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East Timor News Digest 8 – August 1-31, 2008
CAN - August 27, 2008
Havana – A farewell ceremony for a group of six Cuban healthcare
service providers in East Timor was held at that country's Health
Ministry (MINSA).
MINSA's general director congratulated the group of Cubans and
acknowledged the successful two-year effort they performed in his
country – working in the most difficult places – and thanked
the Cuban government and people for that assistance.
Each of the Cuban collaborators received a certificate signed by
MINSA Minister Dr. Nelson Martins, and a tais – a traditional
garment that bares a message of love and affection towards the
person who receives it.
Sydney Morning Herald - August 27, 2008
Hamish McDonald – Xanana Gusmao has had many difficult roles in
his 62 years: as rural teacher, guerilla leader, political
prisoner, symbolic president of a raw and traumatised new nation.
His latest job could be the toughest of all: restoring progress
to a Timor-Leste whose 1 million people soon woke from long
dreamt-of independence into a grind of unemployment, poverty and
violence.
Since moving from the presidency to the hands-on job of prime
minister a year ago, Mr Gusmao has seen the setting get so much
harder, with the world oil price shooting higher than $US100 a
barrel and traded rice almost trebling in cost.
Last month his Government felt obliged to dip deep into the
petroleum fund his predecessor had set up to save Timor Sea oil
and gas revenue for the future, lifting this year's budget by 120
per cent to $US788 million with much of the increase going to
subsidies for food, fuel and building materials.
Mr Gusmao has been savaged by the opposition party Fretilin and
reportedly criticised by the World Bank for using savings to
subsidise consumption. He was also attacked for giving the job of
securing rice supplies to a former resistance comrade without
going to open tender.
In Sydney yesterday on an official visit to Australia, Mr Gusmao
said he could do nothing about oil prices, but investment in food
production was taking Timor-Leste towards rice self-sufficiency
by 2012 – if rains are good. "If next year we don't have [rain],
we have to feed our people," he said. "If nothing [adverse]
happens, we will not use the money. It is more for preventing
problems."
He is also hoping that education will head off the population
explosion threatening his country, with the current birth rate
indicating a doubling by 2020. "Fertility is a matter of
education," he said.
Two years after the violence of 2006, peace is returning to his
capital Dili, with thousands of internal refugees returning to
their homes, protection camps closed, and small businesses
reopening. "It is stable, calm, sometimes you use 'apparently
calm' – it is I believe the right word," he said.
"It is calm but it is fragile. We need to make efforts in other
sectors to give more sense of hope. Now our duty is to provide
jobs."
Some of those jobs, he hopes, will come from East Timorese taking
part in the seasonal farm labour scheme just announced for South
Pacific countries. That will not happen yet, the Prime Minister,
Kevin Rudd, made clear in their meeting this week. "Maybe by the
end of the year the Australian Government can consider the
option," Mr Gusmao said.
February 11 attack
Balibo 5 killings
Social conflicts/refugees
Justice & reconciliation
UNMIT/ISF
Human rights/law
Police/military
Opinion & analysis
East Timor media review
News & issues
East Timor acknowledges the service of Cuban experts
Gusmao looks to jobs, food, education
East Timor debates use of oil riches
The National (Abu Dhabi) - August 26, 2008
Marianne Kearney, Dili – Plans to build a massive new power station in East Timor have stirred debate over the use of the tiny and impoverished country's oil profits amid fears the government is squandering its hard-won oil and gas wealth.
The US$390 million (Dh1.43 billion) power station would be the largest project built in the country, where power blackouts are frequent and many areas lack access to the electricity grid.
But critics have objected to the plant, both because of its use of imported heavy oil, a technology mostly considered outdated in the West due to its polluting by-products, such as sulphur, and because it is to be partially funded by dipping into the country's protected oil and gas funds. This month, the opposition Fretilin Party refused to sign off on the budget because it included funding for the plant.
"We put forward a vote in parliament to eliminate funding for a heavy oil power station in favour of the government exploring renewable energy initiatives," said Jose Teixeira, an opposition spokesman and former state secretary for natural resources.
With few other resources apart from oil and gas, East Timor established one of the world's most progressive oil-fund laws, modelled on Norway's: just three per cent of its profits can be used for public spending; the rest is saved in a sovereign US- based fund that will be used for future East Timor generations.
The country enacted the law to avoid the resource curse: oil- and gas-rich countries squandering their money on expensive projects, with much of the oil profits ending up in the pockets of the elite and little of the wealth trickling down to ordinary citizens.
Jose Ramos-Horta, the president, opposition figures and donors fear the government under Xanana Gusmao, a former guerrilla fighter, plans to recklessly spend a huge portion of the oil money.
The almost $800m midyear budget is more than twice what was budgeted for the first six months of 2008. It also proposes to withdraw an additional $290m of oil funds above the level considered sustainable.
"If this continues, we fear there will be no money left for East Timor's future," said Viriato Seac, from La'o Hamutuk, a local group that monitors the government and the oil and gas industry.
Mr Ramos-Horta said he would refuse to pass the budget into law, as there was widespread objection, both at home and among such donors as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to the use of additional oil funds.
However, one day after publicly criticising the budget, he said his office accidentally signed off on it after he had left on a trip to China. He issued an apology.
The Fretilin Party has also argued that the budget, which would spend $600m in just five months, could lead to corruption.
"[There are] big increases for overseas travel for ministers, luxury four-wheel drive cars for MPs and cars for civil servants. The money will just disappear and risk the rise of both corruption and inflation," Mr Teixeira said.
The state secretary for electricity and water has vowed to push on with the electricity station, arguing East Timor desperately needs power if its economy is to grow.
"We need to deliver electricity quickly to the people," Januario da Costa said. He argued that more environmentally friendly types of stations, such the hydro-powered plant currently supplying power to eastern Timor, take too long to build. "We've been building the Iralalaro hydroelectric power station from 2003 until now, and it's still not complete," he said.
The government has argued that public spending is necessary to combat the high unemployment and social unrest plaguing much of the remote, mountainous country, since the outbreak of violence and instability in 2006.
Tens of thousands of people were displaced during the crisis, most of whom have only recently returned to their homes. East Timor also has been severely hit by rising global oil and food prices, and part of the budget will be used to subsidise the cost of basic foods. Sources within the finance ministry are particularly concerned with the large amount of money allocated for the power station, and the $240m to subsidise food and other basic necessities.
"No previous government ever spent more than $180m a year, how will they spend over $770m this year?" asked one foreign adviser in the finance ministry.
Critics also said the government may have already chosen a company to build the power station and grid, because it allowed just three weeks for international companies to put in an expression of interest.
Mr Costa denied there was any favoured tenderer and said despite the short time period, 14 multinational companies, including those from Australia and Singapore, had submitted proposals.
Mr Teixeira, the opposition spokesman, said the country needed projects that created employment and upgraded infrastructure, but said he feared the electricity station would be "a white elephant" that "squandered the country's future".
East Timor is one of Asia's poorest countries and has struggled for years to obtain the billions of dollars in revenue from its oil and gas fields.
Australia, which originally signed an agreement with former conquering power Indonesia, initially claimed it should have the right to 50 per cent of the oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea, based on an earlier deal with Jakarta. But since 2002, East Timor has argued that under current maritime laws 90 per cent of the fields would be considered within its sea boundaries.
Agence France Presse - August 26, 2008
Chris McCall, Sydney – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says he believes his country has turned the corner, and divisions in the military that triggered several years of civil unrest should not recur.
The former resistance leader and president was targeted along with President Jose Ramos-Horta earlier this year in an assassination plot led by disaffected former soldiers.
Gusmao, who escaped injury while Ramos-Horta was left fighting for his life, told AFP in an interview this week that he believed East Timor was becoming a non-violent, tolerant society.
He said he hoped it would have a bright, democratic future. But he admitted corruption, weaknesses in the legal system and the unrest of the past few years had proved major hurdles, while attracting foreign investment was an important remaining goal.
"We are solving these problems," he said in reference to the violence that erupted in 2006, forcing thousands to leave their homes.
Thousands of displaced people had now returned home, he said, and more than 20 camps had been closed.
But Gusmao said it was pointless to blame the problems of the past few years on the former Fretilin government, who led the former Portuguese colony through independence in 2002.
"The problem is not to blame. The problem is to understand the process," he said. "In five years we will not do everything also. The next government will blame us."
The famously casual former guerrilla made the comments dressed in a suit and tie at a penthouse apartment at the top of one of Sydney's most upmarket hotels, although he still found time for a quick cigarette outside. He is on a whirlwind visit of Australia and New Zealand, during which he met Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra on Monday. Rudd pledged support for Australia's northern neighbour for decades to come.
It is Gusmao's second official visit overseas since his election as prime minister last year. Previously he served as president before former prime minister Ramos-Horta and Gusmao effectively switched jobs.
Divisions within the tiny army, largely drawn from Gusmao's former subordinates in the resistance, fractured into open violence in 2006.
Asked if he thought further problems could emerge within the East Timor Defence Force, Gusmao said: "I don't believe so."
Gusmao, who led the Falintil resistance during the Indonesian occupation that ended with a violence-wracked vote for independence in 1999, pointed out that he also now holds the post of defence minister.
With oil and gas revenues now starting to flow into East Timor's state coffers from the Timor Sea, Ramos-Horta has predicted a prosperous future for the tiny country if it can remain at peace, hopes echoed by Gusmao.
Gusmao admitted he had felt frustrated in his former role as president, a largely ceremonial post where he held relatively little real power. "We saw the weaknesses of the government and that we are now going to change," he said. "We are making progress in the reform process."
The government's priority this year was legal reform, he said, and although there may be a need for minor changes to the constitution in due course, he did not foresee sweeping changes. "It needs to be revised, but not major changes," he said.
Changes to the penal code had also been implemented.
Highlighting corruption as a particular problem, Gusmao said a new anti-corruption law would be passed this year and a new anti-corruption commission established. "We had a very bad level of corruption," he said.
Asked what he thought of his current job, Gusmao admitted: "I cannot say very interesting," although he did not elaborate.
But the premier said he accepted the ennui and was committed to carrying out his duties. "I will try my best," he said.
Melbourne Age - August 22, 2008
Ben Doherty and Sarah Smiles – A new guest worker scheme, this one to bring East Timorese workers to the labour-starved Kimberley region of Western Australia, appears likely to be announced as soon as next week.
This comes as Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson faces a revolt from Nationals MPs after criticising the scheme to bring Pacific island guest workers to pick fruit in Victoria and NSW.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could unveil an identical scheme for the other side of the country when he meets East Timorese counterpart Xanana Gusmao on Monday. Mr Gusmao told The Age the question of guest workers would be high on his agenda when the two leaders met.
At the weekend, the Federal Government announced it would bring up to 2500 workers from Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea in a three-year trial to pick fruit in Victoria's Swan Hill region and NSW's Riverina.
The scheme has strong support from growers and the National Farmers Federation, which says $700 million of fruit rots every season because pickers cannot be found, as well as the backing of most of the union movement.
But the Federal Opposition has condemned it, along with indigenous leader Warren Mundine, who say fruit-picking jobs should be given to the unemployed, particularly unemployed Aborigines.
A scheme involving East Timorese workers would probably operate under similar conditions. Workers with a job offer from an approved employer in a specified area and industry could come to Australia to work for seven months out of 12.
It appears likely that East Timorese workers would be restricted to the Kimberley, and to working in horticulture, despite suggestions of labour shortages in areas such as aquaculture, tourism and hospitality.
WA has signed an agreement with East Timor, but it needs Federal Government approval.
Kevin Austin, a Dili-based development adviser with Human Securities International, said the initial proposal was for 300 employees and trainees in the first pilot year and 100 occupational trainees.
The Age believes there is widespread support for an East Timorese guest worker program from within cabinet, and among Government backbenchers.
Nationals senator Ron Boswell also backed the scheme, highlighting divisions in the Coalition. He said East Timor had crippling youth unemployment, and "the last thing we need on our doorstep is a nation where the young male population has nothing to do".
Nationals MP Kay Hull has accused Dr Nelson of being out of touch with rural electorates for attacking the program.
Dr Nelson and senior Liberal Tony Abbott think unemployed Australians should fill jobs before Islanders, and Mr Abbott has called for Aborigines to get priority.
Dr Nelson tried to play down the criticism yesterday, saying it was his role to examine "this radical change in immigration policy. "We are concerned about health checks, security checks, compliance, how do we make sure they are going to go back?"
"If Australia is prepared to bring dirt-poor people from Pacific island nations to do work Australians are unable or unwilling to do – then surely we are capable of working out some financial assistance to get Australians who are unemployed to help them do the work."
Ms Hull invited Dr Nelson to speak with growers about the "dire circumstances" in her southern NSW Riverina electorate. "They are almost on their knees through drought, and then they're expected to watch their crops rot," she said.
Victorian Nationals MP John Forrest said his electorate of Mallee had a large Aboriginal community "but we still have a shortage" of workers.
The member for Kalgoorlie, which encompasses the Kimberley, the Liberals' Barry Haase, said while the proposed "Pacific solution" had serious flaws, he supported a "properly run" guest worker scheme in his electorate.
Melbourne Age - August 5, 2008
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – An offer by a notorious Jakarta gangster to develop the site of a refugee camp in Dili has been accepted by the East Timor Government.
The Timorese-born man, Hercules Rozario Marcal, had close links to Suharto-era generals in Indonesia, including one charged by the United Nations with orchestrating the destruction of East Timor after the 1999 independence ballot.
The Timor Post has confirmed that Hercules has been given the go-ahead to build a mini-mart and swimming pool on the site opposite Dili's main wharf. The Government had not made public who was behind the development or what it would cost.
Investigators have established that Hercules had contact with, and may have met, rebel leader Alfredo Reinado just days before Reinado led the February 11 attacks on President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
Reinado's mobile telephone had a listing for "Hercul". Two rebels involved in the attacks were arrested at Hercules' Jakarta residence in April. Hercules has denied any involvement in the attacks.
He gained notoriety in Jakarta in the 1990s doe running protection rackets. His gang also served as enforcers for the Soeharto regime, intimidating dissidents and East Timorese independence activists.
His military patrons were reputed to include former general Parbowo Subianto, Suharto's son-in-law. At one stage he lived in the house of major-general Zacky Anwar Makarim, who in 2003 was indicted by a UN war crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity.
Hercules told Timorese journalists in January he was looking at investing in hotels and real estate in East Timor.
East Timor's Office of Prosecutor-General has not yet made public the findings of its investigation into the February 11 attacks.
| February 11 attack |
The Australian - August 22, 2008
Paul Toohey – A secret recording of the last meeting between East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado reveals that the two men had run out of ways to end a stalemate that had held the country moribund for almost two years.
The recording, obtained by The Australian, was made by Reinado on January 13 on a small digital recorder hidden in his top pocket at a meeting in the western hilltop town of Maubisse. Just before Reinado died, he handed it to a friend for safekeeping.
Reinado was gunned down at almost point-blank range inside Ramos Horta's villa on February 11, while the President survived after being shot twice, apparently by Reinado's rebels. The rebels say Reinado told them he had a 6am appointment with Ramos Horta and point out they dawdled on the way to Dili, stopping in places to kill time to arrive at the appointed hour.
Although no one suggests Ramos Horta made the appointment, the January meeting reveals how frustrated he and senior government figures had become with Reinado. It is possible that Reinado, who was relying on Ramos Horta to solve his problems, lost patience and stormed Ramos Horta's villa.
An alternative theory is that Reinado had been falsely informed the President wanted to see him and was set up for his death by powerbrokers who sought his elimination.
Ramos Horta had warned Reinado that if an agreement was not reached on that day, then "there are no more other opportunities. If the President of the republic has come and a solution is not found, then what other solution is there? These are my words."
Four men attended the meeting: Ramos Horta, Economy and Development Minister Joao Goncalves, Reinado and Reinado's second-in-command Gastao Salsinha, who is now in jail.
Waiting outside was Major Mike Stone of the Australian Defence Force, now assigned to Ramos Horta's staff; and Reinado's lawyer, Benevides Correia Barros.
The meeting was a failed final attempt to end a two-year impasse that plunged the country into civil strife after about 600 soldiers from western Timor deserted and fled to the hills, claiming the army leadership was favouring soldiers from the east for promotion.
Reinado eventually joined the petitioners, but his case was different: the courts had issued an arrest warrant for him on murder charges, after he had engaged in a deadly firefight with the army in 2006.
Ramos Horta went to the meeting believing that the group acting as mediators between him and Reinado, the Movement for National Unity and Justice (MUNJ), had secured a commitment from the rebel to surrender weapons he had unlawfully seized from border police in early 2007.
Ramos Horta discovered that Reinado had made no such promise. The rebel argued he had shown good faith in 2006 by surrendering his weapons to then president Xanana Gusmao. He said Gusmao had promised that the surrender was just a formality intended to restore public faith and that he would get his weapons back. Reinado told Ramos Horta that Gusmao had betrayed him by not returning the weapons, and this led him to raid the border posts to obtain guns.
Ramos Horta regarded the surrender of weapons as essential for him to offer Reinado a guarantee of amnesty in the context of the murder charges.
"You told MUNJ you accepted the solution of compromise that I have presented," the President said.
Reinado said: "I have the right, as military, to protect myself."
Ramos Horta, angrily: "We have spoken of this many times, major."
Reinado: "And I have never changed my position, Mr President."
Ramos Horta reminded Reinado that he, not Reinado, was supreme commander of the army. "The command does some things wrong but there is in no country or any state which, after such efforts, would accept your attitude," he said.
"Many opportunities have been given to you. Many opportunities. I have said many times already that during these months that good, positive behaviour will help to stabilise the situation.
"Many people don't understand; many suspect that I would also support you from behind. I don't. I only look to do dialogue and dialogue and dialogue. I try to look at the problems from each side.
