequently carry out their activities. " I ask the international and national NGOs to support the activities of the women on the border in regards to popular security," Vaz pleaded.

Timor and UNICEF launch action plan for 2006

The Government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) on Tuesday launched the Country Action Plan Program for 2006/07. The program worth 15 million USD will, for a period of two years, focus on issues such that pertain to health, nutrition, sanitation, basic education, children protection, advocacy, adolescents and prevention of HIV/AIDS, planning, monitoring and evaluation of the funds. UNICEF Director, Shui- Meng Ng and the Vice-Minister of Planning and Finance, Aicha Bassarewa, signed the agreement. Present at the event were Prime Minister Alkatiri, SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa, members of the Government, National Parliament, and the diplomatic corps. The Prime Minister told the media that the Government is certain that the program will be a success based on the experience of the last four years. He said that there now exists resources as well as political will to better the nation and that the process should start with the children. Alkatiri said that many children in Dili are working and not attending school and he urged parents to take responsibility for their children's schooling.

He emphasized that parents should have less children so that they are able to support their children's education. He also pointed out that public school is free so there is no reason for children not to attend school. The Director of UNICEF Sui Meng Ng thanked the Prime Minister for making children a priority and the main focus of development and for giving UNICEF the opportunity to work in Timor-Leste. (TP, DN)

Former Indonesian public servants entitled to benefits

The Indonesian government will pay former public servants, including police and military that contributed to the pension funds/program. Minister of Community Reinsertion, Arsenio Bano, told the media, "The process to pay former Indonesian public servants is ready and the Timor-Leste government wants to complete this process soon, but we are waiting on the Indonesian Government to sign the MoU which we already have, that's on the political level." Bano added that there are no problems paying the former public servants and as soon as the Memorandum of Understanding is signed, payment will begin in February 2006. (DNP/STL)

'Timorese losers in Australian gas deal' A deal signed last week between East Timor and Australia to share billions of dollars in revenue from Timor Sea oil and gas deposits has short-changed Asia's poorest country, a rights group said Monday.

The agreement divides revenues from the Greater Sunrise field between the two countries equally and delays finalising their maritime border for 50 years, by which time reserves may be exhausted.

The US-based East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) said international law experts believed that as the field and others covered by the deal are closer to East Timor's coast than Australia's, they should belong to the tiny nation and it should receive all revenue.

The agreement "prolongs Australia's refusal to recognise the sovereign rights of the people of Timor-Leste (East Timor)," the group charged.

"Although the government of Timor-Leste is temporarily acceding to this occupation, ETAN joins with many in Timor-Leste in the belief that the struggle for independence remains incomplete without definitive boundaries accepted by their neighbors," the group said in a statement.

East Timor has been locked in a struggle with its huge southern neighbour over the resource revenues since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

The dispute blew up when Australia insisted that a 1970s Timor Sea boundary agreed with Jakarta should remain in place after independence and refused to negotiate the dispute at the International Court of Justice.

The 1970s boundary would have given Australia two thirds of the maritime territory and 80 percent of the Sunrise field, whereas East Timor wanted the maritime boundary to be the midpoint between the two countries.

East Timor has boosted its share of the field to half under the deal "but it has given up other potentially lucrative areas being explored now or in the near future," ETAN said.

East Timor's Prime Minister, Mari Alkatari, welcomed the deal last week, saying it paved the way for East Timor to develop its own petroleum processing industry.

Oil companies which had deferred the Greater Sunrise project because of the two governments' squabbling over the boundary, said they were studying the text of the deal before resuming work on the project. (AFP, JAKARTA)

January 17, 2006

Indonesia to admit wrongdoing, Timor does not violate rights

Speaking to media after launching the opening of the Faculty of Law at Timor-Leste National University, PM Mari Alkatiri stressed that Timor-Leste's BPU did not violate any human rights during the recent border shooting incident on January 06. STL reported that BPU officers had to defend themselves because the three former militia member or Indonesians intended to kill Timor- Leste's BPU officers. Reacting to that statement, PM Alkatiri questioned journalists if it is a violation of human rights if police defend themselves in a life threatening situation. He stated that Indonesia should admit to wrongdoing if it is found to be responsible for the incident. In a separate report, the Indonesian National Broadcasting Service, Antara, quoted the spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Desra Percaya, as saying that the Indonesian government has refused to seek further international ways of addressing the recent border incident since it is completely a bilateral matter between Timor-Leste and Indonesian Government. (STL, TP, ANTARA News, TVTL)

Indonesia wants traditional border management with Timor

Following the border shooting incident, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirahjuda told media "actually, Indonesia wants to see the creation of a traditional border management with the Government of Timor-Leste to avoid the repetition of the recent incident that cost the lives of three Indonesians." Minister Wirahjuda added that the traditional border management system, including traditional border crossing, would allow the population residing along the border from both Timor-Leste and Indonesia sides to cross the border without a passport. When asked about the time frame to implement the traditional border crossing system, Minister Wirahjuda answered, "actually, it is Timor- Leste's side that is hindering the process from happening".

Minister Wirahjuda also reportedly confirmed that 97 percent of the border demarcations are under agreement. It is only a small percentage that needs to be addressed. (STL)

Parliament calls for beaten Timorese case to be handled legally

The President of Timor-Leste National Parliament, Francisco Guterres 'Lu Olo', made an appeal to the Indonesian Government to handle the case of two beaten Timorese students, according to existing law in Indonesia. 'Lu Olo' made the above appeal in response to the reports on the beating of Lino Ximenes and Egidio Thomas de Vasconcelos, by Indonesian Timorese. (TP)

Result of reconstruction shows ex-militias crossed border

Following results of the reconstruction of the border incident last Friday, Prosecutor General, Longuinhos Monteiro said the former militias crossed a long distance over the border into Timor-Leste territory. When questioned if he was aware of their intention, Longuinhos said that according to the Indonesian media report, the militia's intention was to go fishing but, he said, it's clear that this was not the case because the area where the incident took place is like a swamp. He also pointed out that the only items that were found, apart from the machete in the bag, were papaws and bananas. They did not have nets or fishing gear. He added that the investigation of the four UPF members has continued for almost one week already and that on Monday investigation of the three police eyewitnesses began. The Prosecutor General said the reconstruction is important to have an idea of how the shootings occurred and that it had been based on the four UPF members' statements and the autopsy examination, which would be evaluated by the international prosecutors. Questioned on the reaction of the Indonesian Police Liaison Officer, Minton Mariaty, who also participated in last Friday's visit to the scene, Monteiro said there was nothing to hide as SRSG Hasegawa together with 13 UN observers were present in the area of the shootings. And Timor-Leste was following the criminal procedures just like any other nation. (TP, STL)

PD is waiting for Alkatiri to take Lasama to court

MP Rui Menezes, (PD) said his party is waiting for the court proceedings on the allegation of defamation against Prime Minister Alkatiri by Fernando Lasama Arazjo. Menezes said the court procedures against the party's President by Alkatiri is not juridical as there are no laws in place within the penal code on defamation and the President of RDTL Xanana Gusmao has not yet promulgated it. Menezes reportedly said that the accuser is the company, Oceanic Exploration,which has registered the case in America, and added that "if the PM wants to enhance his sovereignty, dignity and credibility, he must take this company to the court to respond to the charges."

Timor Post reported Fernando Lasama Arazjo as saying that he is not scared of going to court to face Prime Minister Alkatiri and to learn how far the Prime Minister's political power will go. Lasama said he would not present proof, as it is the Prime Minister's obligation to present proof to the public and this nation of his innocence regarding charges by Oceanic Exploration. Lasama added that the public must know about this case and of the negotiations on the Timor Sea. (STL, TP)

National University opens faculty of law

The solemn opening of the Law lecture project in Dili was attended by diplomatic corps, members of the Government and Parliament and President Xanana Gusmao who stressed that "it is a challenge which will end up fruitfully for the Timorese society". Among the 68 students are members of the Government and MPs. The course will last 5 years. The first segment will focus mainly on the Portuguese language, the judicial culture and information tools. The project has been supported by the Portuguese cooperation programme and the Portuguese University Foundation will be responsible for all the expenses. (TP, Lusa, TVTL)

January 14 & 16, 2006

Alkatiri taking court action against opposition

Speaking to the media upon his arrival in Dili from Sydney Australia, on Friday, Prime Minister Alkatiri said " I will take the President of Partido Democratico (PD) Fernando Lasama de Arazjo to the tribunal in relation to the statements accusing me of receiving bribes from the Australian Government, and because of that I signed the agreement on the exploration of Greater Sunrise in a hurry. The PM said that he would process the case in a Dili court giving the PD President time to provide evidence of his accusation. He added that it is called "defamation," something that a few people oppose becoming a criminal act in this nation so that they can speak as they please but " I think the President of the Republic will ratify the penal code because there are no reasons not to."

In the meantime, the President of PD, Fernando Lasama confirmed by telephone that as a citizen he must obey the laws therefore " if the Prime Minister wants to take the case to the court, I'm prepared to respond," adding that the sooner the better.

In relation to the penal code, Prime Minister Alkatiri said that many overseas institutions have requested him not to ratify it but he is of the opinion that they should be concerned with their own country rather than with Timor-Leste. The Minister suggests the ratification of the proposed penal code since punishments are only lighter compared to the Indonesian penal code which calls for longer years imprisonment. "If we don't ratify this penal code then we will continue to use the Indonesian one and the penal code which Sergio de Mello decided upon will not have any power. Therefore PD's President must present the proof to the court.

Suara Timor Lorosa'e reported MP Francisco Branco (Fretilin) as saying that he does not believe that Prime Minister Alkatiri received any bribery in relation to the negotiations of the Greater Sunrise. "I believe Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri did not receive any bribe as leader of Fretilin," noting that his party never received any bribe from anywhere and this has been proved during the 24 years struggle. Branco said that if there are facts involving bribery in the negotiations of the Greater Sunrise, it should be proven rather than left up to speculation. He added that Fernando Lasama is creating political speculation as a way to win people over now that the elections 2007 are nearing, adding that people will make their voting decision on the political party that they see as defending the truth. (TP, DN, STL)

Joint teams re-examine scene of border shooting

Diario Noticia and Timor Post newspapers reported on Saturday that a team composed of Prosecutor General, Longuinhos Monteiro, UN Representative in Timor-Leste Sukehiro Hasegawa, PNTL commander Paulo Martins, Indonesian Ambassador TL Bey Sofwan travelled to the scene of the shootings on Friday to determine exactly what had happened, according to the two dailies, the four police officers re-enacted the event that led to the shooting of three former militia members. Timor Post reported Nelson Santos, the Secretary General of Foreign Ministry, as saying that the TL government is ready to start a joint investigation in order to find the truth but Indonesia has not yet replied when they want to commence with the investigation.

Meanwhile ASDT has appealed for the establishment of a joint team to investigate the incident at the border in "Malibaka" because following this incident there has been lots of misinformation, leaving the population confused. (TP, DN)

NP cannot ratify without pipeline agreement

Christopher Henry, Director of LABEH NGO, said if Woodside Oil company has not given any signs of bringing the gas pipeline to Timor-Leste, the National Parliament should refrain from ratifying the Greater Sunrise agreement. Henry said the organization is not concerned with the signing of the agreement, as it has to be ratified by the National Parliament, but most important is that the gas pipeline comes to Timor as it would provide a new generation with employment and reduce poverty in Timor-Leste. On Monday edition, Timor reported Prime Minister Alkatiri as saying that the opposition parties like PD, PSD and ASDT can start preparing to vote against the Greater Sunrise agreement because he is certain that the majority of the seats in the Parliament will vote in favour of the agreement. (TP)

'T-L is ready to explain the border shooting to UN'

Timor-Leste Ambassador to UN, Jose Luis Guterres said," T-L will be transparent on the explanation of the shooting of the three Indonesians in the border, reported STL. According to Ambassador Guterres, the incident that relates to security and bilateral ties between T-L and Indonesia has come to the attention of UN Representatives in Timor-Leste. He added, "There is probability of the inclusion of the incident in the UNOTIL report that will be presented during the UN Security Council meeting on January 23," where UNOTIL mission will also be discussed. It was noted that it was not the intention of T-L to deteriorate the bilateral ties with Indonesia.

STL also quoted Members of the National Parliament from Fretilin and PD of expressing their support to further the mission of the UN in Timor-Leste due to additional assistance required by Timor-Leste in technical areas, particularly in the administration, finance, judicial sectors as well as capacity building of PNTL and Armed Forces, F-FDTL. (STL)

Former militia presence in West Timor causes concern on border

Member of the National Parliament from ASDT, Feliciano Fatima Alves, told the media on Friday, Jan 13 that "the best solution will be to remove former militia members to the other provinces of Indonesia from West Timor, otherwise, the border of T-L and Indonesia will always be fragile." A separate headline by STL reported that two Timorese students, Lino Ximenes and Egidio Thomas Goncalves were beaten by Indonesian Timorese born in Yogya in relation with the death of three former militia members who were shot by BPU on January 06 in Malibaka River. (STL)

January 13, 2006

Gusmao discuss new UN mission and border incident

After his meeting with President Xanana Gusmao, SRSG Dr Sukehiro Hasegawa said that the President Gusmao, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the National Parliament, will soon discuss and determine whether a new mission is necessary for Timor-Leste when UNOTIL ends it mandate, Timor Post reported. He added that Timor-Leste can propose a new mission when UNOTIL mission ends in May 20th 2006. Dr Hasegawa also invited President Gusmao to make his presence in the up-coming UN Security Council on January 23. When asked about the border incident, Dr Hasegawa responded by saying, "it is the responsibility of the police not to allow people to enter Timor-Leste's territory illegally". Despite that statement, the Chief of UNOTIL made an appeal to PNTL to be more careful, but he added that "police have a right to protect themselves". Dr Hasegawa said that UNOTIL is ready to do its best to support Timor-Leste in undertaking a joint investigation with Indonesia. STL's also featured the meeting between President Gusmao and Indonesian Ambassador, Ahmed Sofwan on Thursday, January 12. The report noted that both President Gusmao and the Indonesian Ambassador shared a discussion surrounding the border incident, touching on such issues as repatriation of the two death corpses and the agreed joint investigation. Ambassador Sofwan also confirmed to media that "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hopes the incident will not disrupt bilateral ties of both countries and reconciliation process should be continued". " I hope this incident won't repeat itself in the near future", added Ambassador Sofwan. (STL)