"However, major Alfredo Reinado, the moment has come that we must go forward, meet each other, to bow to each other, because the reason is not 100 per cent on your side or 100 per cent on the side of the Government or FFDTL (the Timorese defence force). If you want to show the community that we can find solutions for the problem and show that only you are right, then there is no solution."
The recording adds force to the argument that Reinado's lover, Angelita Pires, who has been accused of being Reinado's puppeteer, was not as influential as has been claimed. Pires was not at the meeting and Reinado's stubbornness is clearly of his own making.
Reinado had earlier written to the President saying he was prepared to be placed under house arrest in Dili, with a New Zealand guard, while awaiting his trial in a military court. (Timor has no such court.) He no longer trusted Australian troops because he felt they were encroaching on his turf.
The President said it would be better if Reinado stayed out of Dili and that he would have to surrender to the authorities for house arrest while awaiting trial. But "that is only a formality", he added. He said he would use "indirect pressure" to persuade the prosecutor-general to allow Reinado to remain free while awaiting trial.
However, Ramos Horta warned that he had no power over the courts, even though he had infuriated them by ignoring the warrants and issuing freedom-of-movement letters that ordered the security forces not to arrest Reinado. Ramos Horta said an amnesty law would be passed on May 20 that could lead to his freedom. But Reinado was aware the President had no legislative power and could guarantee no such outcome.
Salsinha insisted he and the petitioners were still serving members of the army. However, Salsinha and his men had been sacked in early 2006 and Ramos Horta made it clear that the army's head, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, did not want them back. "Taur says we will not accept them to come back because we already sacked them," the President told the rebels. He said he would return to Dili and try to persuade Matan Ruak that the soldiers could reapply to join the army or be paid out to go away.
Reinado retorted that all serving members of the military – not just the rebels – should be put through a triaging process to reapply for the military and to prove their worth. He challenged serving soldiers to a physical test to see who was better.
Ramos Horta was contemptuous of Salsinha and did not address him by his rank. He took a different view of Reinado, regarding him as a serving officer who needed to face justice.
In a strange aside, the President said to Reinado: "While we are in this process, I ask yourselves to please keep an eye. I heard that from the border the Indonesians are bringing weapons in."
Reinado agreed this was the case and asked the President to give him the authority to raise a battalion to protect the border. Ramos Horta did not respond.
The meeting ended after one more attempt by Ramos Horta to persuade Reinado to surrender his weapons. "No, Mr President," Reinado responded. "It's like this. I also have the right to protect myself."
Ramos Horta made a half-hearted suggestion that they meet again in a few days, but no date was set. It appears as though Ramos Horta had given up on Reinado. The two men never saw each other again.
Goncalves told a reporter after the shootings that Reinado had agreed to surrender and submit to justice on January 13. "He agreed. A deal was essentially done," Goncalves was reported as saying. That clearly was not the case.
Three days after the meeting, Leon de Riedmatten from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue wrote to Reinado on behalf of Ramos Horta, informing him that the military was reluctant to reintegrate the petitioners into the army but reassuring him that he would remain free and that no military operation would be conducted against him.
Gusmao, the East Timorese army, the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force and the courts had all tired of Reinado and regarded him as a common criminal.
Ramos Horta, the Nobel peace laureate, was the only one who saw hope.
The President was the only one Reinado would listen to. But after two years of Reinado demanding justice but refusing to face the courts, it is clear that Ramos Horta, too, was running out of patience.
De Riedmatten told Reinado the President had to travel overseas in January and would not be able to meet him that month. He promised that Ramos Horta would meet him again "before the middle of February". However, the President made further plans to travel overseas in mid-February and again cancelled the meeting with Reinado.
On February 6, Australian troops entered Reinado's hilltop zone, which led to a three-hour stand-off, with the rebels firing shots in the air. It is possible that Reinado thought he was close to being arrested and that his one hope in the world, Ramos Horta, had left him for dead.
BBC News Online - August 21, 2008
Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – The UN in East Timor has rejected claims by the country's president that it was slow to act in the aftermath of his shooting earlier this year.
President Ramos-Horta said that international forces had not moved quickly enough to give him medical aid, and to arrest the perpetrators. But in a confidential report the UN says its response was swift.
Attacks by rebel soldiers in the capital in February left Mr Ramos-Horta seriously wounded. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao – also attacked – escaped unharmed.
Crucial aid
The report, a leaked copy of which was seen by the BBC, will not be easy reading for East Timor's government. It admits that better communications could have got international police to the president sooner – but only by four minutes, which it says would not have had any real impact.
What was crucial, it says, was the decision to send a nurse with the police. The nurse gave Mr Ramos-Horta emergency medical aid as he was lying on the ground – aid which the report suggests may have been critical in saving his life.
There were wider gaps, the UN says, in its response to the second attack on the prime minister: problems reaching his residence, arranging safe evacuation for his family, and securing the crime scenes.
But the most striking flaws it highlights are those in the Timorese forces.
The report says all but four of the soldiers guarding the president's compound deserted their posts when the rebels arrived. Dili's police force never responded when it was asked to send units.
And the president himself had only two bodyguards with him on his walk that morning – soldiers armed with a single pistol who let him back into the compound while there was shooting.
The UN also denies international forces were slow in pursing those responsible for the attacks. Capturing the rebels, it says, was not a priority for the Timorese government itself. Instead it says the government focused on securing the city and delayed pursing the perpetrators until two days after the shootings.
The government's accusations put the UN in an awkward position. And the president has reacted angrily to the report in turn.
The attacks were the most critical episode to face Timor for two years, and the behaviour of its security forces is already a sensitive topic. There is no hiding the fact they do not come off well in the UN's account of what happened.
Melbourne Age - August 19, 2008
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Evidence has emerged that challenges the belief that East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta was shot by a member of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado's gang.
Investigators now believe the shooter was wearing a different uniform from that of Reinado's men – a uniform gang members used to wear, The Age has learnt.
The revelation will fuel fresh speculation in Dili that Reinado was lured to Mr Ramos Horta's house, where gunmen were waiting.
Mario Carrascalao, a key member of East Timor's ruling coalition, said yesterday that more than six months after the attacks "we still don't know what happened". "For me, all the stories that have been told here – I don't trust them," he said.
Mr Carrascalao called for the immediate release of a prosecutor- general's report into the attacks and the establishment of an independent inquiry into "what happened and more importantly why it happened".
Fretilin, the main opposition party, has made similar demands.
"We can't put aside the possibility that Alfredo was set up," said Mr Carrascalao, head of the Social Democrat Party.
A post-mortem report released last week showed that Reinado and one of his men were shot dead at close range inside Mr Ramos Horta's house compound, which led to speculation in Dili that they were executed.
For months after the attacks, Timorese were led to believe that Marcelo Caetano, one of Reinado's men, shot Mr Ramos Horta twice at the front gate of the President's home. But Mr Ramos Horta realised that Caetano was not the gunman when he met him in Dili after the rebel had surrendered in April.
Caetano, who is in jail in Dili with 21 other rebels, has admitted he was at Mr Ramos Horta's house but denied he shot the President.
Other rebels have signed statements claiming that Reinado told them he was taking them to Dili for a pre-arranged meeting with Mr Ramos Horta, who knew nothing about it and was taking his morning walk when the rebel group arrived at his house on February 11.
Mr Ramos Horta was wounded when he hurried back to the house after hearing shots. He spent two months recovering at Royal Darwin Hospital after life-saving surgery.
Mr Carrascalao, an Indonesia-era governor and one of East Timor's most powerful politicians, said he did not believe that Reinado would have gone to Mr Ramos Horta's house to kill him or harm him.
"It makes no sense, the President was the one person who was trying to save Alfredo," he said.
Mr Carrascalao said an independent inquiry, which is being resisted by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, should be conducted by Timorese with the support of international technical advisers.
The Australian - August 18, 2008
Paul Toohey – Inside the Hotel Becora, as they call Dili's prison, some of the 22 men who face spending the rest of their lives behind bars for the attempted murders of East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao are starting to talk.
The Australian has obtained the first accounts from rebels inside Becora. None of them admits to shooting the President, even though Mr Ramos Horta had identified Marcelo Caeteno as his attacker.
The rebels, who spent weeks on the run before surrendering, had plenty of time to work on their story. Because they are all condemned by the deed, they all deny it. They admit one group went to the President's compound and another went to the Prime Minister's house but say, no, they never shot nor ambushed anyone.
Many East Timorese believe the whole thing was a set-up; that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was invited down to Dili to be killed, to end the two-year stand-off in which he and his rebel band remained armed and roaming the hills in the country's west.
The Australian revealed last week that autopsy reports showed Reinado and fellow rebel Leopoldino Exposto were shot dead at almost point-blank range inside Mr Ramos Horta's villa. The shootings had the hallmarks of executions, causing the main opposition party, Fretilin, to demand an international investigation into the events of February 11.
"What The Australian has reported reinforces our calls," Fretilin MP Jose Teixeira said. "It cannot be ignored any longer."
If the authorities have anything to hide, so do the rebels, who are protecting themselves and a hazy political group called MUNJ, or the Movement for National Unity and Justice, whose members spent the day before the shootings with the rebels and had supplied vehicles that were used to drive down to Dili.
On that morning, Reinado's second-in-command, Lieutenant Gastao Salsinha, positioned a second group of men in ambush below the Prime Minister's house. Some of Salsinha's group have admitted to firing shots in the air, but none has confessed to firing into Mr Gusmao's vehicle, which was reportedly hit by six bullets fired from four directions.
The rebels were part of a larger group of about 600 Western-born soldiers or military police who abandoned barracks in early 2006, claiming there was discrimination in the army leading to eastern-born soldiers being favoured for promotions. The dispute took the country close to civil war.
The interviews with the rebels inside Becora, conducted by someone who must remain anonymous, are with key rebels Amaro Suarez da Costa, better known as Susar, and Gilberto Suni Mota, and Egidio Lay, who were part of the group that went to Mr Ramos Horta's home.
Susar was the first rebel to surrender after 19 days on the run. He says he was sleeping in a shack a few kilometres away from Reinado's mountain hideaway at Luala, in the western district of Ermera, when Reinado woke him at 3.30am.
"Suddenly, the major, he came to get me in my house," Susar says. "He just said to me, 'We're going to Dili. The President called us to talk'."
Twelve men went with Reinado in two cars, while 10 were with Salsinha in another two cars.
Susar says: "When we left Luala we drove really slow, because the meeting was at 6am. The idea was for us to go there, meet at 6am, talk, talk, talk, then go back to Ermera."
Susar says Reinado stalled for time so as not to be too early to the meeting. Upon arrival, at 6am, they found two guards at the President's gate.
"When we got out of the vehicle, (guard) Kelimut started to arm his weapon," Susar says. "I started to think: 'What's going on? We came to meet the President and the security is acting in this manner.' So the major said: 'Calm down, calm down'. Major said: '(Where's) The President?'
"Kelimut said: 'Oh, the President's gone to exercise'."
Susar says he stood by the gate, apparently preventing those guards from raising the alarm while Reinado, Leopoldino, Lay and Suni Mota went in.
Susar claims the men were not wearing balaclavas, which is at odds with the accounts of the presidential guard.
Susar admits that two of the rebels – he does not say who – returned from inside the compound having taken a machinegun and an automatic rifle from apparently sleeping guards.
Susar says he never stepped inside the compound. "No. I didn't even ... go slightly in. My weapon, it was pointed down. We didn't go for a shootout. If we went there for a shootout, obviously I wouldn't come."
It was not until Susar heard shots that he loaded his weapon.
So how many minutes from when you arrived at the gate till when you heard the shots, from when the car parked till the major died, he is asked.
"Five minutes, maybe less," he says. "It didn't even get to five minutes. I can tell you it was really fast."
Was there an exchange of fire after Reinado was shot? "We never shot at anybody," Susar says. "We retreated. I only shot up, as warning shots. Because if we just waited there, the Australian forces and the tanks would've closed all the ways. We didn't go there to shoot. I had to shoot up, to warn the boys to get out. They were shooting at us."
Did he see Ramos Horta returning? "I didn't even see his holy spirit. Never," Susar says.
Susar says he cannot explain how the tragedy happened. "I don't know," he says. "It was the major. We came because of him. And then he died."
Suni Mota's and Lay's accounts of the morning of the shootings are similar: they say Reinado was shot inside the President's home, after which they ran like crazy, not looking back. They say they don't know who shot the President.
Suni Mota and Lay were with Reinado on February 10. Both men insist no MUNJ representative was with Reinado the day before the attacks. They focus on a visit from Reinado's lover, Australian- East Timorese citizen Angelita Pires, who has been blamed by Mr Ramos Horta and the prosecutor-general for influencing the events of February 11.
Ms Pires brought four people with her to Reinado's on the day before the shooting: her Australian-Timorese friends, Teresa and Victor de Sousa, and their small son; and an older woman, Eliza Morato, who had arrived from Australia with greetings for Reinado from his relatives.
Ms Morato took photos of Reinado and his group, which now form part of the investigation case. When shown one of Ms Morato's photos, both Suni Mota and Lay identify a MUNJ representative, Cancio Pereira, standing with Reinado and the rebels.
MUNJ had acted as the negotiator between Reinado and Mr Ramos Horta, who was attempting to solve the standoff. MUNJ was pro- Reinado, and on January 7, resigned from a taskforce set up to deal with Reinado, claiming the Government was not showing sufficient will to end the crisis.
As the interviews reveal, MUNJ was indeed there, which raises questions as to whether it played a role in influencing Reinado to go to Dili.
No MUNJ member has been charged over the shootings, though Mr Pereira and fellow MUNJ member Lucas Soares have been questioned and have had their passports confiscated. MUNJ co-ordinator Augusto Junior Trinidade declined to speak to The Australian.
ABC News Online - August 15, 2008
East Timor's main opposition party, Fretilin, is calling for an independent international investigation into the assassination attempt on the country's leadership in February.
The call comes after the autopsy report of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado indicated that he was executed rather than shot from a distance by security forces during the presidential assassination attempt.
The report obtained by The Australian newspaper shows Reinado and one of his top rebels were shot at point blank range.
Senior Fretilin MP Jose Texeira told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program there were more questions than answers surrounding the events of February 11.
He said there should be an international panel investigating the attack on East Timor's President and Prime Minister.
"We need an international investigation in order to overcome all of these questions of impartiality of all those involved in an investigation," he said.
"I think people are looking forward to justice and a credible process to take its course, and I think that for allegations as startling as this to come out is a concern to us all.
"The Parliament has provided an indicator to the Government that it should be an international investigation.
"As long as political leaders figures maintain level heads and insist on a transparent and independent investigation I think that could minimise any political tensions."
The Australian - August 13, 2008
Paul Toohey – Questions have been raised as to whether rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was lured down from the mountains of East Timor to be executed after it emerged he was shot dead at almost point-blank range inside the home of President Jose Ramos Horta.
The Australian has obtained the autopsy reports for Reinado and fellow rebel Leopoldino Exposto, who died at Reinado's side.
Exposto was shot once in the direct centre of the back of his head at "close range", typical of an execution-style killing. The skin around Reinado's four entry wounds – to the eye, the neck, the chest and the hand – all featured significant burning and blackening.
David Ranson, of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, said it was well-established across the forensic world that gunshot wounds that featured burning and blackening came from rifles discharged at point-blank or "near-contact" range: less than 30cm.
"Blackening is a critical issue to gunshot wounds," Professor Ranson said. "The ballistic textbooks are very clear on this. Burning and blackening is a feature of very close-range shots, probably from less than a foot away. If you see burning and soot-type burning, it indicates that the barrel of the gun was very close to the skin's surface."
Burning comes from close-range muzzle flash. The blackening, or tattooing, comes from gunpowder.
The public version to date is that Reinado, a 42-year-old Australian-trained major who had led a year-long mutiny, and Exposto were caught unaware as they entered the presidential compound on February 11 and were shot by a guard from a distance of at least 10 to 15 metres away.
Mr Ramos Horta suffered gunshot wounds when he was caught in gunfire as he returned to the compound from his morning walk, and one of his guards was killed. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped a separate attack on his convoy as it took him from his home to his office.
But the official version of events has been clouded by the findings of forensic pathologist Muhammad Nurul Islam, who conducted the autopsies.
He writes that Exposto and Reinado were killed "at close range" with a high-velocity rifle. Dr Nurul notes that all Reinado's wounds featured "blackening/burning" especially so in his left eye, where the discolouration covers an unusually sizeable 10cm x 9cm area, which could indicate a point-blank shot.
Despite some reports that Reinado was either drunk or on drugs, Dr Nurul said there were no toxicological testing facilities at the Dili morgue and that question would never be answered.
Mr Ramos Horta has maintained Reinado was an uninvited guest that day and this was an act of aggression.
What is certain is that the events inside the villa that morning are not as clear as previously presented, and may have involved Reinado and Exposto either walking into a trap or being held at close quarters before being shot.
One of Reinado's wounds was to his left hand, suggesting he may have raised it in a defensive gesture knowing he was about to be shot.
The close-range shooting opinion is strongly reinforced by the burning and blackening that appeared on Reinado's chest wound, despite the fact he was shot through a thick ammunition vest.
Reinado and Exposto were shot with a high-powered AR-15 semi- automatic Armalite weapon, or weapons, as issued to the presidential guard.
Accounts from inside Dili jail from Reinado's rebels, obtained by The Australian, have it that Reinado went to Dili for an early- morning appointment with the President. Reinado's men maintain they had no plan to attack the President but their interviews are riddled with inconsistencies.
Australian Associated Press - August 13, 2008
Stephanie March, Dili – Six months ago Victor Alvez's voice rang out through radios and televisions, appealing for peace and calm from the people of East Timor.
He had just buried his son-in-law, Alfredo Reinado, in the front yard of a home down Dili's back streets, next to the body of Leopoldinio Exposto, who was also shot and killed at the home of President Jose Ramos Horta by military guards.