Although deal signed, depends on ratification parliament

Timor Post reported that Democratic Party (Partido Democratico - PD), Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democratica – PSD) and Associagco Timorese Social Democratic Association (Social Democratica Timoresence - ASDT) declared jointly that despite the signing of the Agreement by both Governments on the exploration of Greater Sunrise, politically speaking, the Agreement still depends on ratification by both countries' National Parliaments. The report added that the three opposition parties, civil society and Timor-Leste National Parliament, would try to carefully understand the agreement before casting their "vote of consciousness" to say "no" in regards to the agreement ratification. (TP p1&15)

Illegal detainment of lawyers will weaken judicial system

The Timor-Leste Lawyers Association (AATL) is very disappointed with the Police Task Force and UIR regarding the arrest of the two lawyers Angelo Neves and Mario de Sousa Lay (deceased). According to the President of AATL Benevides Correia Barros, speaking at a press conference on Thursday, these unconstitutional actions do not help in establishing a strong judicial system. He said that the police actions were not based upon a court order, and this, therefore threatens the value of justice in a democratic country such as Timor-Leste. He added, that the illegal detainment of the two lawyers also threatens the lawyers' profession in general, by restricting their work. (TP)

Monteiro: Pipeline location in jeopardy

The Timor-Leste Government's ratification of the Timor Sea Accord with Australia to split the revenue from the Greater Sunrise Oil Field, without a determination of the location of the pipeline and the LNG plant in the Accord, will make it very difficult for Timor-Leste to later convince the concerned companies and the Australian Government to bring the pipeline to Timor-Leste. According to the Advisor to the President on Natural Resources, Francisco Monteiro, the pipeline issue should have been included in the Accord. The fact that the IUA, also ratified, only assigns 20 percent authority to the Timor Sea Designated Authority also means that it will be very difficult for Timor-Leste to later demand that the pipeline and the LNG Plant be located in Timor- Leste. (TP)

Fretilin prepares congress to readjust political cadres In preparation for the upcoming congress on 20 May, Fretilin is readjusting its political cadres in the districts, especially in the sub-villages, the head of Fretilin in the Parliament, Francisco Branco told the media on Thursday. Branco said the adjustment is to decide on the number of delegates to the Congress due to the high percentage of militants.

He pointed out that Baucau District hold the large number of militants with a lesser number in the Districts of Ermera and Ainaro. (TP)

Coverage on Fernando La Sama statements on PM Alkatiri

Speaking to media following the joint statement by his party with ASDT and PD, the President of Partidu Demokratiku, Fernando La Sama was reported to have accused PM Alkatiri of rushing to sign the agreement with the Australian Government due to certain undisclosed agreements with companies contracted for the exploration oil resources with alleged kick backs. (STL)

Joint declaration against signing of Greater Sunrise

Three political parties from the opposition namely Partido Democratico (PD) Partido Social Democratica (PSD) and Associagco Social Democratica Timoresence (ASDT) held a press conference on Thursday to protest the signing of the Agreement of the Greater Sunrise. According to reports, the parties made the following main points:

1. The Agreement does not serve the national interest and the people of Timor-Leste.

2. There was a lack of transparency during the negotiations from the start to the end. Information was never provide to the National Parliament as per article 107 of the Constitution (Government will answer to the President of RDTL and the National Parliament on how the internal and external policy is being executed).

3. There are concerns that the delay of "Sine dia" regarding negotiations to establish maritime boundaries between Timor-Leste and Australia will be a big disadvantage to Timor-Leste, because problems on legitimacy rights on the Exclusive Economic zone will emerge.

4. Parties demand that the government of RDTL not loose the rights of Timor-Leste zone in the Exclusive Economic zone and must insist that Australia continue to negotiate to find an urgent and fair solution to define the maritime boundaries of the Timor Sea.

5. Parties appeal to all Members of Parliament to put the national interest first rather than partisan or individual interests and to "vote with consciousness" to say "no" in regards to the agreement ratification.

6. Parties appeal to the civil society and people of Timor-Leste to publicly condemn the actions of this Government

7 Parties appeal to the Government of Australia to be just and respect the existing international treaties on rights. As a large, rich country that does not need the revenue from the Timor Gap, Australia still wants to take away the maritime resources that T-L is depending on totally to alleviate poverty and other vulnerable situations facing Timor-Leste.

8. Lastly, parties appeal to the beloved friends of Australia to convince the Government, which they've elected themselves, to respect the rights and sovereignty of Timor-Leste. And, to again help Timorese population in their fight for their rights and wealth that could free the population of the hunger, sickness and misery. (STL)

January 12, 2006

'Timor-Leste is not the culprit of recent border incident'

Speaking before his departure from Timor-Leste on his way to sign an agreement with Australian Government on the Great Sunrise exploration, PM Alkatiri told media that Timor-Leste is not the culprit in the recent border incident that cost the lives of three former militia. He said that It is the responsibility/obligation of Indonesian armed forces and the police to control those Timorese who have decided to live in Indonesia as Indonesians" the Timor Post reported. PM Alkatiri stressed that, "It is forbidden for people to enter Timor-Leste like a family garden, without any necessary documentations, to steal and kill". On a separate occasion, the Chief of PD Bench at the National Parliament, MP Mariano Sabino was reported by Timor Post stating, "the burning of Timorese flag in West Timor protest was an expression of angry former Timorese refugees because a joint investigation has not been conducted". He added that both Timor-Leste and Indonesian governments need to create a peaceful atmosphere around the border areas to enable the communities of both countries to interact. STL reported that the President of the National Parliament, Francisco Guterres alias Lu Olo, stated that an investigation will be conducted to discover who will be held accountable for the incident. (TP, STL)

Timor-Indonesia need to create peaceful border environment

"The Timor-Leste and Indonesian governments need to create an environment of peace along the border, so that the people of the two countries can interact as friends and not enemies." Head of the Democratic Party faction in the National Parliament, Mariano Sabino Lopes, told journalists on Wednesday. He said that the wish to establish a border market is one such way of fostering such friendly relations, and that border communities must support the BPU and TNI in doing so.

Meanwhile, former Timorese who are now citizens of Indonesia gathered at the border on Tuesday where two of the three corpses of those killed were returned. Some of those gathered expressed their grief and anger because one of the three, Jose Freitas (aka Mausorti) has been buried in Bobonaro, Timor-Leste upon the wishes of his parents, while other family members currently residing in West Timor preferred that he be buried there. (TP, TVTL)

Government prioritises business over national sovereignty

The Information Centre for the Timor Sea (CITT) and the Peace and Justice Commission (CJP) for Dili Diocese have expressed their opinion in a joint press conference held on Wednesday that the Timor-Leste government is prioritising commercial negotiations over and above that of national sovereignty. Related to the signing of the Timor Sea Accord between Timor-Leste and Australia, Director of CITT Cecilio Caminha Freitas said that the government is not heeding the priority given to national sovereignty as stated in the National Constitution. He also said that the Accord would create difficulties in the determination of a maritime border. (TP, TVTL) PG investigates BPU members involved in border shooting

Four members of the Border Patrol Unit involved in the recent fatal border shooting are being investigated by the Prosecution. The investigation is being directly led by the Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro, and is involving also two international prosecutors and the investigations unit of the PNTL. Monteiro told journalists on Wednesday that he would directly lead the investigation, and would require the four to undertake a 'reconstruction' of the incident. He said that he hoped that this would assist in coming to a final conclusion on the incident, and to then determine whether the case should be taken further. (STL)

Menezes on Great Sunrise agreement and corruption

The spokesperson for the Partido Democratico (PD) Rui Menezes reportedly said that although he agrees it is a good idea that PM Alkatiri has asked the United Nations to provide international experts to assist in assessing state and government institutions, the PM must, by right, make public his own assets and bank account in the country and overseas, because combating corruption "must start with the PM and his family and all members of the government" he said. Menezes added that the Timorese leadership must also have the goodwill to cooperate with the whole society to strengthen the commitment to fight against corruption. The MP said corruption is growing and the government is too weak to control and fight against it. Menezes said his party has requested many times for Timor-Leste to ratify the international convention on corruption, since there is no law on anti- corruption. (STL)

TFC/CTF will present progress report to the government

Timor-Leste TFC Co-President, Dionisio Babo, told media that TFC/CTF would present a progress report of their six months work to both Timor-Leste and Indonesian government to enable both governments to know the substance of their work as well as the approved budget, Timor Post reported. Commissioner Babo made the above statement to the media on Jan 11 at Nicolco Lobato International Airport before heading back to Bali to attend TFC/CTF's 8th meeting. It was also added that the commission could only complete the report after their planned meeting that is scheduled from 12-18 January 2006. He also reminded the press that an Indonesian delegation of CTF/TFC will be visiting Timor- Leste. Commissioner Babo declined to comment on the recent border incident on the work of the Commission of Truth and Friendship/Truth and Friendship Commission. (STL)

January 10-11, 2006

President asks boarder deaths not obstruct reconciliation

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said that President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono has asked that the investigation process on the three recent border deaths be constructive and not emotional, which could affect the reconciliation process. "This is an incident, and clearly not a policy of the Timor-Leste government. The perpetrators will be legally processed after the investigation is concluded", said Wirajuda on Monday.

According to Wirajuda, the joint investigation team will involve Indonesian police and military, in their role as border security personnel, and that there is a possibility that the Timor-Leste side will include some UN peacekeeping elements, even though the matter is a bilateral one. (STL)

Eurico Guterres criticizes border incident

Former Militia Commander Eurico Guterres has strongly criticized the fatal shooting of three former Timorese refugees by the Timor-Leste Border Patrol Unit last Friday. "Speaking on behalf of the thousands of former Timorese refugees, we strongly criticize this brutal inhumane act that has resulted in three deaths", said Guterres. He emphasized that the incident violates human rights, and must be processed according to the law. He added that the incident goes against the spirit of cooperation embodied in the joint Truth and Friendship Commission. (STL)

Timor agrees to establish joint investigation team

Timor-Leste Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jose Ramos Horta has said that Timor-Leste has agreed to establish a joint investigation team on the recent fatal border-shooting incident. Speaking to STL on Monday after the monthly Ambassadors meeting, Horta said that the government has received the formal protest letter from the Indonesian Embassy in Dili that demands that a joint investigation be held, which will be directly monitored by UNPOL and UNMO.

He voiced his annoyance with the incident, but continued to defend the BPU officers, saying that their actions were professional and in accordance with international standards of using a weapon as a last resort, in the event of threat to their own lives. (STL)

Buras urges T-L to send a protest letter over Motaain BPU post

Speaking to STL on Tuesday, MP Josi Buras of Democratic Party (PD) was quoted as saying that Timor-Leste's Government should send a letter of protest to the Government of Indonesian Republic if Timor-Leste-born Indonesian citizens attacked PNTL's Border Patrol Unit post in Mota Ain.

"If it is true as reported by Metro TV (Indonesian TV channel) that the Indonesian citizens attacked BPU post, it is necessary for Timor-Leste's Government to call upon Indonesian ambassador to ask for the clarification because such action is considered as the violation of Timor-Leste's sovereignty," Buras said. Moreover, Buras said Timor-Leste always tries to find solutions for every border problem through diplomatic channels and not through guns. Buras suspects that former militia groups still receive support from certain individuals who did not want Timor- Leste to become independent, but received promotion in ranks and position within the Indonesian government structure. Therefore, he said, they always try to support former militias to disrupt Timorese people's tranquillity of life. (STL)

Demonstrations by former pro-integration West Timor

It is reported that former members of Pro-Integration Group (PPI) demonstrated in front of Timor-Leste's General Consulate office in Kupang, West Timor on Monday to express their concerns related to the recent shooting incidents of former militia members in Maliabaka River.

During the peaceful demonstration and the dialogue between the demonstrators and Timor-Leste's General Consul Caetano S. Guterres, former militia commander, Joanico Belo questioned Timor-Leste's Government position towards the incident. When talking to the demonstrators, Guterres said that he could not explain in detail about the measures taken by Timor-Leste's Government in regards to the matter, since he himself has not received official notice from Dili. Belo expressed five points, which strongly condemned the incidents, and demanded those who were involved in the shootings to be brought to justice as proof that Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste also is the defender of human rights. (STL)

CAQR final report presented to the president

The final report data on former combatants and Falintil veterans has been presented to the President of the Republic.

Information on a total of around 39,000 former combatants, Falintil veterans and clandestine networks was collected by the Commission of Former Cadres of the Resistance (CAQR) and officially presented to President Gusmao in a ceremony on Monday.

According to reports, around 10,000 former Falintil members have not yet registered and President Gusmao urged the Commissioners, who are volunteers to urgently register them as well as identify former Falintil participation in resistance. The President also wants the former Falintil to present a structure of the armed forces from 1975-1979. Xanana Gusmao also wants members of the Commission to explain to the public the high number of people registered. (TP)

Hasegawa on commission experts and new mission after UNOTIL

Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Timor-Leste, Dr Sukehiro Hasegawa was reported by media saying that the UN will send a commission of experts on transparency and accountability to Timor-Leste soon for two weeks to assess public administration. This has been at the request of Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, Timor Post reported. The report denied recent reports that the commission of experts would be in Timor-Leste in relation to the 2007 General Elections. The commission of experts would comprise representatives from the World Bank, Finland, a country known for high standards of transparency. The daily also reported that SRSG Dr Hasegawa informed the media on recommendations by the recent UN mission, which was in Timor- Leste to evaluate preparation for 2007 General Elections.

According to the paper, the mission recommended that Timor-Leste hold Presidential and Parliamentary Elections before May 20 2007. The SRSG added that Constitution of Timor-Leste urges the establishment of an independent commission to supervise the voters' registration and voting.