His calls were prompted by fears of a violent backlash by supporters of the former soldier turned fugitive rebel. To many people's surprise, the streets of Dili remained calm.
Today, down that dusty backstreet, the sun filters through the vines covering an archway over the two graves, lighting up the dozens of bright plastic flowers left by family and friends over the past week.
The streets of Dili may have remained quiet over the past six months, but Victor Alvez's life is far from peaceful.
"I am so sad; I will never stop thinking of him," he said. "It's the same for his friends and family – even after six months these feelings remain so strongly."
Alvez has always professed his son-in-law's innocence against allegations he had plotted to kill or kidnap the president.
His spirits have been lifted by a report in The Australian newspaper that top forensic scientists say it was possible Reinado was executed at close range, confirming suspicions he was lured down from his mountain hideout to the president's home.
"If he wanted to kill Horta, he could have done that on February in Maliana when they had a meeting, why he not kill him there?," Alvez said.
"He is trained military; it is easy for him to kill. If he went there to kill people all of Horta's guards would be dead."
Alvez says he has been receiving anonymous phone calls from people who say they witnessed the shooting, and who also believe Reinado was lured into a trap.
But despite the ongoing criminal investigation into the events of February 11, he has little faith that those behind the incident will ever be brought to justice. "We really do not know yet who was behind it, but I know it's because of the politics."
He is not the only one who is having doubts about the investigation. A detailed report into the shooting by the UN is complete but unreleased, while the criminal investigation by the prosecutor-general has run overtime and is being seriously questioned in Dili.
The UN had refused to release the report into events immediately following the shootings, so as not to interfere with the criminal investigation.
Charged with leading that investigation is prosecutor-general Longuinhos Monteiro, whose credibility is in serious doubt. A UN report into the violence of 2006 said Monteiro followed blindly the policy of the president who appointed him, Xanana Gusmao, and as a result he did not "function independently from the state of East Timor."
"The man in charge – the prosecutor-general – has already in our eyes proved himself to be anything but politically impartial," said opposition Fretilin MP Jose Teixeira.
Despite the expertise of dozens of international investigators carrying out the prosecutor general's orders, the chance of uncovering what really happened may have already be lost.
There have been allegations Reinado was high on drugs and had been drinking the night before was killed, but sources close to the investigation say toxicological tests may not have been done during the autopsies.
Alvez says his son-in-law was a person who "doesn't like to drink a lot of alcohol," and would only do so if it were culturally necessary on certain social occasions.
A leaked UN report found the National Investigation Department has encountered "political and military interference" as well as a lack of cooperation. Poor handling of evidence – including the weapons used by the rebels – has also botched the investigation.
A source close to the investigation said the F-FDTL soldiers guarding the president's home took Reinado's cell phone off his body, and continued to receive and make calls for days after his death, before handing them over to investigators.
"They could (also) have deleted some numbers, some messages, we don't know," the source told AAP.
The F-FDTL refused to respond to these allegations, and neither the UN report or those involved in the investigation can say if their actions were the result of malfeasance, or innocent mistakes.
While Alvez's heart aches for his lost son-in-law, and has little hope his name will ever be cleared, he himself is steadfast that Reinado was nothing more than an innocent victim of politics.
"My heart says that is not true, but if the decision comes out saying he is guilty, maybe that is the justice in this world, but for me the decision will be made by God and I hope he will give justice."
| Balibo 5 killings |
Agence France Presse - August 1, 2008
Filmmakers have recreated scenes of chaos in the heart of East Timor's sleepy capital, blocking streets and sending up plumes of smoke for Balibo – an Australian movie about Indonesia's bloody 1975 invasion.
Between 60 and 70 locals took part and 30 East Timorese soldiers dressed as Indonesian troops holding fake rifles for the shoot, United Nations (UN) police say.
Dili residents were given advance warning of the filming to avoid traffic chaos and distress in a city where the wounds of Indonesia's 24-year occupation are still raw.
Dominga Martins, a 57-year-old Dili resident who acts as an extra in the movie, says the filming has brought back painful memories of Indonesian troops storming into the city when she was a young woman.
"Being involved in this film about 75 made me so sad. I cried because I lost many in my family – my mother, my father, my brothers and sisters," Martins said. "This film really is a lot like when the soldiers landed in East Timor, which killed so many people, including Indonesian soldiers," she said.
Domingos Amaral, a 48-year-old who watched the filming, says the movie appears to be an accurate portrayal of the invasion by Indonesian amphibious and parachute troops.
"They came from the bodies of planes like horses' droppings and at the time we didn't know our fate – whether we would live or die," he said.
The film, which is also being shot in Darwin, explores the alleged 1975 murder of five Australia-based journalists by Indonesian troops in the East Timorese town of Balibo.
An inquest last year found the five were murdered to prevent them exposing the invasion, but Indonesia maintains they were accidentally killed in crossfire.
The killings remain a bone of contention between Australia and Indonesia. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Jakarta has called on the filmmakers to include "Indonesia's point of view".
Balibo is being directed by Robert Connolly and stars Australian-born Hollywood-based actor Anthony LaPaglia.
"I think this is a very important story – not so much because it is about the Balibo five, but also it is about the issues of East Timor; the kind of things that happened here," LaPaglia said.
"I think it is important because I live in the USA and nobody there knows about Timor at all," he said.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, gained formal independence in 2002 after a 24-year Indonesian occupation that is estimated to have caused the deaths of as many as 200,000 people.
| Social conflicts/refugees |
Asia Calling - August 25, 2008
Saul Salavador – Thousands of Internally displaced refugees in Timor Leste are finally going home.
For the last two years, they have been living in makeshift tent camps. Their homes were destroyed when the tiny nation descended into communal violence sparked by divisions in the military and police.
Now the government is encouraging them home with a 4,500 US dollar grant. The money is so they can restore or rebuild their homes that were burnt down during the crisis.
As Saul Salvador reports from Dilli some of the internal refugees complain it's too little help too late.
The rebuilding process has finally begun – two years after these houses in the Comoro district of Dilli where destroyed.
Terehzinha Freitas is busy fixing broken windows and repairing her roof. Her house was burnt down in the communal violence between groups from the East and West of the country in 2006.
She blames the government for the violence, saying ethnic tensions in the military and police were allowed to get out of hand.
It's only now with the governments grant of four and half thousand US dollars that she can start to rebuild her house. But she's not satisfied.
"Because the price of building materials have rocketed due to demand. That means that the money is not enough. We don't have enough to rebuild our home."
She says that when government officials visited their refugees camps they promised to give them aid in several stages and to pay for damaged house hold goods.
But Amandio Freitas the general co-ordinator for internally displaced people insists they are keeping their promises.
"We already planned and budgeted for these re-building grants before the price of building materials rose. All the refugees will receive a fair package based on the information we have collected on the ground."
He says the four and a half thousand US dollar reconstruction grant per family is just the first stage. "The next grant will be for replacing household appliances that the people lost based on the information that we got from the victims and also the testimony of other refugees."
Government figures show that two thousand families from more than 20 camps in Dilli have received the money and have gone home.
41 year old Jose Bassalo, whose house was also burnt down, is happy he can go home.
"I think that the government is now solving the refugee problem for good. Also everyone is returning to their homes. Although the grant does not cover all the rebuilding costs it shows that the government cares about the people's suffering and that makes us happy."
However, there are still an estimated eight thousand families still living in camps.
Amandio Freitas the man in charge of helping the IDPs says they are now focusing on closing down the large camps near the airport and the Canosa Balide Seminary.
He is promising everyone will be home by Christmas in December this year.
Sydney Morning Herald - August 24, 2008
Jessica Mahar, West Timor – All Charles Meluk wants is a better future for refugees in West Timor. The 22-year-old East Timorese man has been living in the Noelbaki refugee camp since 1999, when more than 286,000 of his countrymen fled across the border away from the chaos after the vote for independence.
Thousands remain in three camps outside Kupang, the West Timorese capital, with hundreds of others in settlement camps dotted around the bustling port town.
Mr Meluk is part of a youth group set up in Noelbaki, and his aim is clear. "I want to ask the Indonesian Government to take care of the children's future and help them," he said as he gestured to 30 children crowding around him.
"We need more food, medicine and support. We want the Government to give them skills because we're trying here to help them."
In August 1999, 78.5 per cent of East Timorese voted in favour of becoming an independent nation. Many of the rest of the population, who had voted for the country to become an autonomous region of Indonesia, were forced to flee their homes as violence racked the country and houses were burnt to the ground.
Some of those who escaped are still in the camps around Kupang, too frightened to return to their motherland for fear that violent revenge awaits them.
The conditions they live in are poor. Food and medicine are in short supply and there is no guarantee of education beyond primary school. Their homes are thatched huts with dirt floors and no electricity or running water.
Domingos Enriques has four children, whom she supports by selling vegetables, bought from Indonesian farmers, in the camp market.
Originally from Viqueque in southern East Timor, she fled the country and has lived in Noelbaki ever since.
"I have a difficult life here," she said. "The children don't have many fruits and vegetables and they don't get healthy from the fruit and vegetables. And sometimes they are very sick. This land does not have any service for the children. There are lots of problems.
Sometimes my children are sick and need to go to the hospital but I don't have money to pay for any transportation."
A makeshift games room has been erected with a pool table, where many of the young men socialise.
A marketplace provides a basic income for residents, as well as a place for the camp's isolated residents to buy food.
The situation for other West Timor residents is also dire. A recent report by the Church World Service, CARE and Helen Keller International said 91 per cent of children there were "food insecure", meaning they lacked access to regular and affordable safe, nutritionally adequate food.
Malnutrition in the district topped African rates, the report said, and about 60 per cent of people did not have access to safe drinking water. Church World Service deputy director of programs, Maurice Bloem, said acute and chronic malnutrition were evident by the high prevalence of wasting and stunted growth in children. About 50 per cent of infants and young children are moderately or severely underweight compared with African countries overall, where 21.9 per cent of young children are underweight, a report in January's Lancet said.
"Due to continued poor food production from season to season, and due to poverty, households just don't have adequate access to food in either quantity or nutritional quality," Mr Bloem said.
The survey also found a high degree of infectious disease, particularly diarrhoea, caused by poor hygiene, water and sanitation, and acute respiratory infection among small children due to their immune systems being low.
AusAID works with the Indonesian Government to provide assistance to the West Timorese.
The situation in Kupang is worse than in other parts of the country. About 30 per cent of its residents live below the poverty line, double the rate in the rest of Indonesia.
Only 39 per cent have education beyond primary school and mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria are rife.
In West Timor, AusAID has allocated $30million to help the region develop and to alleviate food shortages.
Winston Rondo is the co-ordinator of CIS Timor, a non- governmental organisation that helps East Timorese refugees. He said the aid and support provided was inconsistent. "At one time there were over 500 local NGOs working on the refugee post- conflict issues; now there are less than 10," he said.
"As long as the issue is popular they work, then once interest wanes they move on to the next hot topic. Their only exit strategy is to walk away when the money runs out."
Mr Rondo said poverty was caused by limited access to health services, education, housing, employment and infrastructure, as well as extremely limited natural resources, drought and a rising population. "This can lead to significant conflicts between people and communities, and result in struggles and fights over land and fields, water resources and resources for production," he said. "These conflicts will only increase if there are no significant social changes."
In the Manusak settlement camp, where new houses are being built on land donated by local Indonesians, village elder Florindo Mori said unseasonable rain had rendered the cassava and corn crops inedible but even if they had regular sun and rain, the 200 people in the village did not have sufficient land to farm.
Climbing down from a roof where he has been working, Mateus Alves said access to drinking water was sporadic. "We have a big problem with water. When there's rain, there's water; when there is drought, we have to walk three or four kilometres," he said. "The biggest problem is access to hospitals. People are sick with malaria, diarrhoea, a lot of eye problems and chicken pox, and I think we have a problem with malnutrition.
"We have no food for the family to eat every day... in East Timor there was no problems like this as we produced it ourselves."
Jessica Mahar travelled to Indonesia and East Timor as a fellow of the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre.
| Justice & reconciliation |
Melbourne Age - August 20, 2008
Jo Chandler – Two weeks ago, the families of "disappeared" victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz Cemetery massacre gathered at a site west of the East Timor capital, Dili, and held a ceremony calling for spirits of their dead to rise out of the earth.
They were watched by an international team of forensic experts, led by a Melbourne scientist and helped by local police and medics she had trained for the task. The team then resumed digging trenches across the site, looking for evidence of a long-rumoured mass grave that might hold the bodies of up to 100 victims of the massacre.
But after 17 years, and two weeks keeping vigil as investigators turned the earth, the families' long wait continues. The sites at Tibar – there were two excavated – have yielded no evidence of human remains, and the international forensic effort has paused so investigators can assess other possible grave sites.
"Even though we haven't found the remains, the fact that the process of finding their loved ones has started is really important, both for the families and for Timor-Leste as a whole," said Dr Soren Blau, the forensic anthropologist from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine who has led the site investigation.
It is the culmination of years of preliminary detective work into accounts of what became of the Santa Cruz victims. Estimates of the dead vary, but it is believed up to 200 people died.
Dr Blau said the families had gained comfort from a weekend visit to the site by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who spent about 2 hours talking to families and investigators. Grieving families of those missing have been frustrated at the lack of investigation into the fate of their lost relatives.
"Mr Gusmao's visit gave credence to the families, and that was hugely important for them."
The investigation had now gained new momentum with the emergence of more reports and anecdotes on the fate of the missing people.
Local police, medical staff and mortuary workers who were trained in body identification and recovery techniques as part of the project – which was funded by AusAID as a humanitarian and training exercise – will use their new skills to continue to evaluate potential grave sites, Dr Blau said. She did not rule out a return to East Timor by the international team.
Professor Stephen Cordner, head of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, said Dr Blau's project emerged from the institute's interest in using its skills in humanitarian contexts internationally.
While the exercise had so far not been able to return the dead to their families, the project had succeeded in training local people in handling human remains, and "engaged with the communities in the task of finding the grave", he said, and that effort would continue.
The massacre occurred on November 12, 1991, when a funeral for a man killed by Indonesian security forces turned into a protest. Video of what followed showed Indonesian troops attacking unarmed protesters, provoking international outrage and fuelling the push for independence.
Reuters - August 8, 2008
Tito Belo, Dili – The United Nations urged on Thursday East Timor not to let those responsible for bloodshed surrounding Dili's 1999 independence vote from Indonesia off the hook, pledging to provide support to prosecute perpetrators.
Leaders in East Timor and Indonesia said last month that the case was closed after expressing regret at the findings of a joint truth commission that blamed Indonesian security and civilian forces for "gross human rights violations."
The two governments set up the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) in 2005 to look into the violence, during which the United Nations estimates about 1,000 East Timorese died, but it had no power to prosecute, prompting criticism that it served to whitewash atrocities. It was boycotted by the UN
"We still support the process of prosecution through Serious Crime Unit investigation," said Allison Cooper, spokeswoman for the UN's mission in East Timor, referring to a body set by the United Nations to assist East Timor's prosecutors' office.
"CTF is only one mechanism of addressing or looking what atrocities may have happened in the country, (but) there is also something called prosecution," she said, adding Serious Crime Unit officials would visit Dili soon to talk to the prosecutor general about the issue.
The CTF did not name perpetrators, but also did not recommend an amnesty. Rights groups have been pressing for justice.
East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told Reuters in an interview last month that he was satisfied with the report and that it was now time to move on.
The former Portuguese colony, invaded by Indonesia in 1975, won independence in the violence-marred vote organized by the United Nations in 1999. It became fully independent in 2002 after a period of UN administration. (Writing by Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Ed Davies and Sanjeev Miglani)
Direct Action - August 1, 2008
Jon Lamb – On July 15, the final report from the joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) was officially received by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor. The report, titled "Per Memoriam ad Spem" (Through Memory towards Hope), cites that gross violations of human rights took place in East Timor in 1999 and that institutional responsibility for this rests with the Indonesian military and police, the militia groups created by them, as well as the Indonesian government.
The report's recommendations have no binding legal status and the report has been ridiculed by human rights groups and activists within both Indonesia and East Timor. Their concerns have been echoed by international human rights and solidarity organisations.
A statement released by the Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) on July 15 noted: "Once again, ANTI would like to emphasize that the findings of CTF and its recommendations are nothing new for the people of Timor-Leste, because most of its findings were already written in the CAVR [Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation] report, Chega, the Indonesian KPP HAM report, the investigation by the UN High Commission for Human Rights in 1999, and the Special Panels for Serious Crimes (SPSC) all concluded that what took place in 1999 were systematically organized crimes against humanity, according to the Rome statute International Criminal Court (ICC)".
The ANTI statement stressed that: "It is not new for ANTI that TNI [Indonesian military], POLRI [Indonesian police] and the Government of Indonesia created, supported, trained and funded the militia and provided other facilities including guns, so that they could commit crimes against humanity in 1999. One new thing is that commissioners from both countries acknowledged what ANTI has urged during this time, that there cannot be amnesty for the perpetrators of Crimes Against Humanity, and no rehabilitation for them.
"ANTI rejects the recommendation of CTF to create a new monitoring and dissemination commission lasting five years to implement the recommendations of CTF. ANTI thinks this commission is established just to waste people's money, not to give justice for victims families and survivors, but only to enrich a few groups, while increasing the vulnerability of victims who have already suffered from human rights violations, without any special attention from Government programs."
ANTI has called for full and adequate resourcing of the recommendations of the CAVR, which includes the establishment of a war crimes tribunal.
Both the Indonesian and East Timorese governments, led by presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jose Ramos Horta respectively, have expressed opposition to the formation of an international war crimes tribunal to investigate war crimes in East Timor, either for the period surrounding the 1999 independence referendum or the period of Indonesian military occupation from 1975-1999. Two key former TNI generals responsible for human rights violations in East Timor, Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto, are presidential candidates for the 2009 election.