He said that Timor-Leste will need a lot of resources, particularly financial and human resources to facilitate it in a manner similar to last year's Chefe de Suco and Aldeia's election. SRSG Hasegawa also said that he is in support of proportional representation but it is up to the political parties, the National Parliament and Timor-Leste Government to discuss to make policy decisions and that all political parties should be given access to media. When asked whether there will be another mission after UNOTIL ends in May 20 2006, SRSG Hasegawa replied that there could be a possibility of establishing a political office up-to 2007 General Elections, but it will all depend on the recommendation of Timor-Leste Government and the decision by UN Security Council. (TP, STL)

January 7/9, 2006

TFC to invite Wiranto to provide his account

The Truth and Friendship Commission (TFC) plans to invite ex-TNI General Wiranto to give a statement on the 1999 Crimes Against Humanity in Timor-Leste. TFC Commissioner Felicidade Guterres told TP on Friday that the TFC will be inviting Wiranto not as a suspect, as the Commission does not have any legal authority to do so, but so that he may provide information to the Commission. Guterres also said that the Indonesian members of the TFC will be visiting Timor-Leste at the end of January for one week to visit certain sites around the country, as well as to meet some political leaders so that they may discuss ideas and issues. (TP)

Indonesians protests Timor, Dili rejects allegations on incident

The Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs has sent a letter of protest to the Timor-Leste Government following the fatal shooting of three Indonesians in the border area. Speaking to the Jawa Pos, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Yuri Thamrin, said that the shooting was arbitrary, without prior warning. "We wish to remind all that shooting in the border area must not be taken lightly, as the border issue is a sensitive one", said Thamrin. He conceded that there needs to be improved communication facilities in the area so that incidents such as these can be reported adequately. He also requested that the corpses of the three deceased be returned in a proper fashion, to avoid offending family members. The three Indonesians were fatally shot by Timor-Leste police last Friday when allegedly fishing in the Malikbaka river which runs into Timor-Leste territory. Two others managed to run away. Thamrin said that he is wary of claims from the Timor-Leste side that the police were forced to shoot as the Indonesians resisted, and he also stated that Indonesia and Timor-Leste would form a joint investigation on the incident.

Dili has meanwhile rejected Indonesia's claims that the three were fishing, and that they were attacked without reason by the Timor-Leste police. A press release from the Timor-Leste Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the three were hiding in the grass, and that they made an attempt to attack the police and steal their weapons. The police officers from the Border Patrol Unit were therefore forced to respond by shooting. One of the deceased, Jose Mausorte, has since been identified as a well- known ex-milita member who was involved in an attack on a bus in Atsabe in 2002, according to the statement. The statement added that the recent heavy rains in the region means that the rivers are running very fast, and therefore it is not possible to fish.

According to the statement, the three corpses have had autopsies performed on them with assistance from the United Nations. It also stated that the government has contacted the Indonesian Ambassador to invite him to participate in the impending investigation. (TP) Hearing on Jugun Iafun is a new page for women's dignity

Speaking at the public hearing last Friday on Jugun Iafun (victims of sexual violence conducted by Japanese soldiers during Second World War) organized by Dili-based Human Rights NGO, Hak Association and Japanese NGO, Japan Coalition for East Timor, Dili Diocese Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva was quoted as saying that the forum is part of raising awareness and an act of opening a new page for the values and dignity of Timorese women.

Moreover, Bishop Ricardo said that men and women have the same dignity, and no one should destroy women's dignity since God created men and women in accordance with His image.

Bishop Rircardo took the opportunity to thank the organizers who managed to hold the public hearing. Meanwhile,a Japanese television producer declared that during the Second World War, around 100,000 women had become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. This total number, she said, is from countries that Japan invaded during the war such as China, South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast countries, including Timor-Leste. (Timor Post)

Police to investigate bomb incident in Baucau

PNTL Commander Paulo Martins told the media that police continue to investigate the Molotov bomb attack on UIR headquarters in Baucau on Christmas Eve. When questioned whether the delay in detaining those responsible is due to weak police intelligence, Martins said it is not the case, pointing out the arrest of a former militia who had been on the run and hiding but was eventually caught by the police. (TP)

Clarify it to the National Parliament before signing it

Speaking to media on January 6th, Joco Mariano Saldanha urged Timor-Leste Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to clarify some issues for the Timor-Leste National Parliament before signing agreement with Australian Government on Timor Gap's Great Sunrise in Sydney, Timor Post reported. Mr. Saldanha added that the Timor-Leste Government needs to explain to the National Parliament whether it has been confirmed that the pipeline will be channelled to Timor-Leste, since it will have both negative and positive impacts on the future of Timor-Leste.

Mr Saldanha made the above statement when asked about his analysis regarding PM Alkatiri's statement in which he stated that Timor-Leste National Parliament would be briefed soon after the signing of the agreement with the Australian government. Saldanha added that it is also up to the members of the National Parliament to question whether their involvement as the representative of the people at the National Parliament is needed! Saldanha further made an appeal to the members of the National Parliament from the opposition parties as well as civil society to voice this concern and to not let it pass due to the majority Fretilin representation at the National Parliament. Mr Saldanha, further questioned the existence of any agreements regarding the canalisation of Timor Gap pipeline to Timor-Leste. Otherwise, he suggested, that the Government of Timor-Leste include a concrete agreement and that public be informed on the matter. It was also argued that not including the discussion of maritime frontier in negotiations for an agreement by PM Alkatiri and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Ramos Horta, with the Australian Government would be a huge mistake. If the pipeline is channelled to Darwin, then the exploration which would cost around $5-6 million would only benefit Australian Northern Territory Government's economy, he contended. (TP)

January 6, 2006

Horta: Guterres should be arrested if visited Timor

Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, clarified to Jornal Nacional Diario that since Eurico Guterres is an accused on the list of Serious Crimes, he should be arrested when visiting Timor-Leste this month. Minister Horta added that neither the Timor-Leste government nor the President of the Republic should intervene with a matter of justice. He appealed to Eurico Guterres to understand his status as an accused before coming to Timor-Leste. Minister Horta also made clear that during President Gusmao's visit to Kupang last year (2005), the President did not invite Eurico Guterres to visit Timor-Leste but he did make an appeal to the Timorese pro-Indonesian leaders, who at the current time remain in West Timor, to return home so as to encourage the civilian population to follow. (JND p1&7)

General Inspector should release the names of corruptors

MP Francisco Branco emphasized that the Inspector-General's office demonstrate transparency by releasing the names to the public of those accused of corruption, Jornal Nacional Diario reported. MP Branco also appealed to the Inspector-General to make public the results of the investigation. On a separate occasion, PM Alkatiri was quoted as expressing his disbelief of corruption within his current government. (JND)

Timor still needs UN assistance despite the end of UNOTIL mission

After his weekly meeting with President Gusmao, PM Alkatiri told the media that despite the end of UNOTIL mission on May 20th 2006, Timor-Leste still needs UN assistance, particularly in regard to the up-coming general election in 2007, reported STL. The PM was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josi Ramos Horta, Minister for Natural Resources and Energy Policy, Josi Texeira. PM Alkatiri added that the up-coming election process would not be comparable to suco elections held within each district since the upcoming elections will be nationwide. Due to the lack of technical and other capabilities in T-L, UN assistance to ensure that the election run smoothly is needed. Without that assistance, some parties who loose in the elections may cause unwanted scenes. He added that in addition to that particular assistance, UN observation is also needed in the upcoming elections. (STL p1&11)

International Tribunal would cost millions but won't solve problem

President of the National Parliament, Francisco Guterres alias Lu Olo said that the demand for an establishment of an International Tribunal made by the T-L Catholic Church in a letter sent to UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will not solve any problems and will only be a waste of money, STL reported. He reminded the public that the decision would rely on the votes of the UN permanent members of the Security Council to determine whether they are in favour of the idea or not. Therefore, "it is better to leave it to UN to decide, "added Lu Olo. When asked about the Catholic Church's demand for the government's release of the CAVR's report, Lu Olo responded by referring to President Gusmao's speech in which he pleaded for authorization from the National Parliament to allow him to hand over CAVR's final report to UN Secretary-General in January. (STL, p 3)

President and PM on international support for elections, Timor Sea deal

President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri held their first weekly meeting for 2006 on Thursday at the Presidential Palace, with participation from Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jose Ramos Horta, and Vice-Minister for Oil and Gas Resources and Energy Policy, Jose Texeira. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Alkatiri confirmed that two issues were discussed at the meeting, firstly the issue of the impending closure of the UNOTIL mission on 20 May this year, and secondly that the government will sign the Timor Sea Accord with the Australian Government next week. Regarding the UNOTIL mission, the Prime Minister said that the two leaders discussed the relationship between Timor-Leste and the United Nations, and whether UN support will be necessary for the 2007 General Elections. Regarding the Timor Sea Accord, the Prime Minister commented that the Accord is very beneficial for Timor-Leste's future. (TP)

Public hearings on violations during Japanese occupation to be held

HAK Association and the Japan Coalition for East Timor (JCET) will today and tomorrow hold a public hearing on human rights violations committed during the Japanese occupation. The hearing will include participation from Timorese who suffered violations during the WWII occupation. The panel will consist of a range of public figures including religious representatives and members of Parliament. (TP)

24 ASDT members appear in court

Twenty-four members of the ASDT political party appeared in court on Wednesday accused of stashing guns, theft, and provoking trouble in Liquica District. It is reported that the local population refused to agree to the raising of the ASDT flag in their village. Some community members complained to police that the ASDT had been causing disturbances.

According to the declarations of the accused however, their intention was only to raise their flag and they did not engage in any disturbances.

Based on these declarations, the presiding judge granted release to the twenty-four.

It is also reported that the accused were detained for more than 72 hours in their holding cells before appearing in court. (TP, STL)

January 5, 2006

Gusmao: No easy process in Guterres' visit to Timor

President Xanana Gusmao has said that there is no easy process for facilitating the impending visit of ex-militia Commander Eurico Guterres to Timor-Leste. Speaking at a press conference at the Timor-Leste Consulate in Kupang on Wednesday, and accompanied by the NTT Governor Piet Tallo, the President said that the visit will require planning. Commenting on the importance of the Kupang Consulate, the President said that it is essential for the two countries to have a mechanism for dialogue, and the Consulate will provide such a mechanism as it is on the ground. He also said that although the Timor-Leste refugees in West Timor are no longer considered refugees, the door is still open for them to return home. (TP)

NMP urges Government to clarify Bayu Undan revenue

The National Mobilization Party (NMP) has urged the government to clarify to the people the revenue from the Bayu Undan oil field, with the reasoning that as this money belongs to the people, it is their right to know how much is coming in. Speaking to TP on Tuesday, NMP President Alberto Pires said that the amount of petroleum income for between December 2004 and August 2005 is as yet unclear. He requested that the President be the one to clarify this, as he has the final authority to answer to the Timorese people. (TP)

Transparent Society Institute to be established

A branch of the Transparent Society Institute, a US organization headed by George Soros, will open in Timor-Leste, in order to monitor the implementation of the Petroleum Fund Law.

Commenting on the petroleum issue, Soros told journalists on Wednesday before returning to the US that Timor-Leste's petroleum fund law is advantageous for the future of the country, as it establishes a transparent culture with a quarterly reporting system. He emphasized the importance of civil society control over the petroleum income, and he commented on the value of Oil Watch's involvement in the issue also. During his stay in Timor- Leste, Soros met with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, Minister of State, President of the National Parliament, government officials and members of civil society. (STL)

24 ASDT militants arrested

Twenty-four members of Timorese Democratic Social Association party were arrested in Liquica on January 3rd in relation to robbery and stability and security disturbance. The vice president of ASDT, Feliciano Fatima Alves confirmed the arrest but questioned the police's reason behind the arrest of 24 members. MP Alves stated that it is impossible to accuse a group of 24 people of planning a robbery. It could be that the members act in such a manner on an individual basis but not as a group. Meantime, it was also reported that the President of ASDT, Francisco Xavier Amaral has written a letter to the coordinator of ASDT in Liquica asking for further clarification on the incident. MP Alves added that if the arrest is being played to lower the credibility of ASDT, then a letter of protest would be sent to PNTL. It was also reported that PNTL and the office of the Prosecutor-General are urged to conduct a balanced and accurate investigation. (STL, TP)

The need to strengthen public communication

MP Pedro Gomes of Commission G of the National Parliament has suggested to the government to expand the national public broadcasting (RTTL) as the population in the districts still does not have access to communication through this infrastructure. "I think the government must increase the budget to the national public broadcasting in order for it to function better. Whenever we travel to the districts, the population in the majority of the districts lamented regarding public broadcasting and they ask the government to expand the radio and television network to the districts in order for them to follow developments in the country," said Gomes. He rejects the argument by the director of RTTL that the reason the radio and television is not working in the districts is due to electricity problems, adding that "I think this argument does not have a fundamental base, if the population still does not have access to information through the television because of electricity, it can be accepted but not the radio. Even in some districts where electricity operates properly, people have no access to information via the radio". The MP is of the opinion that RTTL should enter into an agreement with Timor Telecom to use the towers scattered throughout the country for broadcasting, noting that RTTL management neither has proper planning nor a program to develop public broadcasting therefore leaving people in isolation. Pedro Gomes said that according to information he received, Timor Telecom is willing to cooperate with RTTL. (STL)

China has strong interest to invest in Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste Ambassador to China, Olimpio Branco said China is interested in investing in Timor-Leste. "During my time in China, I've spoken to many Chinese entrepreneurs and they have shown interest in investing in Timor-Leste in order to achieve the development of this nation," Branco said, adding that most importantly Timor-Leste must have a secure stability. Branco also told the media that he is looking into scholarships for Timorese to study in China, as it is important to have Timorese to be proficient in languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. (STL)

Projects lack quality due to lack of transparency

Parliament Member, Fernando Diaz Gusmao told media yesterday that most of the projects that were carried out in 2005 lack quality due by fault of the Finance Ministry. He added that it was due to lack of control over the projects' qualities because of lack of transparency. MP Gusmao argued that if the projects lacked quality, it would translate into corruptions starting from processing tenders until implementation. (TP)

January 4, 2006

Lu-Olo on Greater Sunrise exploration

President of the National Parliament Francisco Guterres (Lu-Olo) has said that it is important that exploration of Greater Sunrise commence now, so that the resulting income can be used for Timor-Leste's current development. Responding to comments from some political parties that it is better to wait before exploring Greater Sunrise, Lu-Olo told TP on Tuesday that the government is standing by its rights concerning the sovereignty of the Timor Sea. He also rejected the claim that the government is only going ahead with the signing of the revenue sharing agreement so that revenue will start to flow in before the next general elections. (TP)

Questions behind death of Mario Lay of Tane Timor Advocacy

Tane Timor Advocacy has lost one of their staff members, lawyer Mario de Sousa Lay, who died suddenly at his home in Audian, Dili on Monday.