According to a July 20 Agence France Presse report, Horta stated: "We have to understand the new Indonesia and remember that the Indonesian army was not defeated in East Timor... They left because the leaders in Indonesia ordered them to leave." Horta stressed that it would be unreasonable to call for a war crimes tribunal, stating: "I sympathise with them and I would never stab them in the back by pushing for an international tribunal that would embarrass Indonesia and wreck the relationship." The release of the CTF report follows the release from prison and granting of amnesty (over the last year in both Indonesia and East Timor) of a number of East Timorese militia leaders, including the notorious Eurico Gutteres in April.
Indonesia and East Timor analyst Max Lane, who helped organise the large East Timor solidarity actions in Sydney in September 1999, told Direct Action: "Until there is a real and genuine process of accountability to hold those military and civilian figures in Indonesia responsible for orchestrating war crimes in East Timor – and elsewhere such as Aceh and West Papua – they will continue to act with impunity."
Lane added that "such a process must also hold to account the leaders of Western nations such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom who provided diplomatic cover and the material means for the Indonesian military's crimes in East Timor".
| UNMIT/ISF |
Sydney Morning Herald - August 28, 2008
Ben Doherty and Daniel Flitton – Australia's 750-strong troop commitment to East Timor could be over by the end of next year, as security in the nation steadily improves, the East Timorese Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, said yesterday.
He also remains confident that East Timorese will soon be working in Australia under a guest-worker scheme, despite suffering a setback this week when his country was excluded from a pilot program that will focus on Pacific Island nations.
Mr Gusmao told the Herald yesterday the brittle security climate in his country had improved after shock attacks on himself and the President, Jose Ramos-Horta, earlier this year.
"Right now it is very calm. Mums are going outside at night and [in the] evening, with children, playing around. We feel this is one of the best achievements that we have," he said.
Mr Gusmao said more than 50,000 displaced people had returned home in the past year, adding to the sense of security, while a rift between the East Timor army and police – a cause of 2006 riots that wrecked the capital Dili and prompted the return of Australian forces – had begun to heal.
Security forces have captured remaining members of the small rebel group once led by Alfredo Reinado, a former major who broke with the government in 2006 and was killed by guards during the attack at Mr Ramos-Horta's house in February.
"They gained the confidence of the people; now our people can trust in our security forces," Mr Gusmao said.
As security improves, he said he expected East Timor's army to concentrate on civil projects, building roads, bridges and other basic infrastructure, allowing international troops to withdraw.
Mr Gusmao said his country's political and economic future would be shored up by giving Timorese youth the chance to take up temporary jobs in Australia, but he understood Australia first wanted to test the program with Pacific Island nations.
| Human rights/law |
Associated Press - August 4, 2008
Canberra – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has defended his decision to pardon a notorious Timorese militia leader, saying it was unfair to keep him in prison while Indonesians responsible for violence during his country's transition to independence remain free.
"The reality is that no one in Indonesia – senior military who were involved directly or indirectly in the violence in '99 – will ever be prosecuted," the 58-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview aired Monday.
"Should I continue to... keep in jail an individual Timorese who was working under direction from someone else who is not going to jail?" Ramos-Horta said.
Joni Marquez, an East Timorese leader of a militia run by Indonesian special forces, led the slaughter of nine members of a church delegation, including two nuns and a priest, who were bringing aid to villagers in 1999 three weeks after East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia in a UN-backed referendum.
He has given varying accounts of who ordered the attack. He was convicted in 2001 of crimes against humanity, including torture and murder, and sentenced to 33 years in prison.
But in May, Marquez was quietly released with a presidential pardon after serving only eight years. Ramos-Horta's leniency angered many in his deeply Roman Catholic homeland.
"Clearly, it's not a good message with regard to impunity and accountability for serious crimes," the local representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louis Gentile, told British Broadcasting Corp. last month.
But in the ABC interview recorded in Sydney on July 28, Ramos- Horta said many of the pro-Jakarta militias who razed his country in the weeks surrounding the ballot were fueled by drugs and alcohol provided by the Indonesians.
"As president, I make a lonely decision on the pardons following my conscience because I know we Timorese have to answer for a lot ourselves," he said. "A vengeful path... would lead us nowhere," he added.
Ramos-Horta, who was shot twice in an attempted assassination in East Timor's capital in February, has pardoned scores of prisoners since he was elected second president of his impoverished country last year. He argues that East Timor should deal with its tragic past through forgiveness.
Last month, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono acknowledged that his country carried out gross human rights abuses during East Timor's break for independence, but stopped short of offering a full apology and said no one would be prosecuted.
A bilateral truth commission, set up in 2005 to investigate the bloodshed, said Indonesian soldiers, police and civil authorities engaged in an "organized campaign of violence" against independence supporters, including murders, torture and other abuses.
Marquez said last month that the Indonesian military "destroyed" his mind with drugs.
But while he blamed the Indonesians, he also took some responsibility for the crimes he now regrets. "I took a 33-year sentence because I did something bad. I must take responsibility," he said.
Japan Times - August 2, 2008
Jeff Kingston – On July 15 in Bali the leaders of Indonesia and East Timor met and received the final report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) and issued a joint statement accepting the findings and recommendations.
It was a display of harmony and friendship that reveals the main shortcoming of the CTF – it was always about promoting friendship more than truth and accountability.
Leaders in both countries may be eager to draw a line under their shared grisly history, but this approach is not widely supported by the Timorese and has been criticized by the United Nations, nongovernmental organization alliances in both countries and the Catholic Church, a powerful moral force in East Timor. As such, the CTF lacks credibility at home and abroad and can not be the closing chapter in this saga.
Established in 2005, this is the world's first bilateral truth commission, one that was given a short leash with a limited remit. The commission investigated the deaths of some 1,400 East Timorese in 1999, killed in the aftermath of a UN-administered referendum on independence. The people overwhelmingly voted to separate from Indonesia, having endured a brutal occupation that began with Indonesia's invasion in 1975. A credible separate inquiry into the 24 years of occupation establishes that as many as 200,000 people, out of a population of 600,000, were killed or starved to death by the Indonesian occupiers.
East Timor's proindependence vote in 1999 triggered a bloody maelstrom orchestrated by the Indonesian military and its local militia units.
Even though the CTF surprised many by finding the Indonesian military institutionally responsible for crimes against humanity, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stopped short of making an apology to the people of East Timor, instead expressing a carefully calibrated remorse.
The CTF held a series of hearings in an effort to get Indonesian perpetrators to acknowledge their actions, but military officers and government officials did not give forthright testimony, while shirking responsibility and shifting blame onto the UN and the local militias they had trained, armed and coordinated. As a result of this systematic dissembling, and strong documentary evidence proving culpability, the CTF refused to recommend amnesty for anyone.
Unfortunately, widespread media coverage of the hearings in Indonesia has left the public badly misinformed about their government's grim legacy in East Timor. Dissemination of the report in Indonesia is critical to correcting the Indonesian military's biased, exonerating version of events that dominated the public proceedings.
Just as in numerous cases of human rights violations in Indonesia throughout the authoritarian Suharto era (1966-1998), there is no doubt about the military's guilt. Less certain is the will to do something about it.
The CTF is a step toward reconciliation, but this can only be achieved at the grassroots level if some high-level perpetrators are held accountable. President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao emphasize that their priority is restorative justice involving some form of collective compensation and improving living standards in a country where the unemployment rate is 40 percent and most families teeter on the edge of subsistence. Both recognize that antagonizing their giant neighbor by insisting on punitive justice will make life even more difficult for their people. Breaking the cycle of impunity thus depends on sustained pressure and support from the international community for a judicial reckoning.
With the presidential election campaign under way, it is doubtful that Yudhoyono will followup on the CTF in any significant way, if only because he can not afford to antagonize the military given its continuing political influence.
One of his opponents is former armed forces chief Gen. Wiranto, indicted by UN prosecutors in 2003 for crimes against humanity for his central role in the violence. He has not been prosecuted yet, but there is a fat dossier of evidence gathered by the UN that could be used by either the International Criminal Court or some form of international tribunal for a prosecution that would have great symbolic value and help bring closure.
The UN has already tried allowing Indonesians and the East Timorese to sort out accountability on their own, but these efforts ran out of political will, international support and funding. It is up to the international community to break the cycle of impunity and ensure that justice is done.
Just because Indonesia is a large moderate Islamic nation playing a key role in fighting the "war on terror" does not mean that its top brass merit immunity from prosecution. The people of Indonesia and East Timor deserve better. So kudos to the CTF for doing their job better than anyone ever expected – all the more reason for the international community not to drop the baton and help restore dignity to both nations.
[Jeff Kingston is director of Asian studies, Temple University Japan. He has spoken about the CTF with East Timor's leaders and has interviewed CTF members and NGO activists from both countries.]
| Police/military |
ABC - August 23, 2008
Judicial authorities in East Timor are investigating more than 40 allegations that armed forces have used violence, intimidation, and death threats against civilians.
A United Nations report documents a litany of human rights abuses by local police and army officers in the course of their work.
The UN says it is a sad fact that nations emerging from serious conflict often fall into a culture of violence, particularly in the armed forces, which could take years to stamp out.
Aid worker Mark Green has witnessed at first hand the sort of violence that has become all too common in East Timor's armed forces.
As he drove towards Dili one day, he saw a motorcyclist pulled over by local police, the PNTL. With 20 or so officers watching on, two police began bashing the man for no apparent reason.
"The motorcyclist began to cower and then the PNTL officer began to beat him with his fists; he was hitting him in the chest and abdomen," he said.
"There are a number of PNTL officers who have resorted to that kind of behaviour. PNTL officers who you talk to about it themselves would say some of their colleagues are unprofessional."
That beating is one of 44 cases of human rights abuses under investigation by East Timorese authorities
A United Nations report says violence and mistreatment by security forces has risen markedly in the past year
"What we're talking about is some bad apples within the military and the police who used excessive force in arresting civilians, in beating people indiscriminately, in intimidating people, in issuing death threats to people and individuals and also communities," said.
UN human rights representative in Dili, Louis Gentile.
He says it is a harsh reality that countries emerging from conflict, like East Timor, will experience a pattern of violence, typically in the armed forces.
"I think if you can answer that question – what inspires people to use excessive violence when they have a powerful position vis-a-vis their fellow citizens anywhere in the world – then you have the answer to that question here in Timor as well," he said.
The UN report is all the more disturbing, given it was tensions within the armed forces that took the nation to the brink of civil war two years ago
Mr Gentile says East Timor has at least avoided the example of some nations where police routinely torture and murder innocent civilians.
But he says without stronger vigilance it could take years to change
"The whole point is that, that kind of behaviour is not acceptable, and people who have committed those kinds of abuses need to be held to account," he said.
"And if they're not held to account, then the real concern is the kind of abuses will become a pattern and will continue."
[Based on a report by Anne Barker for Saturday AM.]
Agence France Presse - August 21, 2008
Complaints of human rights abuses by East Timor's fledgling national police have shown a "notable increase" over the past year, the United Nations says.
The UN report said East Timor was at a crossroads in terms of rights, with progress since independence from Indonesia in 2002 tempered by abuses by the security forces and judicial shortcomings.
"The Timorese people and state institutions can continue to build on progress achieved or can turn back towards a more violent past," the UN mission's rights chief, Louis Gentile, said in a statement.
The report by the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) said a new national police taskforce created in the capital Dili in December had had a significant impact on crime.
But there had also been a sharp rise in the number of complaints about abuses by the security forces, it said.
The taskforce had been accused of "excessive use of force and ill-treatment during arrest, unlawful searches of houses and abusive behaviour," it said.
"In some cases, victims described being kicked, punched and beaten during arrest. The ill-treatment sometimes continued after the suspects were lying on the ground or had been taken inside a police vehicle."
Police had also forced suspects to do push-ups in public, "apparently as a form of instantaneous punishment and public humiliation."
UNMIT had also received reports of death threats, as well as arrests that did not follow legal procedures. National leaders had made commitments to address such violations but accountability mechanisms remained weak.
The report welcomed progress in strengthening the justice system, namely the increasing number of Timorese judicial personnel and their heightened presence in the districts.
But it said effective access to justice was constrained and there was a backlog of some 4,700 criminal cases.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, gained formal independence in 2002 after a 24-year Indonesian occupation that is estimated to have caused the deaths of as many as 200,000 people.
ABC News Online - August 20, 2008
As East Timor's defence force celebrates it's 33rd anniversary, analysts say it will take time to build the force's strength.
Radio Australia's Stephanie March reports that the transition from resistance fighters to professional soldiers has not been easy.
Falintil started out in 1975 as the military wing of the Fretilin resistance group, surviving in the jungle for 25 years as it tried to fight off occupying Indonesian forces.
Since East Timor gained independence in 1999, the now-called Falintil-FDTL has been trying to establish itself as the nation's official armed forces.
Julio Tomas Pinto, the State Secretary for Defence, says it needs time. "We just have seven years after independence and if we compare with other countries we see that our military now needs to develop again in discipline," he said.
Tensions between the military and police flared in 2006, when hundreds of soldiers abandoned their barracks in protest over discrimination, and plunged the country into a bloody crisis.
But in February this year, those same forces surprised everyone by banding together under operation 'Halibur', meaning 'gather', in a bid to catch the rebels responsible for shooting President Jose Ramos Horta.
Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Ferndale, the chief of the Australian Defence Cooperation Program in East Timor, told Radio Australia the evidence from operation Halibur is that the force has settled down since 2006.
"They have a large rebuilding process to go through," Lt Col Ferndale said.
"Obviously they lost a lot of people who walked out in 2006 and they are in the process now of commencing a recruitment program. Those recruits will go someway towards re-establishing the force to the size it was," he said.
Anna Powles, an analyst with the International Crisis Group in East Timor, agrees that establishing a fully-functioning force takes time.
"Of course FFDTL will need time to develop, will need time to ensure that there's a culture of non partisanship, ensure that there are clear and impartial procedures within the military, ensure that it does not become politicised and that there is no discrimination within the military," she said.
While some authorities in East Timor commended both the PNTL police force and FFDTL military for their ability to work together during the hunt for the rebels, some groups are still concerned.
The provadore for human rights received dozens of complaints from civilians against the security forces during the state of siege following the attack on President Ramos Horta.
A recent United Nations report has confirmed several incidents where members of the military threatened UN police with weapons.
Anna Powles says it's important to remember that it's only elements of the force that are causing problems.
"As to what it necessarily reveals about those elements in FFDTL perhaps suggests a level of 'gungho-ness' and perhaps reflects a degree of a lack of discipline. It is again something internally that the FFDTL needs to resolve," she said.
| Opinion & analysis |
The Australian - August 19, 2008
Paul Toohey - East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has delivered a furious tirade against The Australian, accusing it of inventing an article.
The story in The Australian said rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado was shot dead at almost point-blank range inside his compound on February 11.
Ramos Horta told the Timor Post that this newspaper and Australian forensic authorities were trying to destabilise his nation by suggesting Reinado and his offsider, Leopoldino Exposto, were shot at close range.
The President and the Timor Post have misunderstood the story. They seem to think The Australian commissioned an independent report from the Victorian Institute of Medicine on Reinado's wounds.
The story was in fact based on the Reinado autopsy conducted first-hand by East Timor's head forensic pathologist, Dr Muhumad Nurul Islam. Dr Nurul reported that Reinado had blackening and burning around each of his four bullet wounds and said he had been shot with a high-velocity rifle "at close range".
Dr Nurul said Leopoldino was shot in the centre of the back of his head, also at close range.
Dr Nurul's report raised questions of reported claims that Reinado had been shot at a distance of 10m to 15m by a guard who had taken up a sniper position.
The Australian went to Professor David Ranson, of the Victoria Institute of Forensic medicine to ask about the general nature of gunshot wounds. Professor Ranson said that blackening and burning only appeared when a gun was fired at almost point-blank range.
This was not just Professor Ranson's view. Forensic pathologists across the world agree this only occurs when rifles are fired at near-contact, or point-blank, range.
One inference to draw from this is that Reinado and Leopoldino were executed or possibly detained before being shot.
The President has reason to be angry, but not at The Australian or the Victorian Institute of Medicine. He should be angry that he was left lying wounded on a road outside his compound for 30 minutes before help arrived.
Where were his guards when he was fighting for life? He should be angry that his personal security guard who accompanied him for his morning jog along the beach allowed him to return to his home with gunfire ringing out across the valley.
He should be angry that security forces – local and international – did not catch the rebels that morning as they raced off and hid in the nearby hills.
He should also be angry that UN and police investigators allowed people to tramp all over the crime scene, even answering Reinado's phone as he lay dead inside the President's compound.
He should look again at the photos of the dead Reinado, and ask himself why Reinado's body can be seen in different positions. The body has been tampered with.
Because the rebels escaped, they had time to stash or switch weapons, meaning reliable ballistics information pertaining to the weapons used that morning has been lost.
Most of all, the President should be angry with himself.
It was Ramos Horta who acted unconstitutionally in drawing up "letters of comfort" that allowed the armed rebels with arrest warrants to remain free, despite the repeated demands of the Dili Court that they be detained.
This deeply annoyed the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force, who believed Reinado was a common criminal who needed to be brought to justice.
But Ramos Horta had an unflagging self-belief that he, and he alone, could resolve the crisis. Events show that he could not.
Ramos Horta maintains that Reinado and Leopoldino were shot from a distance. Science suggests otherwise.
Inter Press Service - August 18, 2008
Stephen de Tarczynski, Melbourne – East Timor's most prominent independence leaders – currently holders of the young nation's two highest political offices – may now be the main obstacles to obtaining justice for victims of the 1999 referendum-related violence.
The final report by the Indonesia and East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) – established by the two countries in 2005 with the objective of obtaining "the conclusive truth in regards to the events prior to and directly after the popular consultation in 1999" when, according to the United Nations, some 1,000 people were killed – was handed to East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Jul.15 in Bali.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded and occupied by Indonesia in 1975 but won independence through a referendum organised by the United Nations in 1999. It became fully independent in 2002 after a period under UN administration.
While the CTF found that gross human rights abuses were committed by both pro-autonomy and pro-independence Timorese around the time of the independence referendum – in which close to 80 percent of voters rejected the proposed "special autonomy" status as part of Indonesia – the report alluded to the Indonesian military (TNI) as an institution which was particularly complicit in the violence.
"The commission concluded that Indonesia also bears state responsibility for those gross human rights violations [such as murder, rape, torture, illegal detention and forced mass deportations] that were committed by militias with the support and/or participation of Indonesian institutions and their members," states the CTF.
While Yudhoyono expressed his "deepest regret" for the victims, Indonesia was quick to quash any idea that those responsible would be brought to justice. The President ruled out prosecutions of the perpetrators, stressing that the CTF was about institutional rather than individual responsibility.
Prior to the report being presented to the two leaders, Indonesian defence minister Juwono Sudarsono said that the aim of the CTF was "restorative justice."
It was a point also made by Ramos Horta, who added that the victims' legacy would be the avoidance of repeating atrocities like those of 1999 as well as creating stronger bonds between the two countries. He said that East Timor (also known as Timor Leste in the Portuguese) would not be seeking an international tribunal to try those responsible.
Ramos Horta and Yudhoyono were joined by East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao – Ramos Horta's fellow independence hero – in signing a joint statement declaring "we are determined to bring a closure to a chapter of our recent past".
While the reactions of Indonesia's leaders are politically expedient given the possible ramifications if investigations for individual responsibility of human rights violations were carried to their full extent, the desire to bring about "closure" on the part of East Timor's leaders means they are complicit in denying the rights of the victims.
Effectively, the leaders' desire to brush-over past injustices undermines earlier reports on the occupation, such as the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation of East Timor – whose recommendations for accountability remain largely unimplemented – and inquiries backed by the United Nations.
The support of the CTF by Ramos Horta and Gusmao lends a false sense of legitimacy to the process. It provides Indonesia with a justification for not implementing the recommendations of previous reports and mitigates the chance of reforming the powerful TNI.
Their support also enables other governments to back the CTF, rather than heeding calls for the perpetrators to face judicial justice.
And such calls are being made. Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – including the two nations' leading human rights groups, Association HAK of Timor-Leste and Indonesia's KONTRAS – issued a joint statement on the same day the CTF released its report to the two presidents.
"Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia's invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste must be identified and prosecuted, for the sake of justice for past victims in Timor-Leste and for a future in which human rights are respected in Indonesia," said the NGOs, calling for a further judicial mechanism in order to assign individual responsibility for those crimes.
Among the concerns raised by the NGOs was that the CTF "put a priority on rehabilitating the names of accused perpetrators over justice or compensation for victims". The organisations were critical of the commission's lack of power to recommend prosecutions and the "inadequate" protection of witnesses, as well as its "narrow" focus on the events of 1999.
The East Timor National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) – a grouping of several rights groups which includes victims' families – also opposed the CTF. "The process of creating the CTF did not follow the Constitution of Timor-Leste because the agreement signed by the presidents of Timor-Leste and Indonesia was not ratified by the national parliament of Timor- Leste, in accordance with article 95 (3f) of the Timor-Leste Constitution," said ANTI.
Additionally, ANTI argues that the assigning of institutional, instead of individual, responsibility for human rights violations "is contrary to the principles of international laws which were ratified by the state of Timor-Leste and to Article 160 of its constitution which says that there must be a justice process for crimes against humanity."
But opposition to the CTF has not only been voiced by civil society. The UN did not support the process as it opposed the CTF's ability to recommend amnesty for those who committed gross human rights abuses.
Given their past support of the process, the responses from Ramos Horta and Gusmao were not surprising. However, it means that East Timor's relations with its massive neighbour are taking precedence over justice for victims of the Indonesian-sponsored violence.
Essentially, by viewing the CTF as the "final word" on the 1999 bloodshed, the two most highly respected leaders of Timor-Leste's struggle for independence are allowing the perpetrators of the violence to literally get away with murder.
"CTF is only one mechanism of addressing or looking at what atrocities may have happened in the country, there is also something called prosecution," Allison Cooper, spokeswoman for the UN's mission in East Timor was quoted as saying at a press conference in Dili on Aug. 6.
In 2003 Indonesia's former armed forces chief, Gen. Wiranto, was indicted by UN prosecutors for his role in the violence surrounding East Timor's independence.
An attempt to "move on" from the past might make economic and political sense to leaders of the fledgling nation, but as men who have known their own share of injustice at the hands of Indonesia – four of Ramos Horta's eleven siblings were killed during the brutal occupation while Gusmao spent seven years in an Indonesian prison following his 1992 capture – they, like many of their compatriots, can understand that "restorative justice" is, in fact, justice denied.
Melbourne Age - July 27 2008
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
- TS Eliot, The Hollow Men
Tom Hyland – It would be reassuring to think the ABC-TV series The Hollowmen is what it says it is: a comedy-drama. But the shenanigans in the imaginary prime ministerial office portrayed in the series draw on real events. It's still great fun, but at times it seems more documentary than mockumentary.
Last week's episode had political advisers, spin masters and bureaucrats in a flap over an imagined massacre of West Papuans by Indonesian militias. Their dilemma was how to respond: not what to do, but what to say.
Getting the words right got them entangled in all the unctuous evasions and equivocations of diplomacy. Could we demand certain things? Maybe urge would be better. Could we even refer to Indonesia? Perhaps we could appeal for restraint, without naming anyone.
The fictitious massacre had echoes of East Timor in 1991, when Indonesian troops fired on a crowd at a Dili cemetery, and 1999, when the army terrorised the entire population before and after they voted for independence.
In response to the first atrocity, then foreign minister Gareth Evans was uncharacteristically lost for words before settling on "aberrant" to describe behaviour that was in fact consistent with the army's record. By 1999, Alexander Downer was foreign minister. He came up with "rogue elements" to describe generals who could call on all the resources of the state to wage a campaign of terror.
In April 1999, when Indonesian police, soldiers and militia butchered 59 refugees at a church in the town of Liquica, Downer issued a statement that, if you heard it on The Hollowmen, you'd think was a black joke. He urged "all parties to exercise restraint". (In 2002, I interviewed Natalina dos Santos, who was 14 when her father was killed in Liquica. She clung to her father's hand as he was hacked to death.)
When it comes to more distant atrocities, there's no problem getting the words right.
When the Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic was arrested last week, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith declared it "an unambiguously good thing". When an international prosecutor sought a warrant to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes, the government applauded. It said the creation of the International Criminal Court meant "all those who commit, encourage or tolerate heinous crimes understand that their actions today may lead to international prosecution tomorrow".
Not quite. When heinous crimes are committed closer to home, and criminals prosper without fear of prosecution, Canberra is lost for words.
It's almost two weeks since the Indonesian and East Timorese presidents accepted the report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship, which found the Indonesian state overwhelmingly responsible for the 1999 atrocities.
Our Government hasn't said a word – not one quiet, meaningless whisper – even though those atrocities prompted Australian military intervention.
(Here it's been helped by the media. When our foreign minister held a news conference three days after the report was released, it didn't rate a mention. Instead, Smith was peppered with 17 questions on the arrest of ABC reporter Peter Lloyd on drug charges. The transcript of the encounter, and the sizzling indignation of the journalists, reads as if the scripts of The Hollowmen and Frontline had merged. They asked Smith how he felt when he heard of the arrest, and to comment on Lloyd's emotional state.)
The fact the Government hasn't responded to the commission's report doesn't mean it doesn't have a line. Asked about the report before it was officially released, Smith endorsed the need "to draw a line on the terrible events of the past and to move forward". Funny thing is, Canberra doesn't draw a similar line under events in the Balkans and Sudan. But it was mute in April when Eurico Guterres, the only person jailed by a Jakarta court for the 1999 atrocities, was freed.
Downer also kept to the script when the most detailed account of crimes committed in East Timor, the report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, was released in 2006. His response was scorn for its criticism of Australia's role, and cynical evasion. Unresolved issues of justice were "essentially issues for East Timor to work through", his spokesman said.
In an editorial on the Commission of Truth and Friendship, The Jakarta Post criticised the Indonesian Government for not prosecuting those responsible, saying Indonesia risked "severe consequences from the international community if we continue stubbornly to defend human rights violators".
Severe consequnces? Indonesian editorial writers obviously don't watch The Hollowmen.
[Tom Hyland is The Sunday Age's international editor.]
| East Timor media review |
Ainaro police recalls illegal weapons - TVTL, 30 August
Police of southern district of Ainaro has recalled about 100 illegal weapons, such as home-made weapons like Ambon arrows, ammunitions and others. Ainaro District Police Commander, Calisto Gonzaga said residents in Ainaro voluntarily handed over the weapons to the police force during the month of August.
The commander said operation of recalling the illegal weapons would be continued until the deadline set by the Government had come to end. He added the police in Ainaro was currently facing shortcomings of transport to help support them in doing their tasks.
Difficult to Reform PNTL's mentality, says former PM - STL, 29 August
East Timor's former Prime Minister Estanislau Aleixo da Silva said Thursday (29/8) that though the AMP government was trying its best to reform the East Timor National Police (PNTL) as law enforcement institution of the country the reform itself was not an easy task to do.
"To reform the mentality of the PNTL is not an easy task and I think the PNTL members who get involved in certain cases have to be investigated, not just making public relations"; da Silva said.
He said he does not agree with the mere public announcement about PNTL without proper independent investigation in order to know who should be held accountable in the tribunal.
Da Silva added there were a lot of irregularities found within the institution of the PNTL and that these irregularities would reduce the level of people's confidence in the PNTL.
The former Prime Minister made suggestion that one way of tackling these irregularities was to dissolve the Task Force as this unit was believed to be involved in there irregularities and other related problems for the institution.
Australian forensic team has no right to publicize findings - TP, 29 August
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) MP Aderito Hugo da Costa said the Australian Forensic Team had no right to publicize investigative findings on the shooting dead of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado Alves and his follower, Leopoldino da Costa on February 11.
Da Costa said only the country&'s Public Prosecution had the right and had legal power to publicize the findings of investigation on the incident of February 11.
Da Costa was referring to the result of autopsy by the Australian Forensic which was publicized by international media outlet called the Australian, saying Reinado and his man were shot at closer range.
He added the Australian Forensic Team had damage the country’s credibility, because publication on the autopsy should not be done by the team that worked for laboratory.
UN disagrees on setting up international investigative commission - TP, 29 August 29
Following the ongoing polemics on the approved resolution of setting an international investigative commission into the attempted assassination of President Horta, National Congress for Timorese reconstruction (CNRT) MP Aderito Hugo da Costa, said the Government wanted to implement it, but the UN disagreed with the resolution made. Da Costa said the UN disagreed with the resolution, because it did not give fully power to the international investigators in doing the investigation and making recommendations.
"In the approved resolution, some of its article saying the Government can set up the commission, yet the investigators have no right to make recommendations," Da Costa said.
Da Costa added the Government had tried to approach the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), however there was no agreement reached, because the resolution close the door for the UN to make recommendation.
We should respect each other, says Horta - DN, 29 August
President Jose Ramos Horta has called on residents in the capital Dili to respect each other if there are programs in the country. "I am calling on the residents and local authorities in the villages to respect each other," Horta said. Horta made the comments yesterday during a dialog between the residents of Fomento suburb and the internally displaced people.
Local youths to hand in their home-made weapons - TP, 29 August
Bairo Pite's village head of the Don Aleixo sub-district in Dili, Jo da Costa Belo informed Thursday (28/8) that in the near future he would work together with other local and community leaders to organize youths to hand in their traditional home-made weapons to security and law enforcement officers.
"Now we have a program to initiate meetings with the police to discuss how to coordinate with youth and sub-village heads to hand in illegal weapons", said da Costa Belo.
He added as a village he will organize all local youth to contribute to the collection of illegal weapons in order to restore peace in the Bairo Pite village.
Police officers to be certificated in training - RTL, 29 August
About 100 of Timorese Police (PNTL) officers have been certificated after successfully participated in training provided by the UN police at Police College Training centre. The participants were from different police units and were focused on how to respond conflicts, tactics and corruption handling.
Police Commander, Inspector Mateus Fernandes said the country's police had showed their good performance and strong professionalism in responding situation in the capital Dili.
Fernandes said the country's police officers were still lacking of skills, but had showed their patriotism within the community.
Meeting between TL-Indonesia to be held in Dili follow up TFC recommendations - RTL, 29 August
East Timor hosted a two-day meeting in the compound of Foreign Ministry and Cooperation in Dili between Indonesian and Timor- Leste’s senior officials to discuss about the follow up of the Truth and Friendship Committee (TFC).
The Director for Regional Integration Roberto Soares said Friday (29/8) the meeting was indeed touched some recommendations of the TFC. However, other bilateral issues such as such as the issuance of the student visas, visa-on-arrival, and medical assistance to the victims of war were highlighted in the meeting.
Mr. Soares added the meeting was above all to keep cementing the relationship between the two neighboring countries. His Indonesian counterpart, Reslan Ishar Jeny, the Director for Multilateral Affairs said they also discussed how Indonesia could help security sector reform in Timor-Leste.
Asked about the state responsibility as part of following up the recommendations of the TFC, Mr. Jeny said both countries committed to establishing good relationship and therefore problems of the past should not color the endeavor of strengthening good relationship.
NZ to support Timor-Leste in community policing - RTL, 29 August
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Zacarias da Costa, said the Government of New Zealand would help support the country in the community policing.
The minister said NZ wanted to support Timorese police with the system being applied in that country. "In the field of security, Prime Minister Gusm and his counterpart talked on the NZ's support for the country in community policing how the Timorese police could work closely to their people," Da Costa said. NZ has also pledged to provide scholarship for the country in the field of defense and is ready send more its soldiers to be deployed in the country.
President Horta urges government sanction businessmen - TVTL, 29 August
President Jose Ramos Horta has urged the Government to give sanction to the businessmen that continued increasing good prices in the market.
The president said the Government had reduced tax price, so that the businessmen could reduce prices in the market, yet were still hike, therefore the Government should be suing those who keeping increasing the price.
Horta said the prices which were still staying in high in the country had severed impact on the people's lives to buy basic needs. Observations made by the TV's journalists that the prices of basic needs in the markets are still hike.
LDP stops cooperating with CNE - TVTL, 28 August
Timorese Democratic Progressive League known as LDP has decided to not cooperate anymore with Timorese Electoral Commission (CNE) until the next general elections to be held in 2012. Spokesperson for LDP, Nelson Correia said they made such decision, because CNE only provided budget for the political parties that had seats in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for CNE, Martinho Gusmao said the decision made by LDP was reasonable, although they had no seats in the Parliament, yet still following the process. Gusmao added if LDP wanted to halt its relations with CNE that was fine, because the law had specifically defined it.
Women's organization urges parliament to speed up abortion law - TVTL, 27 August
East Timor's Popular Women Organization (OPMT) urged the National Parliament Wednesday (27/8) to speed up abortion law to save women's lives and to prevent criminalization of abortion practices in the country.
The urge is made by women's representatives from all 13 districts during one-day seminar to commemorate 33rd anniversary of the women's organization. OPMT's Secretary General, Melita Alves, said the criminalization of abortion in the country seriously affects women's life though in fact no legal framework for such act. OMPT, as the Fretilin's women organization, was established on 1975 to fight for emancipation of Timorese women.
Martial arts groups say 'Yes to peace!' - TVTL, 27 August
Two influential martial arts group in East Timor, 7-7 and PSHT, made peace pact between them Wednesday (27/8), ending long- standing conflict among the members.
The peace pact was made during a joint press conference where representatives of each martial arts organization made clear commitment to end violence and to accelerate the development of the country. In addition, Pedro Aparmcio, representing PSHT, and Sanamia of 7-7 pledged not to be used as political instrument by politicians to pursue their own political interests.
The martial arts groups also apologized for their past wrongdoings committed by their members, notably during 2006's political crises. By saying "Yes, to Peace!" the groups promised to restrain themselves from violence in order to restore stability in the country.
The peace pact of these long-standing arch-rivals was mediated by Dili's HAK Foundation.
Government officials should stay away from corruptions - RTL, 27 August
Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres has called on the country's Government officials to stay away from corruptions within the state institutions. Guterres made the comments during a meeting for executing the state budget of 2008 and proposed state budget of 2008 at the Office of Foreign Ministry today (27/8).
"People who are working at the state institutions should be professional and dedicated in doing their tasks," Guterres said. He called on all the functionaries to contribute to the country by giving information which could damage the country's image.
Horta proposes international investigators - RTL and TVTL, 27 August
President Jose Ramos Horta has proposed an international investigative team to hold investigation into the murder of former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato's family members during the country's recent crises.
The President said if the country's prosecutor general had no other waysto proceed, he would ask international investigators to follow up the case. Horta said he would contact the United State's FBI, Australia, Indonesia, Portugal and Malaysia to help process the case. However Horta also gave opportunity to the general prosecutor and police to follow up this case before contacting the internationals.
Timor-Leste to export 3,600 tons of coffee - TVTL, 27 August
Director of Coperative Cafe Timor (CCT), Germino Amaral, said exportation of Timorese coffee to foreign countries was increased this year. Geronimo said the exportation coffee would be increased of 3,600 tons and last year the CCT exported only 1000 tones. The Timorese coffee mostly exported to the United State, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Gerenimo said they had estimated the country could export about 200 containers of coffee and said to reach target of the exportation the CTT had exported 1000 tones and would export more.