The cause of death has not yet been identified, but according to Tane Timor Director Angelo Neves, Lay was not ill at the time of his death.

However he said that his colleague suffered shock when the two were recently arrested in relation to the Timor Block Building Industry case. He was rushed to hospital at one stage due to breathing difficulty, but was then sent back to his cell. (TP)

PD, KOTA and Fretilin request draft electoral law

Political party representatives in the National Parliament including from PD, KOTA and Fretilin have requested that the Parliament quickly draft an electoral law that will guarantee the realisation of the upcoming general elections. Spokesperson for the Democratic Party Rui Menezes said that it is important that efforts are made to begin drafting the law now, so that it may then be proclaimed in 2007. He said that the drafting of the law should involve civil society and political parties, in order that the law that is produced is of excellent quality, which will in turn help to guarantee democratic and transparent elections. (TP)

Amaral: Oppositions are concerned about communist doctrine

The policy of the Timor-Leste Government to send Timorese students to study medicine in Cuba is a concern of the opposition parties at the National Parliament because it is suspected the programme has more political motif in the interest of the current government party, Fretilin, STL reported.

The daily further quoted MP Clementino dos Reis Amaral, who said that in terms of education, it is a good programme to send Timorese students to study medicine in Cuba. But, it is worrying from socio-political and cultural perspectives, and it threatens the flourishing democracy in Timor-Leste. He added that they (students) might not be forced to learn Cuba's doctrine and culture but argued that with such a large number of students it is worrying if they are all back with Cuba's culture (maybe refers to ideology) then it will be very dangerous for Timor- Leste's democracy. Meantime, MP Joco Goncalves shared the same idea by stating that it is good to see such programme that develop human resource of Timor-Leste, but question, why it should be Cuba? MP Goncalves also expressed his disappointment on Timorese students in Cuba's behaviour, who welcome PM Alkatiri in his recent visit with Fretilin's flag instead of the national one. MP Francisco Branco responded to the opposition parties' representatives at the National Parliament by asking them not to create all sorts of concepts because Cuba's scholarship also has a positive motif, and that everything is not solely about ideology.

Greater diplomacy effort required for border

Vice-Minister of Interior, Alcino Barris has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for greater diplomacy effort to resolve the border problems that has created confusion among the people living near the borderline. "I think it would be better for Indonesia and Timor-Leste to resolve the rising problems in the border between the two territories through diplomacy. Find a better solution between the two nations. After all the bilateral ties between Indonesia and Timor-Leste started to be good," Barris said. He added that there are concerns about the border and it has not been dealing directly on a case to case but through good neighboring and close diplomacy ties. The Vice- Minister also told the media that if the populations in Atabae have information that a member of the Police Reserve Unit, URP is using his gun to shoot wild deer, they should present their complaint and disciplinary action taken if investigations are correct. (STL)

January 3, 2006

Judicial sector to function better in future

The Vice-Minister for Justice Manuel Abrantes has said that for the judicial sector to function better, it is necessary to increase quality, professionalism and excellence. Speaking to the media after attending the Prime Minister's presentation on the year 2005, Abrantes said that the Ministry of Justice hopes to change the mentality of the judicial sector in terms of despotism, colonialism and money politics. As such, he hopes that the judicial sector will perform better in the future. (TP)

Gusmao's message: Political strategy to face 2006 challenges

In his end-of-year message President Gusmao has asked the people of Timor-Leste to analyse and reflect on the year just gone. Speaking from the government palace the President said that 2005 has been a year for development, particularly regarding the relationship between the leaders and the people. He thanked all the people, in particular the youth, for their behaviour in 2005, saying that they have demonstrated their civic attitude, which will aid in strengthening the democratic values that will assist the development process for 2006. The President listed the 10 political strategies planned for 2006 including: increasing the capacity of the defence and security bodies; increasing the people's understanding of development; increasing the participation of non-government organizations; to introduce the electoral law to the people so that it may become a topic of open and profound debate; to proclaim the law on ex-combatants; to step-up the fight against corruption; to strengthen national unity; to provide support to the democratic institutions; and to strengthen cooperation and friendship with friendly neighbours. (TP)

Alkatiri presents perspective on development for 2005

In closing the year 2005, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri last Friday presented his perspective on the national development process for 2005, touching on the issues of health, education, infrastructure, telecommunications, transport, roads, agriculture and others. President Gusmao, President of the National Parliament Francisco Guterres, SRSG Hasegawa as well as government officials and members of the diplomatic corps attended the presentation. (TP)

UNHCR Director on remaining 18,000 in West Timor

Even though UNHCR on 31 December 2005 officially closed its offices in West Timor, there are still approximately 18,000 Timor-Leste refugees in West Timor. UNHCR Director for Timor- Leste Alberto Xavier Carlos told the media that these people no longer carry the status of refugees. He said that it is now up to them to decide whether they want to return to Timor-Leste or become Indonesian citizens. (TP) [Compiled by UNOTIL - United Nations mission in Timor.]

Book/film reviews

New book on Timor 'inconveniently timed' for Washington

New Zealand Herald - January 13, 2006

[Joseph Nevins: A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor. Cornell University Press. Reviewed by Maire Leadbeater.]

Will the world forget the paroxysm of murderous violence that erupted when the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence on August 30, 1999?

In spite of the presence of the United Nations, East Timor in 1999 was reduced to "ground zero" before the international community finally intervened. Now that horror has been consigned to the distance while New York's September 11 "ground zero" is part of daily discourse.

This book is inconveniently timed for Washington and its allies including New Zealand. It comes just as more damning official documents have been released in Britain and the United States which pinpoint more than 24 years of Western complicity in Indonesia's East Timor crimes.

In an account described by Noam Chomsky as "searingly honest", Joseph Nevins analyses how Western nations conspired to back Indonesia and keep the East Timor issue out of the spotlight. The price paid by the East Timorese was a loss of life estimated at close to 200,000, or a third of its population, proportionally one of the worst cases of genocide since World War 11.

Nevins begins by zooming in close so we can meet some of the courageous friends he made in occupied East Timor. His visits began in 1992, not long after film of the Santa Cruz massacre was smuggled out and images of terrified and dying young people were beamed into television screens around the world.