House construction project for veterans won't continue - Timor Newsline, 27 August
Spokesperson for Luta-Hamtuk NGO, Jose da Costa, said house construction for Timorese veterans in the eastern district of Vikeke had not been continued for about nine months without any reason from Unipesoal Company. Da Costa said the veterans and residents in Vikeke were concerned about condition of the houses constructed, as they were too narrow and were improper for the veterans to live in.
Luta-Hamutuk called on the Government, mainly the state secretary for veterans to explain about this matter and urged him to consult first the local authorities and the veterans before the construction to be held.
Luta-Hamtuk also recommended the state secretary to seriously look at this problem and urged him to call on the company.
Fretilin peace rally is not power-thirsty - DN, 27 August
Fretilin's bench leader in the National Parliament, Aniceto Guterres stated the party's peace rally in the near future was not power-thirsty motivated but just to normalize the country's current political situation.
"Fretilin's peace rally is intended to renormalize the situation in the neither country; neither because of ambition nor thirsty of power", Guterres told journalists Tuesday (26/8). He then said the peace rally was a legal and constitutional action and no one else could prohibit it as the country adopted the rule of law. "We don't need to threaten the AMP government. We, Fretilin, from the outset do not recognize the legitimacy of the incumbent government and the AMP has not developed the country but on the contrary to destroy", said Guterres.
Residents continue handing over illegal weapons - TP, 27 August
Residents in the Capital Dili's suburbs, such as Vilaverde and Comoro continued handing over illegal weapons like ambon arrow, knifes and other home-made weapons to the security forces.
Dili district Police Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo, said the resident handed over those illegal weapons to contribute to the peace and stability in the country. The commander said the police team was in coordination with Dili district administrator and villages' chiefs to contact the residents on the recall of the weapons. He added the police's intelligent had identified places were believed to have been hiding weapons and would keep recalling them.
Government afraid of setting up investigative commission - TP, 27 August
Former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri who is also Fretilin current secretary general, said the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Government did not want to set up the proposed international investigative commission, because they were afraid of the commission's report findings.
Alkatiri said the international investigative commission was important to investigate the assassination attempt to President Horta on February 11 and said the Parliament had approved the resolution of setting the commission, but was yet to implement.
Alkatiri said if the Government would not implement the resolution, people would not believe the result of the ongoing investigation being held by Prosecution Office, therefore the international investigative commission was important to be established to help support. He added the Government did not abide by the approved resolution and that had showed the Government's arrogance.
Police calls on residents to hand over illegal weapons - Radio and TV, 26 August
Dili District Police Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo has called on all residents in the capital Dili to hand over illegal weapons which are still at large within the community to the security forces. The commander said if the residents did not want to hand over the illegal weapons they were hiding; the police would arrest them if the deadline set by the country's authorities had come to end.
Belo said in supporting the recall of all the illegal weapons in the capital, the police had coordinated with Dili district administrator and villages chiefs to contact the residents to hand over the weapons they were carrying. Belo also denied an allegation that his police officers were suspected of being backed and involved in the illegal gambling. "If any of the police officers are found guilty in backing the illegal gambling, they should be sanctioned," Belo said.
Police hold illegal gambling operation - RTL, 26 August
Police has held operation to the illegal gambling in different places in the capital Dili. During the operation, the police have seized some facilities related to the illegal gambling, such as coupons for a kind of gambling known as SDSB, amount of money and table for "bola guling".
Dili District Police Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo, said during the operation the police were unable to detain those who engaged in the gambling, as they all escaped when the police arrived. The commander said the police had secured the evidences seized to be used for legal purposes and said they had investigated the case and had officially handed over the case to the Pubic Prosecution for further legal charge.
Prosecutor general meets with Horta - Radio & TV, 26 August
Prosecutor General Longinhos Monteiro has met with President Jose Ramos Horta today (26/8), talking on the development of investigation into the attempted assassination to President Horta and an ambush to Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on February 11.
The prosecutor general said the Public Prosecution was currently waiting for results of ballistic examination from Canberra of Australia. Monteiro said the results of the ballistic examination would be used as proofs to charge 22 suspects who were identified to have been engaged in the assassination attempt. He added process of the examination was still on going and would come to end in the midst of the upcoming September.
MCC consults with local people - TVTL, 26 August
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is having public consultation with local and community authorities in the districts of Dili and Aileu in order to define national priorities in order to pave the process of national development.
Representative of the MCC in East Timor, Joao Mariano Saldanha said that the consultation is substantial in setting development priorities both in Dili and Ainaro.
Saldanha mentioned during the process infrastructure and educations were identified as important priorities of the county. Similar consultation will be done nation-wide.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation Account is established by the United States to help poor countries in the world given that these countries are serious in tackling corruption and are committed to fight poverty.
Timor-Leste, under the coordination of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, is a serious contender for the amount of 5 million appropriated under the account.
Immigration police and Task Force detain foreigners - TVTL, 26 August
Immigration Department of the East Timor's National Police, in collaboration with Dili's Task Force had detained 10 foreign nationals due to violation of emigration law. PNTL's head of public information, Moises Amaral, said the foreigners were detained because they came in the country with tourist visas but in fact they get involved in economic and employment activities. Three of the aliens are Indonesian and the rest are from China.
Eight of these aliens are working in the Moon Bar while two of them are working with Moris Foun drugstore. In the meantime, the foreigners are being detained at the Dili district detention center for investigation purposes.
CNRT and Fretilin urge prosecution of mastermind - DN, 26 August
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) and Fretilin MPs has urged the country's Public Prosecution to charge the master mind of the country's recent crises in 2006. MP Carmelita Moniz said the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Government should have implemented the approved resolution for setting up international investigative commission.
Moniz said the country needed a hand from the proposed international investigative commission to help support the Public Prosecution and some of international experts that were currently doing investigation into the case and said they could charge soon the suspects.
Fretilin MPs Chief, Francisco Miranda Branco said they urged the Government to implement soon the resolution and had questioned as well about minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation who had not conveyed the proposed investigative commission in the recent meeting of the UN Security Council.
Combating corruption should begin from the top - DN, 26 August
Fretilin secretary General Mari Alkatiri, said in combating corruptions within the country should begin from the top to bottom. Alkatiri said if the Government had identified corruptions and that should begin investigating the leaders, not only pointing the staffs, saying they engaged in corruption.
"If the Government recognizes that there is corruption, but the Government's fouls only appoints its staffs. If we want to talk about purchasing rice, not only a minister to sign it, but the prime minister should also sign it," Alkatiri said.
He added the investigation into purchasing rice should start from signing the documents of purchasing the rice.
Procurement ready to be investigated says Soares - TP, 26 August
Following the corruption allegation within the Procurement Department, Director for the Timorese Procurement, Francisco 'Borulako' Soares, said his department was ready to be investigated by the Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman (PDHJ).
"We are hoping that PDHJ can hold an in-depth investigation into the corruption allegation. If the PDHJ wants to take the investigative findings to the court, we are ready to respond," Soares said. Soares said he did trust that there would be no corruptions found in his department, because so far all process ought to follow the rules they had.
Government approaches UN to up investigative commission - TP, 26 August
The Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Government has approached the United Nations to help support process of setting up an international investigative commission into the assassination attempt and an ambush to Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on February 11.
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) MP Carmelita Moniz said she did trust that the Government had made an approach to the UN and said she did not know the reason why the proposed investigative commission was yet to be set up.
Moniz also said the Parliament could not force to implement the resolution of setting up the international investigative commission, as the power was in the hands of the Government. "The Parliament has given power to the Government to implement the resolution, but it depends the on the Government," Moniz said.
Border police will not tolerate illegal crossings - TVTL, 26 August
The Timorese Border Police Unit has said they would not tolerate anyone who wants to illegally cross the border zone. In line with the borders security issue both Timorese Border Police Unit (BPU) and Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) has held one-day-meeting, talking on problems being faced by the two sides in the terrain.
Both PBU and TNI soldiers also have questioned about illegal activities in the border and the border residents' livestock went missing. Timorese BPU Commander, Quintiliano "Neno" Soares said they would build a joint security post to be used for sharing information and resolving problem they might face in future.
Justice Ministry opens door for PDHJ's investigation - DN, 25 August
Timorese Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman (PDHJ), Sebastiao Diaz Ximenes, said the PDHJ had commenced holding investigation into an allegation of corruption within the country's Justice Ministry, including the Ministry of Health.
"We have commenced investigating corruption allegation found in the Ministry of Justice and Health. The investigation was held last week," Ximenes said. He added they would publicize the investigative findings soon after the investigation had come to end.
Meanwhile, Minister for Justice, Lucia Lobato said she was not shocked with the ongoing investigation and said her ministry opened the door for the PDHJ's investigation.
Portuguese justice minister meets with Alkatiri - DN, 25 August
Portuguese Justice Minister, Alberto da Costa has met with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri who is also current Fretilin secretary general, sharing ideas on Portugal's aid support for the country in the field of justice.
Minister Da Costa said it was important to get various opinions from all sides to strengthen the countries' bilateral cooperation which had been built when the former government was in power.
Da Costa said other field needed to be strengthened was training for supporting legal practitioners in the field of justice. He added judicial system in Timor-Leste was necessarily to be supported and that the Portuguese jurists and lawyers would come to help.
[Compiled by Daily Media (dailymedia.com). Abbreviation of media sources: [DL - Diario Nacional, RTL - Radio Timor-Leste, STL - Suara Timor Lorosa'e, TP - Timor Post, TVTL - Televisao Timor Leste.]
Horta calls for investigation - RTL, 22 August
East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta has called upon competent institutions of the state to launch further investigation into allegation of human right violation committed by the East Timor Defense Force and the National Police during their joint operation.
Ramos Horta's call came after a report commissioned by the UNMIT's human rights Unit and the Office of the East Timor's Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman contained 58 allegations against the F-FDTL and PNTL.
Ramos Horta said he was seriously concerned about the allegation and that there ought to be a follow-up. The 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate also admitted that the allegations against F-FDTL and PNTL were serious though he believed that the allegations still lack proofs and that the human rights violations committed were not grave.
According to Horta, both PNTL and F-FDTL have carried out their internal investigation into the allegations.
UNMIT's report positive, says Gusmao - RTL, 22 August
East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who is also the country's minister for defense and security said the release of the report on human right violation committed by his F-FDTL and PNTL as positive.
The Prime Minister also said that the report of the UNMIT's Human Rights Unit and East Timor's Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman as a wake-up call to his government. The report calls on the government to investigate the allegation of human rights violation committed by the F-FDTL and PNTL's joint operation.
Xanana to visit Australia this week - RTL, 22 August
East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Alexandre Xanana Gusmao is going to pay a visit to Australia where he is scheduled to talk about the bilateral cooperation of the two neighboring countries, including the possibility of sending Timorese workers there. Xanana made the comments after meeting with President Ramos-Horta at Horta's residence in Metiaut, Dili.
Eight suspended PNTL officers face criminal investigation - RTL, 22 August
East Timor's Police Acting Commander, Inspector Afonso de Jesus said eight suspended PNTL officers who were suspected of being involved in the loss of $27,000 were now facing criminal investigation.
He also commented that disciplinary measures were already taken against those involved, such as 90-day suspension from their posts and handing over of pistols and other equipments belonging to the institution.
Afonso also said the PNTL had also secured documents that might be used as proofs in the investigation. He added the list of people involved might be added up as the result of the investigation reveals.
Defense force and police commanders discuss national security law - TVTL, 22 August
Timorese Defense Force Office Chief, Filomeno Paixao said the defense force and police commanders had held a meeting today (22/8), discussing on the elaboration of the country's national security law.
The commander said the national security law including internal security law and the national defense law. Paixao added after the elaboration, the law would be sent to the Council of Minister to profoundly discuss it and then to be sent to the Parliament for approval.
Residents hand over illegal weapons to UN police and PNTL - TVTL, 22 August
Nasuta residents of Liquica have voluntarily handed over illegal weapons, such as traditional and home-made weapons, telescopes and ammunitions to the UN and National Police. During the handing over of the referred weapons, Timorese resistance organization also voluntarily handed over some documents and ammunitions to the police.
A resident, Natalino Soares said they wanted to hand over all these sharp things, because the country had reached its independence and people wanted to remain calm. Administrator of Bazartete Sub District called on the residents to hand over all illegal weapons to the security forces, as it could be a threat for the people's own lives.
Timor-Leste-Portugal sign agreement on developing justice sector - TP, 22 August
The Timorese and Portuguese Government have signed agreements on developing justice sector in Timor-Leste.
The Portuguese Government through its Justice Minister, Alberto da Costa and Timorese Justice Minister, Lucia Lobato yesterday officially signed two kinds of agreement and was witnessed by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
Portugal has supported the country in the field of justice, such as providing legal advisors to help Timorese legal practitioners.
Authority denies rumors on the release of Salsinha and followers - TP, 22 August
Timorese authorities have denied rumors mongering that former rebel leader, Gastao Salsinha and his followers have been released from serving a provisional sentence in Dili's Becora jail on (20/8). National Director for Prison, Helena Gomes said the rumors on the release of Salsinha and followers were unknown to her and said they were still being locked up in the prison.
"The release of Salsinha and his followers are unknown to us, the fact shows they are still in the prison," Gomes said. She added Salsinha and his men should serve their provisional sentence, as they had no right to be freed.
F-FDTL will use ships for watching over Timor Sea - TP, 22 August
Timorese Defense Force Naval Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Klamar Fuik, said they would use two ships that would be purchased by the Government from China to watch over the Timor Sea from illegal fishing. The commander said many times foreigners had illegally conducted illegal fishing in the country's maritime zone, therefore the ships would help support them in doing their tasks.
Klamar Fuik said the defense force's Naval Unit were facing major problem, because they only had small ship and was incapable to control all the maritime zones.
Gun law important to be debated, says Lasama - DN, 22 August
Parliamentary President Fernando "Lasama" Araujo, said the gun law was very important as other laws and was urgent to be debated soon. "The gun law is being top priority of the Parliament to be debated after passing one month of quiet period," Lasama said.
Lasama said it was a decree law produced by the Government which aimed at recalling all the illegal weapons and did not mean to distribute weapons to the civilians. Lasama said only the country's security forces and intelligence service members were allowed to carry weapons.
F-FDTL reforms should go through educational investment - DN, 22 August
Timorese Defense Force Commander, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, said in reforming the county's defense force should strongly be invested in the field of education. "Investment in the field of education is being responsibility of the Government. Education should be strong, so that people could have good skills and have good conscience," the commander said.
Rua said the defense force would hold a new recruitment to the news soldiers this year and they currently waiting for military law to be approved by the Parliament.
Agriculture minister meets with Horta - RTL, 22 August
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mariano "Asanami" Sabino Lopes has met with President Jose Ramos Horta, talking on plaque inaugurating of Nino Konis Santana National Park. After meeting with the president, the minister said apart from talking about the plaque of the national park, they were also discussing the agricultural ministry's activities on increasing local products in the country.
Asanami said the president strongly supported his agricultural activities, as it would help reduce poverty in the country. Minister Asanami added President Horta had stated his readiness to hold some official visits to directly look closer at the farming activities held by the farmers in the field.
JICA will send Timorese youths to Japan - RTL, 22 August
Japanese International Cooperation (JICA) will send 14 of Timorese youths to Japan for participating in training. The training will be focusing on agriculture and rural development and will help increase skills of the Timorese in the field of agriculture.
Participants of the training comprised staffs of NGOs, media practitioners and staffs of other organizations. Timor-Leste expressed appreciation to the Japanese Government that had many times helped the country, mainly in the rural development and agriculture.
Japan has introduced an agricultural system that would be useful for the country's farmers; the system was called "one village one product".
Need to amend constitution before setting up anti-corruption commission - STL, 22 August
Timorese Human Rights and Justice Ombudsmen, Sebastico Diaz Ximenes, said in setting up an anti-corruption in the country should firstly make amendment to the constitution, the Article 132, because the article stated only the Public Prosecution had the right to exercise process of penal.
Ximenes said if the country wanted to set up the proposed commission was similar to Indonesia's KKP, then it would exercise the role of the Public Prosecution, because the KKP was allowed to hold investigation into any case of corruption.
Ximenes proposed to the countries state bodies, such as Government and Parliament to look at laws for human rights ombudsmen and public prosecution, so that it could not be in conflict with each institution's role. "We all want the anti- corruption commission to work well, therefore should avoid double roles," He added.
A man stabbed to death near ANZ Bank - RTL, 21 August
Police has reported today that a recharge-phone-card seller was killed by five-drunken-men near the Dili's ANZ Bank area.Dili Police Station Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo said the man was killed at about 2 am this morning (21/8). The man was killed after he and his younger brother refused to give money to the suspects.
The Commander said they police had detained one of the suspects and was being locked up in the police's detention centre for investigation purpose. Belo added the police was currently in the pursuit of the five other suspects who were believed to have been involved in the case.
UN confirms human rights violation still critical in Timor-Leste - RTL, 21 August
The United Nations has confirmed that human rights violation still critical in Timor-Leste, because the Joint Operation Command soldiers and police officers are suspected of being engaged in human rights violation during the hunt for rebels went on in the country.
Chief of the UN Human Rights, Luis Gentile made the comments today during a press conference on the second report of human rights violation in Timor-Leste. Gentile said the UN considered acts of violence committed by the Joint Operation's soldiers and police officers, such as beatings and psychological threats were still being part of human rights violation.
He called on the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) and National Police (PNTL) to be responsible for the human rights violation committed by the soldiers and officers.
Gusmao urges suspension of from his post - RTL, 21 August
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmco has issued an official request to suspend director for equipments and maintenance from the Department of Infrastructures, because he is suspected of being involved in corruptions. The prime minister said the director was accused of stealing state money which should actually be spent for house construction for the Timorese National Police (PNTL). Gusmco said there were some evidences had proved Director Joanico Gongalves to be responsible for falsifying documents of maintenance and expenses for fuel worth $ US 60,200.