He describes a pervasive atmosphere of fear, an "institutionalised" occupation replete with ever-present military and intelligence surveillance. But he also records the remarkable persistence and ingenuity of the clandestine resistance network.

Then he takes us to the Western architects of East Timor's tragedy.

He has distilled key information from a wide range of sources including previously classified diplomatic documents. Along with the United States, Japan, Australia and Britain, New Zealand was one of the big five that Indonesia relied on throughout the occupation.

These nations provided the military, economic and diplomatic assistance without which the invasion could not have taken place nor the occupation have persisted. While he focuses on the role of the United States Government, New Zealand was no minnow and Nevins rightly highlights the shameful role our Government played.

New Zealand failed to reveal what it knew about Indonesia's invasion preparations, helped to propagate the fiction that the East Timorese had accepted Indonesian rule and went to extraordinary lengths to exclude resistance emissary Jose Ramos Horta, who is now that nation's foreign minister.

However, perhaps the most significant message is that the violence continues in a different form. East Timor is the poorest country in Southeast Asia with a rate of infant mortality more than 14 times that of Australia and New Zealand. Yet Australia sits on vast oil reserves in the Timor Sea and refuses to allow international maritime boundary arbitration as this would be likely to endorse East Timor's claim to a larger share.

Nevins concludes with compelling ethical argument that remembering and accounting for the crimes against the East Timorese is a key to appreciating the reality of unjust power in our world.

In the early days of the occupation New Zealand officials recorded with apparent relief that there was little "public constituency" on the East Timor issue. I believe that the growth of this constituency helped to modify New Zealand's pro-Indonesia policy and restrains the Government even now from resuming military ties with Indonesia's unreformed military.

[Maire Leadbeater is a spokesperson for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee.]

Opinion & analysis

Timor is wise not to seek revenge for crimes past

The Australian Editorial - January 20, 2006

Sian Powell's exclusive report on atrocities against the people of East Timor during the 24 years of Indonesian occupation, published in The Australianyesterday, was grim reading, detailing anything up to 180,000 deaths, mainly from starvation. Drawing on the previously suppressed report of East Timor's Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, Powell reported its conclusion that the Indonesians killed and kidnapped, starved and tortured tens of thousands. Adding credence to its claims, the commission also finds fault with independence fighters, claiming members of the resistance committed crimes as well. But the overwhelming impression in the commission's report is that across the years from the 1975 occupation to the 1999 evacuation, the Indonesian army acted appallingly. For all of Indonesia's arguments that East Timor was just another province, the military treated it as a battle zone, where every civilian seemed suspect.

Nothing in the report will be news to the people of East Timor. Nor is it intended as the last word on crimes committed under the occupation. At its foundation in 2002 the commission was ordered to pass on serious criminal cases to the courts for prosecution. It is hard to imagine how the people of East Timor could accept anything else. The losses of loved ones are still recent, the wounds of occupation still raw. And even if few trials of East Timorese nationals eventuate from the commission's work, its report still serves an important purpose as a record of the long and agonising birth of the nation. But acknowledging and honouring suffering under the occupation does not mean the East Timorese can afford to be prisoners of the past and the attempt of the Dili Government to play down the report is understandable. A bare five years after their ignominious withdrawal, the Indonesians would not dare alienate world opinion by threatening the fledgling state, but East Timor is desperately poor and incapable of defending itself. Dili needs to be on good terms with Jakarta and has nothing to gain, and a great deal to lose, by denouncing Indonesia.

While President Xanana Gusmao is now in New York to present the commission's report to the UN, that it has been kept under wraps for months until now appears to indicate his attitude. Certainly East Timor's ambassador to the UN says his country is unlikely to seek the prosecution of members of the Indonesian military implicated in atrocities. And on their track record to date, the Indonesians are unlikely to pursue their own with any enthusiasm.

The foundations for this pragmatic response were established by the two countries last August with the creation of a joint commission with no power to punish anybody charged with abuses under the occupation.

None of this will be good enough for East Timorese and their Australian supporters who believe all Indonesians, and their allies, who committed crimes during the occupation should be called to account. And critics of the way the Indonesian army deals with rebels will warn it sends a signal that the international community will ignore acts of injustice, even crimes committed by members of its military. Certainly supporters of the West Papuans who landed on Cape York on Wednesday will want Australia to accept them as refugees. And so we should – if they meet the criteria that applies to all asylum-seekers. But there is no case for the Australian Government sticking its bib into Indonesia's business and accepting them as freedom fighters while we accept its long-established sovereignty over West Papua.

It is never wise to jeopardise international relations – especially between neighbours – with single-issue stances. East Timor's determination to get on with Indonesia makes the point. It is often best to acknowledge past wrongs, while leaving them unavenged.

East Timor's rich future

Sydney Morning Herald Editorial - January 16, 2006

The welcome resolution of East Timor's dispute with Australia over oil and gas revenue from the Timor Sea means about $150,000 for every man, woman and child in the recently independent nation.

The expected $15 billion to $20 billion in royalties and taxes is a dizzying windfall for a young country where more than half the population scrapes by on a couple of dollars a day. As the President, Xanana Gusmao, has often argued, the money is nothing less than East Timor's future. For the first time since the end of Indonesia's brutal occupation in 1999, the East Timorese people have a real prospect of building a stable, independent, prosperous nation. The oil and gas deal signed last week ends years of bitter wrangling which saw Australia frequently cast as the rich bully standing over its tiny, vulnerable new neighbour. With both nations due to reap substantial profits, bilateral relations should resume their rightful warmth. Australia played a leading role in East Timor's reconstruction, and the revenue dispute had jeopardised that considerable goodwill. More than a happy ending, however, the agreement is a beginning.

Resource riches are not in themselves a guarantee of prosperity. In the 1950s economists naively assumed the winners in the global resource lottery would inevitably become wealthy as they sold off their natural riches. Yet many apparently rich nations fell victim to the now familiar "resource curse". Take, for example, the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. The single generation which tasted the big money of phosphate royalties forgot how to work, squandered the cash and the phosphates ran out. Nigeria has earned $350 billion in oil revenue over four decades, but its people are worse off. Closer to home is Papua New Guinea – resources-rich, but corrupt, violent and getting poorer.

Then there are the unedifying struggles for control of the loot; civil conflict is about 50 times more likely in resources-rich nations than those with nothing to dig up and sell.

Resource income seems like free money; no one has to toil away in the fields or factories, it just gets credited to the Government's account. One of East Timor's most pressing social problems is unemployment and idleness, especially among young men – and its potential for social strife. Turning oil and gas income into productive jobs is extremely difficult, especially with an acute skill shortage after decades of war. Understandably, expectations of a better material life will soar, yet huge public spending risks distorting the local economy and leaving too little money in the bank for the future, when the oil and gas have run out. This is not to suggest East Timor's leaders are unaware of, or unprepared for, the challenge. A recent World Bank report noted East Timor has performed better than other post-conflict countries. A sound oil and gas investment fund, based on a successful Norwegian model, was made law last year.

However, the World Bank also warned official corruption is on the rise and the new administration remains shaky. If East Timor slips back into the same patterns of endemic corruption and poor governance which characterised Indonesian rule, the resource curse will have found another victim.