Gusmco said Gongalves was also responsible for the house construction for the police worth $ 180,000, because the house constructed did not meet with standard determined, as there were no bath rooms and toilets. The director would be suspended for 90 days from his current post without payment.
UN launches report on human rights development - TVTL, 21 August
The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) has launched its second report on the human rights development in the country.
The report covered the human rights violation taking place in September 2007 until June 20008. The report focused on human rights violation committed by the Task force police officers and the country's defense force during the implementation of state under siege and state of emergency.
During a press conference held at the office of UNMIT, Deputy Human Rights and Justice Ombudsmen, Silveiro Pinto said these were the facts of human rights violation in the country and were being major challenges for the human rights practitioners to do their tasks.
Meanwhile, Chief of the UN Human Rights Unit, Luis Gentile said the report focused on human rights violation happened in 2007 until June 20008 which specifically on security sector and justice issue.
The report is also about the country's judicial system, recent pardon given to the prisoners by the president and the attacks on the President Horta's residence on February 11.
Call for defense force, police to contribute to stability - TP
President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao have called for the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) and National Police (PNTL) to keep contributing to the country's peace and stability.
The President and the Prime Minister made the calls yesterday during a ceremony for the 33rd commemoration day of the Timorese National Liberation Army (FALINTIL) at the Palace of the Government. "I am calling on these two institutions, F-FDTL and PNTL to show good example and performance to the people to contribute to the peace and stability in the country," PR Horta said.
PR Horta added the country's state bodies would allocate amount of money to develop more both F-FDTL and PNTL in future. PM Gusmao said these two security forces should guarantee security and stability in the country.
Australia provides $US50 million to Timor-Leste - TP
The Australian Government, through its International Development Agency Ausaid, has provided $US50 million to Timor-Leste through the Ministry of Health and Infrastructures to help improve people's lives.
Deputy Director for Ausaid Richard Moore said these funds would be spent for water supply and sanitation in rural areas. Moore said the Australian Government wanted to help the Timorese Government, as they did not want to see the country's people to keep living in poverty. More said they were pleased, because the Timorese Government and its people wanted to accept aid support.
Better to reinforce PDHJ than set up anti-corruption commission - TP
The Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) MPs initiated to set up an anti-corruption commission in Timor-Leste, but Fretilin MPs have rejected the Government's proposal of setting up this commission.
MP Osorio Florindo Fretilin said that there was no need to set up many commissions for combating corruption. What is needed is to establish a proper system and for the Government to better reinforce the country's Human Rights Ombudsmen known as PDHJ, because PDHJ was also working towards combating corruption.
Democratic Party MP Vital do Santos said he firmly defended the Government's initiative of setting up the proposed commission, as it would help combat corruption in the country.
Horta sets deadline for illegal weapons recall - DN
President Jose Ramos Horta has set a deadline for civilians to hand over illegal weapons at large in the community to the security forces. President Horta said all residents should hand over illegal weapons to the security forces until the end of this month [August]. Horta said only the security forces, such as Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) and National Police were allowed to carry weapons. Horta called on the F-FDTL, PNTL, International Stabilization Force (ISF) and the UN police to find civilians who were carrying illegal weapons.
Timor still needs ISF as situation still volatile - DN
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said that given that the stability of the country was still volatile, the country still needed the deployment of the International Stabilization Forces (ISF).
Gusmao made the comments yesterday after participating in the ceremony for the commemoration day of the Timorese National Liberation Army (FALINTIL) at the Palace of the Government. "We have seen many problems around the world, such as state coups and murders, therefore do not think that things have improved. We still need the ISF's presence," Gusmao said. Gusmao said that before developing a law for internal and defense security, the country should first produce a national security law.
F-FDTL does not belong to political parties - STL
Director for Commission of Peace and Justice, Father Martinho Gusmao, said he was pleased with some significant changes within the country's defense force. Mr Gusmao said to improve the security force institutions in future, leaders who are in charge of this institution should have similar vision with the Minister for Defense Xanana Gusmao, Defense Secretary Julio Thomas Pinto and State Secretary for Security Francisco da Silva Guterres.
Mr Gusmao said these leaders had a combined vision to help develop the national spirit of F-FDTL to be truly a state instrument, not belonging to political parties. Gusmao therefore considered this was significant changes which were made in the country's difficult times.
Deadline set for officers on the run with Reinado - RTL
State Secretary for Security Francisco da Silva Guterres has set a deadline for the police officers who were on the run with former rebel leader, Alfredo Reinado Alves, to participate in dialouge with the police command.
The state secretary was referring to the proposed dialouge as a solution to the problem of the police officers who were on the run with Reinado during the country's recent crisis. Guterres said he had discussed the issue with the police's top commander and had set a deadline to resolve this problem; September 15 would be the last day to be given to those police officers to participate in the dialogue.
Ausaid provides funds to improve Timorese youths - RTL
The Australian Government through Ausaid is to provide eight million to help improve the technical skills of the Timorese youths. The Minister for Education has signed an agreement with the Australian Government about providing the funds on Monday (18/8) at the Ministry of Education.
State Secretary for Professional Training and Employment Bendito do Santos Freitas said the agreement was important to professionalize the youths in future. The Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Heyword, said there was a possibility for his Government to continue providing scholarships for the Timorese to continue their studies.
Horta calls on security forces to continue cooperating with ISF and UN - TVTL
President Jose Ramos Horta has called on the Timorese Security Forces, Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL), and National Police (PNTL) to continue cooperating with the International stabilization forces (ISF) and the UN police in restoring peace and stability in the country.
Horta made the calls today during a speech marking the ceremony for commemorating the day of Timorese Liberation Army (FALINTIL) at the Palace of the Government. Horta also thanked F-FDTL and PNTL that had been successful in the joint operation and were able to concentrate all the petitioners.
Horta stressed the F-FDTL and PNTL should keep building good cooperation with the ISF and UN police in the country, because they had been good friends of the country's security forces.
Horta calls for F-FDTL and PNTL to abide by mission - RTL
President Jose Ramos Horta has called for the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) and National Police (PNTL) to abide by their mission to secure both internal and external threats. The president said F-FDTL and PNTL should show good performance in conducting their duties within the community, so that people could respect them.
Horta made the calls today during a speech marking the ceremony for commemorating day of Timorese National Liberation Army known as FALINTIL at the Palace of the Government. Horta expressed appreciation to the F-FDTL's Command that stood firmly with the spirit of the constitution to defend their institution during the country's crises in 2006.
Horta also thanked the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) and the UN for their security assistances during the country's recent crises.
Timorese intelligence service still weak, says Gusmao - TVTL
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said the country's recent crises in 2006 had showed the country's intelligence service were still weak, therefore it needed to be improved. The prime minister made the comments today after participating in the ceremony of the commemoration day of Timorese National Liberation Army (FALINTIL) at the Palace of the Government.
Gusmao said if the country's intelligence service was good, he did trusted that President Horta was not shot by the rebels. Therefore, there should be training to be provided for the country's intelligence services, so that skills of its members could be improved. Gusmao added Timor-Leste still needed presence of the United Nations in the country, because security situation of the country was still volatile.
Gusmao calls on defense force to guarantee security - RTL
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has called on the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) to maintain and guarantee security in the country based on the compromises and efforts made in the past.
The prime minister made the calls this morning after participating ceremony for the commemoration day of Timorese National Liberation Army known as FALINTIL at the Palace of the Government. Gusmao said F-FDTL as the country's defense force should abide by the constitution and the law about security.
Gusmao added the Government and other state bodies were currently holding discussion on the defense and security policy making.
Falantil Day celebrated - RTL
To commemorate FALINTIL Day celebrated today (20/8), The President of the National Parliament Fernando Lasama appealed to all Timorese citizens to honour the legacy of heroes who had contributed and sacrificed so much for the Independence of the country. A Fretilin MP also appealed to the PNTL and F-FDTL to maintain the integrity of what the heroes had sacrificed for by contributing to the betterment of the country.
AMP rejects ISF presence - STL
Some Government MPs have rejected the continuing presence of the International Stabilization Forces (ISF), arguing that the ISF is no longer needed given the increasingly stable security environment. CNRT MP Eduardo Barreto said that he believes its time for the ISF to go. Democratic Party MP Gertrudes Moniz said that it was time to hand over full responsibility of national defense to the national forces. Social Democratic Party MP Fernando Gusmao said that he had full faith in the PNTL and F- FDTL to maintain peace and stability.
UNMIT commemorates 5th year of de Mello's death - STL
The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) yesterday commemorated the 5 year anniversary of the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad Iraq that killed many UN staff, including former Special Representative of Secretary-General (SRSG) Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Mr de Mello had led the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET). The commemoration included a minute of silence led by Acting SRSG Finn Reske-Nielsen and was attended by President Jose Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao among other high level Government members.
Horta demands respect over budget promulgation fiasco - TP
President Ramos-Horta has demanded that MPs respect him as the Head of State. The President made these remarks in relation to comments made over the recent promulgation fiasco. The President warned MPs that he would retaliate if provoked.
Fretilin accused of fomenting instability - TP
PSD MP Fernando Gusmao has accused Fretilin of fomenting instability through their submission to the Court of Appeals over the constitutionality of the rectified budget. Mr Gusmao said this showed the party has no intention to contribute to the development and stability of the country. In response, Fretilin MP Estanislau da Silva said that Fretilin has always worked to develop the nation and free the people from poverty. Mr da Silva further said that Court of Appeals did not make a decision on the Economic Stabilization Fund, but on the decree law creating the fund.
Government will be responsible for the 12 November victims - TVTL
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said that the government will take into consideration the demands of the victims and the families of the massacres that took place in the Santa Cruz cemetery on 12 November 1991. The PM promised that the Government would support efforts to find the sites were victims of the massacre were buried.
PNTL officers suspended for misuse of funds - TVTL
The Minister of Defence and Security has suspended eight PNTL officers who were found to have misused funds during the Joint Operation Command. The officers have been suspended for three months and will have their salaries reduced. The Prime Minster said that the decision to suspend the officers was based on the results of an investigation into the Joint Operation.
Government won't tolerate PNTL who break the law - TVTL
The Minister of Defence and Security has said that he will not tolerate PNTL officers who break the law. This comment was made in relation to the performance of an officer who had organized some youth to attack the police station in Fatumeta on 17 July 2008. The officer responsible was suspended for forty five days during which he did not receive a salary. The Minister said that these measures were part of the reform the Government wanted to initiate in the PNTL.
Prosecutor-General defends secrecy around report - RTL
The Prosecutor-General, Longuinos Monteiro, has defended the decision of the Public Ministry to not publicise the report on the 11 February events as the investigation is sill ongoing. Mr Monteiro said that the report would be revealed once the investigation had ended and the evidence presented to the courts.
Alkatiri doubts ability of AMP to deliver pipeline to TV - Diario Nacional
Fretilin's Secretary-General Mari Alkatiri said that he doesn't believe the Government will be able to convince the Australian Government to create a pipeline to Timor-Leste. According to Mr Alkatiri, the Government's words cannot be backed with concrete action as there does not exist any current mechanism or law to create such a pipeline.
Telecommunications law prepared - Tiimor Post
The Minister of Finance Emilia Pires has confirmed that the Government has created a decree law for communications which would allow another telecommunications company to compete with Timor Telecom. Minister Pires said that the new policy would allow for constructive competition.
Horta: I had signed the budget before going abroad - TVTL
The following text is the statement made by President Horta prior to his departure for China and The Philippines. The Statement shows that President Horta did indeed state that he had promulgated the rectifying budget.
"I know that I will be returning today on 15 August 2008. I signed it [the budget] very quickly because I had to leave very urgently and because I thought that the Court of Appeals had to make a decision in a very short time. Also, I did not want this law to be pending on my return. So, at that time I signed a lot of things and there were a lot of meetings in my office so my staff forgot and gave me the documents to be signed and their obligation was to deliver those documents to the National Parliament (NP). And my idea was to give opportunity to the Court of Appeals to make up its mind. I put forward my concern about the rectifying budget but it was not my prerogative to veto the budget from the government because it was debated in the NP and when the NP approves a budget, I am not entitled to veto it. Regarding the petition from the opposition parties, it was only about the decree law for the economic stabilization fund; it was not about the economic stabilization fund," he said.
F-FDTL, PNTL and ISF will continue collecting weapons - TVTL
At a trilateral meeting held yesterday, the State Secretary of Defence Julio Tomas Pinto said that while many weapons had already been handed over, the PNTL, F-FDTL and ISF would continue their cooperation to continue collecting illegal weapons. Mr Pinto also said that an ultimatum would be given for those suspected of keeping illegal weapons as according to intelligence data collected from the PNTL and F-FDTL, there are many people still hiding weapons. As specified, the deadline of the weapons collection campaign ended on 15 August 2008.
Horta asks ISF should stay in Timor until December - TP
President Jose Ramos-Horta has asked the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to stay in the country until December. The President said that such requests were made based on an internal security evaluation made by the National Parliament and the United Nations. The President also said that Timor-Leste still needs the presence of the ISF while reducing the United Nations Police force.
Government violates human rights - TP
The Association of Human Rights has said that they believe human rights violations against prisoners to have occurred in Timor- Leste, including against those rebels who are being detained in preventive prison in Becora with no judgment. The Director of Human Rights Association Jose Luis Oliveira said that the Dili District Court has detained many people in prison but the trial process is taking a very long time.
He also said that while many international judges have been contracted by the government to undertake the trial process, they however have not carried out their duties properly as many cases are still pending, including the February 11 cases. He said that he believes this to be a human rights violation by the Government.
PGR has to 'out' February 11 protagonists - TP
Former Prime Minister and Secretary-General of Fretilin Mari Alkatiri is strongly demanding that the Prosecutor-General publicise the results of the investigation into the events of February 11. Mr. Alkatiri said that it is very important for the public to know why Alfredo had to die in President Horta's residence, and who was responsible for shooting the President.
The former Prime Minister said that even though Alfredo has died, his death is still mysterious. Mr. Alkatiri has further questioned why not one person was injured in the Prime Ministers convoy despite many shots been taken at the convoy.
UNPol still marks presence in Timor - STL and DN
The Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Timor-Leste Finn Reske-Nielsen said that after handing over powers to the PNTL, UNPol will still continue backing the national police force. Mr. Reske-Nielsen said that currently, the UN SRSG had not recommended reducing the numbers of the UN Police. As such, the executive powers of policing in Timor-Leste were still being held by the PNTL.
PM asks public servants to use scholarship well - TVTL
The Prime Minister has said that public servants who were awarded with scholarship must study hard and return to their post successfully. The Prime Minister confirmed that the Government has sent fifty four public servants to study in Indonesia to help build their capacity to serve and develop the country. The Minister of Economics and Development Joao Goncalves said that the training is very important for all public servants and wish the scholarship participants well.
Illegal weapons handed over to PNTL in Viqueque - TVTL
The population of Viqueque District have voluntarily handed over their illegal weapons to the PNTL District Commander Justino Menezes. The weapons included bullets, ammunition, hand grenades and riffles. Mr Menezes said that such traditional weapons were voluntarily handed over by people in each sub-district of the Viqueque. It is planned that all collected weapons will be destroyed on the anniversary of the Popular Consultation Day celebrated on 30 August.
400 more IDP families return home - TVTL
More than four hundred IDP families of the Minor Seminary of Balide IDP Camp have returned to their communities. The Minister of Social Solidarity Domingas Alves said that the decision of the IDPs to return home has contributed to the country's future development. Separately, Camp Manager Antoninho dos Santos said that they are happy with the reintegration program of the Government but are still concerned about the safety of the IDPs once they return to their communities.
Salvador Martins: Ready to pay gambling tax - TVTL
Salvador Martins 'Mauhoka', a gambler in Dili, said that he would be ready to pay a gambling tax. Mauhoka, responsible for running the gambling game bola guling, said that he would agree to pay a gambling tax if a gambling law was passed in the country. He said that as a result of the Government clamp down on gambling, the 3000 people he employs will lose their jobs. Mauhoka is currently preparing a petition to ask the Government to reactivate gambling in Dili.
Weapons collection campaign ends - TP and DN
The Operational Commander of PNTL Mateus Fernandes said that during the weapon's collection campaign, the public had voluntarily handed over traditional weapons to the operation team in every district. Separately, the State Secretary for the Council of Ministers Agio Pereira said that the Council of Ministers will have a congress with the Prime Minister to announce the result of this campaign and whether there is a possibility for extending the campaign.
Election of local chiefs cancelled - RTL, TP and STL
The President of CNE Faustino Cardoso said that the National Commission of Electoral (CNE) will not be holding elections this year for Chefe Sucos, Chefe Aldeias and Conselho do Sucos. Mr Cardoso said that the elections were being stalled by a lack of time, funding and preparation.
PNTL compelled to participate in dialogue - TVTL
The PNTL Commander will take measures against former PNTL officers who had sided with Alfredo during the 2006 crisis if they do not participate in a PNTL-led dialogue. The State Secretary of Security Francisco Guterres said this meeting was supposed to be held last week but was postponed as ten PNTL officers were absent. Mr Guterres confirmed that notification letters had been issued to the absentees and warned that action would be taken against them if they failed to participate.
PNTL cracks down on rice price fixing - RTL
PNTL commander Mateus Fernandes said yesterday that The Minister for Tourism had sent a notification letter last Tuesday to the Dili PNTL Commander regarding rice importers. The letter had asked the Dili District Commander to find a mechanism to investigate those companies, especially the Tropical Company, who were importing rice without licenses. Mr Fernandes said that these companies were also to be investigated for price fixing.
Australia asked to help reduce illegal fishing in Timor waters - RTL
The State Secretary for Defense Julio Tomas Pinto said yesterday that the Defense Department would inform the Council of Ministers of their request to the Australian maritime ships to control illegal fisheries on the Timor Sea. Mr Pinto said that the while the Australian Government was ready to support the maritime ships, they were awaiting authorization from the Timorese Goverment to do so. Mr Pinto said that such cooperation between Australian and Timor-Leste was very important to reducing the incidents of illegal fishing.
F-FDTL salary to be increased - TP
The State Secretary for Defense Julio Tomas Pinto said that he would present the F-FDTL salary law to the Council of Ministers before being being sent for approval to the national parliament. Mr Pinto confirmed that each solider would receive a basic salary of $170 per month. Each solider would also receive an extra $40 for accommodation costs and $15 for transport costs.
Airport IDPs happy with recovery funds - TP
The majority of airport IDPs are happy with the Government's recovery funds said IDPs Antonio Sarmento and Carlos Filipe. These former IDPs said that the money would go a long way to rebuilding their homes.
Process to buy 65 luxury cars should be transparent - DA
CNRT Chief Eduardo Barreto announced yesterday that he has asked the Finance Minister to present the document to purchase the 65 luxury cars to the public. Mr Barreto said that it was important that the details of the purchases be clarified.
11 suspects identified involving money break-in - TVTL and RTL
The Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro said that he has identified 11 suspects who were involved in illegally taking money from the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL). "We went through the process of investigation and we have identified 11 suspects who involved in the theft," said PG Monteiro. He said that 31 eye witnesses have been interviewed to provide information about the case.
Florindo: Reduce the poverty, not distribute money - DN
Fretilin's MP Osorio Florindo said that some leaders want to reduce poverty by providing money, goods and rice; others want development. "When we conduct monitoring at the community level, they receive money and rice, this is not fair," said MP Osorio. He asked the government to use a clear concept of development.
Separately, MP Domingos da Costa from ASDT said that he accepts the government's plan and programs of providing money and rice as the majority people of the country are in the poverty.
Fretilin & KOTA preoccupied with the ESF - TVTL
As the opposition in the national parliament, Fretilin and KOTA preoccupied with the economic stabilization funds (ESF), the Director of Peace of Justice of Baucau Diocese Father Martinho Gusmao said that both the current government [AMP] and the opposition are the same as neither know about the legality of using the ESF.
"It is not a problem for me if the Court rules the ESF is unconstitutional. However, I believe that Mr Claudio [the president of the Court of Appeal] has capacity to make an effective decision," said Fr. Gusmao.
He also said that MPs in the National Parliament seemed to not stand for the people [they represent] but are only using their political interest to insult each other.
Pakistan Minister of Finance of Pakistan discusses the ESF - TP and DN
President of the National Parliament Fernando Lasama welcomed the former Minister of Finance of Pakistan Dr. Hafiz Hamed Pasha to discuss and share ideas about the economy issues of the country, including the economic stabilization funds (ESF).
Horta signs MoU during visit to Philippines - RTL
President Jose Ramos-Horta on his visit to Philippines has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of bilateral cooperation with the Government of Philippines on education, fisheries and diplomatic training.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Zacarias Albano said that the bilateral cooperation will also enable the Philippines' government to support TL in aviation and will welcome TL students who want to continue their studies in the Philippines.
"Hafiz is an economist, he said that Timor-Leste has a good chance to improve and develop its future. About the ESF, I told him that the parliament authorized the government to execute the budget as needed," said Lasama.
Regarding the demands of the opposition, Lasama said that the decision of the court should be made fairly, to not only cover legal aspects but also based on the reality of the country.
PNTL to stop illegal gambling in Dili - STL
The Deputy Commander of PNTL Dili district Delfin da Silva stated that PNTL has started to stop any illegal gambling spread in Dili. "We know that the big problems in Dili are coming from the illegal gambling, such cases may create conflicts against humanity," said Inspector Delfin.
Salsinha's case pended, awaiting ballistic exam - STL
The Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro said that Salsinha's case will be proceeding to the Court as the ballistic examination is finished. Related to Alfredo's mobile phone and lap top, the Prosecutor-General said that he does not have the laptop, mobile phones and the sim card is in Australia. Prosecutor Monteiro said that Alfredo's Sim card was sent to Australia to find out some information which might no discovered in Timor Telecom.
Guterres visits border - TVTL
State Secretary for Security Fransisco Guterres said yesterday that Prime Minister Gusmao had authorized him to visit the border to observe the conditions of the PNTL Immigration Team and the training they were receiving. Mr Guterres said that the objective of the visit was to assess the many problems faced by the team over the past year, including a lack of facilities, so as to assist with improving their conditions. Mr Guterres added that the PNTL Commander was looking for a mechanism to hold a dialogue with the PNTL members who had joined Alfredo's group.
PNTL to stop illegal gambling - TVTL
PNTL Commander Pedro Belo said yesterday that the PNTL will begin an operation to stop illegal gambling groups from next Tuesday. Mr Belo appealed to the public, particularly Dili residents, to stop all forms of illegal gambling, including Kuru-kuru, SDSB, and Bola gulling. He warned that under law 303, the PNTL were authorized to arrest any person caught gambling the illegal games and that sentences could be as long as 10 years. Mr Belo added that the operation to stop the illegal gambling would start in the areas of Komoro, Becora, Bebora and Merkado Lama.
Sentence for Myanmar prisoners reduced - RTL
The PNTL Director of the Immigration Team Jose da Costa said yesterday stated that the tribunal had decided to reduce the preventive sentence for two Myanmar citizens for a month as the prisoners were facing economic problems. He did warn however that the prisoners had to present themselves at the immigration office in two weeks time.
Fretilin accuses PM of threatening court of appeals - STL and TP
Fretilin President Francisco "Lu-olo" Guterres said that Fretilin has demanded that the Prime Minister stop his attempts to manipulate the judicial process regarding the pending case of the Economic Stabilization Funds (ESF). Fretilin has accused the Government of making political threats against the Court to force a decision in favour of the Government. Fretilin warned that the Government should expect demonstrations should the Court decide that the use of the ESF was constitutional.
Baucau hands over bullets - RTL
The Police Commander of Baucau PNTL Armindo Faria confirmed that the community of Kaisa Klandestina in Larigua Suco Buibau, Baucau had handed over more then 600 bullets including SKS bullets, Maujer bullets, and F-16 bullets to PNTL, UNPol, F-FDTL and ISF last Saturday. According to Mr Faria, the bullets were part of the weaponry used during the struggle for independence.
Media shouldn't be afraid to criticize government - DA, TP
On the first anniversary of the AMP Government, the Prime Minister has told journalists that they shouldn't be afraid to criticize the Government. The PM said that he believed criticisms would strengthen the Government. He did ask however that journalists also act responsibility and impartially when criticizing the Government.
Fretilin asks for investigation into promulgation fiasco - DA, TP
Fretilin has asked for an investigation into the events surrounding the promulgation of the budget. According to Fretilin, President Ramos-Horta had issued strict instructions to his office to not publish the rectifying budget before the results of the Tribunal examining the constitutionality of the budget was revealed. Fretilin have said that while they believe that the President did not intend to promulgate the budget, they do believe a member of his cabinet was responsible for publishing it against the President's wishes.
UNMIT congratulates PM on success of AMP government - TP
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General Atul Khare has congratulated the AMP government on its first anniversary of taking office. The SRSG said that on behalf of the UN Mission, he hoped the Government would continue to perform well for the next five years.
Judgment on suspects postponed - TP
Prosecutor Felismino Cardoso has presented a list of 12 new suspects for the 23 May cases alleged to have been involved in attacking F-FDTL members in Fatuhai. Mr Cardoso has asked the tribunal to postpone their cases until 16 October as the General Prosecutor's office hasn't finished the investigations.
PNTL to work for peace and stability - RTL
PNTL Interim Commander Afonso de Jesus said the role of the PNTL was to maintain law and law and to cooperate with community members in order to develop the nation. Mr de Jesus added that both the PNTL and F-FDTL should have unity to guarantee peace and stability.
Buried corpses remain hidden - RTL
The Australian and Argentinian Foreign Seek Team have excavated some sites in Tibar believed to hold corpses of massacre victims. The team, composed of members from Victoria University, Argentina and CFDT, have been assisting the families of victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz mascara. The families had long believed that a number of the people who had died in the massacre were buried in Tibar. No evidence of the murdered victims were found.
UNPol will not reduce strength - STL
UNMIT Spokesperson Alison Cooper said yesterday during a press conference that the UN mission in Timor-Leste was not planning to reduce the size of the UN Police over the next six months. Ms Cooper added that this was a decision made by the UN Security Council in New York.
PNTL reformed on Timor-style model - STL
The State Secretary for Security said that the PNTL will be reformed on a model appropriate for the Timor context. He suggested that the model would be one that would instill a strong sense of community in the PTNL, emphasizing a discipline for PNTL members and respect and cooperation with the community.
Fernando Gusmao: Government may execute the ESF - DN
PSD MP Fernando Dias Gusmao said yesterday that whilst the opposition parties of Fretilin, AD and PUN consider the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) as an illegal budget, the Government has a legal base to execute it given that it has already been promulgated by the President of the Republic.
According to Mr Gusmao, the petition of illegality presented by the opposition parties to the Courts of Appeal was about the decree law of the establishment of the ESF, not the rectifying budget. As such, even if the Court of Appeals recognized the ESF as unconstitutional, it will not implicate the rectifying budget approved by the Parliament as the Parliament has the competence to approve any draft budget.
Fretilin will accept court's decision - DN
Fretilin MP Aniceto Guterres said that Fretilin will accept the decision of the Court of Appeals over the legality of the Economic Stabilization Funds (FEE) when the decision is made. Mr Guterres said that it was important to uncover why the Government had established the FEE.
Fretilin and AMP agree to extend UN forces in TL - DN, TP and STL
Related to recent statements made by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Josi Ramos-Horta on the UNPol mission in Timor-Leste, Democratic Party MP Vital dos Santos said that the National Parliament supports an extension of UNPol in the country.
MP Vital said that he believes that the nation will continue to face political instability until 2011, and as such, requires the presence of UNPol. CNRT MP Virginia Belo concurred with MP Vital, saying that she believed that Timor-Leste still required UNPols to assist the PNTL.
IDPs at Comoro to return home today - DN
IDP Representative of the Comoro Airport Camp Paulino da Costa said that the IDPs have begun to return to their communities today (8/6) as per the Government's recovery's policy. He also said that it was the Government's responsibility to provide security for the returned IDPs.
The contract of buying 26 cars for MPs still secret - DN
Fertilin and KOTA MPs are concerned that the contract for purchasing luxury cars for MPs is still being kept a secret. Fretilin Vice President Francisco Branco said that despite all the talk of transparency, the Government has shown no transparency in this process. It is not even known if the cars have been transported to Timor-Leste yet.
Government should present list of weapons - Timor Post
Ex-prime minister Estanislao Aleixo da Silva said that he believes the Government should provide a list of weapons lost in the 2006 crisis before forcing civilians to hand over their weapons. Responding to questions about the use of illegal weapons by Fretilin, Mr da Silva denied that Fretilin members had ever used or kept illegal weapons.
Ban Ki-Moon won't withdraw UNPol from Timor - TP, DA and STL
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Timor-Leste Atul Khare has confirmed that the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon has no plans to withdraw the United Nations Police (UNPol) from Timor-Leste.
"The meeting I had with the President Ramos-Horta was positive. I informed him about the meeting I am going to attend in New York and mentioned that the Secretary General does not want to withdraw UNPol from Timor-Leste," said SRSG Khare on Monday (4/8) in the Presidential Office Farol, Dili.
SRSG Khare said that he will talk to the UN Security Council about security and the general situation in Timor-Leste following the events of February 11.
Related to the 100 Day Peace Campaign in the lead to the International Day of Peace celebrated on 21 September, SRSG Khare said that peace starts with every person.
"The word peace comes from our innerself. From this we can communicate with our community and other people. So when we build peace inside us, we start to build peace in the nation," said the SRSG.
Rai Los to leave for Indonesia - TP
The lawyer of Rai Los, Jose Pedro, confirmed yesterday that Rai Los will be going to Indonesia to receive medical treatment. He said that US$2.290.00 had been allocated for this treatment but that the funds would be kept and dispersed by the Government.
L7: All veterans have surrendered their weapons - TP
The president of UNDERTIM party Cornelio Gama (former commander of the resistance) 'L7' confirmed that all veterans have handed in their weapons during the previous cantonment in Aileu district. Mr Gama said that these weapons are now being kept by the F-FDTL in their container. He also suggested that F-FDTL commanders should invite all veterans to pose in front of the weapons during an official hand-over to the State.
No amnesty for people who have weapons - DA
MP Aniceto Guterres said that people who possess illegal weapons should surrender them to the authorities. MP Guterres appealed for members of the public to provide information on illegal weapons to the authorities and the United Nations.
PDHJ to investigate Lucia Lobato and Mariano Sabino - STL
Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato and the Minister of Agriculture Mariano Assanami Sabino are to be investigated by The Provedor of Human Rights (PDHJ) over corruption allegations. PDHJ Amandio Benevides said yesterday that he will carry out an investigation based on information he received about the two ministers.
Nino Konis Santana National Park inaugurated - TP
The Government of Timor-Leste has inaugurated the nation's first national park, The Nino Konis Santana National Park, on Friday (1/8) in sub-district Tutuala, Lautem. The wonderful natural park was inaugurated by the President of the National Parliament Fernando Lasama and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. The park covers an area of 123,600 hectares and encompasses Com, Tutala to Lore and the Lautem District.
PM Xanana said that the park preserve Timor-Leste's natural resources for future generations. "Across the world we hear about climate change. It is changing because we destroy our forestsSometimes we talk about money and oil, but nature is very important to our lives. Let the forests and the animals be as they are. It is time for them to be free, they are our wealth...," said PM Gusmao.
15 August deadline set for weapons collection campaign - DN
In his message on the national Weapons Collection Campaign, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has set the deadline for all people to hand in their illegal weapons as 15 August. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said that the campaign is being led by UNPol, PNTL and F- FDTL who will be collecting illegal weapons across the until 15 August,
The PM said that the principal objective of such a campaign is to make the country as secure as possible for everyone. "I appeal to all people who have weapons to hand them in before 15 August. If they do not, they will be arrested," said the Prime Minister.
Horta returns from long trip abroad - TP
Upon returning from his long trip abroad, President Jose Ramos- Horta has said that he believes many countries will continue to support Timor-Leste. PR Horta met with the President of the European Union, Durao Barosso, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the President and Prime Minister of Portugal.
Editorial: It's difficult for MP to access Alfredo's mobile and laptop? - TP
Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro has said that Alfredo's mobile phone and laptop was taken to Australia to be investigated by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). What kind of investigation is this?
If they just need copies of Alfredo's documents, why couldn't they open documents in Dili? If they want the numbers and text messages from his mobile, why didn't they do this from Dili? We agree MP Mario Viegas Carrascalao's that the argument of the Prosecutor-General should be rejected.
Also, as the former Minister of Justice Domingos Sarmento said, "Many people will want to interfere with the Public Ministry. I hope that the facts will no be skewed to accuse other people." We need to be alert. There are many things that are kept from us the public, but reviled to others.
MSS discriminates IDPs - STL
The Airport IDP Coordinator Carlito da Silva said to journalists that he is concerned that the IDP youths at this camp only received $100 when IDP youths from other camps received $200. It is for this reason, Mr da Silva said, that the IDPs would not return home. Separately, the IDP Coordinator from Motael camp Maria Auxiliadora da Costa complained that the government has verified the 400 IDPs registered in the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
Reactive budget increased to more than 778 million - TP
The 2008 reactive budget of US$778.312 million has been officially approved by the National Parliament. Fretilin bench voted against the reactive budget related to the establishment of Economy Establishment Funds (FEE) of US$240 million. Fretilin considers the FEE as an illegal source of funding. The party has raised this issue with the Court of Appeals. In response, the Prime Minister has said that the government is ready to face any accusations.
Carrascalao: Reactive budget unnecessary - TP
The President of Social Democratic Party (PSD) Mario Viegas Carrascalao has said that he does not believe the bulk of the reactive budget to be necessary for Timor-Leste. He said that he would consider resigning from the AMP if he sees that the Government's programs are not running well.
However, CNRT MP Dusai Barreto is confident that the Government will execute the budget properly as it did with the last transition budget [more than 91%]. In response to this, PD MP Vital dos Santos said he believes that it is too early to judge the how well the Government has executed the budget. "If the entire budget is not executed by the end of the year, than there will be a carryover," said Mr dos Santos. "In this case, the Government does not deserve to get big budget."
Government to implement decentralization in 2009 - STL
The Minister of State Administration and Territory Ordainment Arcangelo Leite said that the AMP Government is serious in its plans to begin decentralizing in 2009. Next year the government will implement a decentralization policy by changing districts to municipals.
Mr Leite said that local governments will have their own representatives to take political decisions. "The Municipal has a Head who will have the power to make decision; the current district administrators are only able to implement what has already been decided by the central government," said Minister Leite on Thursday (31/8) in Pantai Kelapa.
Carrascalao: I will detain corrupt people - STL
PSD President Mario Viegas Carrascalao declared yesterday that if he was appointed to be President of Anti-Corruption Commission he would detain any person involved in corruption, including Ministers. Mr Carrascalao also warned the Government against adopting Indonesia-style anti-corruption laws.
Silveiro Pinto: Military prison confuse population - STL
The Provider of Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ) Silveiro Pinto said yesterday that the existence of a military prison in this country will create confusion amongst the population. "People will be confused as to whether the military prisoners are being detained in the military prison as civil prisoners in Becora or not", said Mr Pinto.
[Compiled by the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). Abbreviation of media sources: [DL - Diario Nacional, RTL - Radio Timor-Leste, STL - Suara Timor Lorosa'e, TP - Timor Post, TVTL - Televisao Timor Leste.]