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East Timor News Digest 10 – October 1-31, 2008
Deutsche Presse Agentur - October 16, 2008
Dili – Last week on eBay a search for East Timor would have come
up with a black, wooden, hand-carved statue of a male, not quite
a metre high.
At 150 US dollars it was by far the most expensive object from
East Timor, and one might have wondered why. Perhaps it was only
a replica of a centuries-old sacred clan totem believed to
represent ancestors. Or, maybe it was the real thing. Either way,
it's gone now.
In East Timor, one of the poorest countries in Asia, everything
– even the sacred – has a dollar value. With poorly enforced
protection laws foreign sales of Timorese artefacts are not rare
on eBay. Though eBay isn't the only way Timor loses its history.
Peter Lape, the curator of archaeology of the Burke Museum at the
University of Washington in Seattle, has been making trips back
and forth to Timor since 2002. Through his field work studying
early rock art and fortified settlements and the work of a
handful of others it has been established that East Timor has
been peopled for at least 40,000 years and likely well before
then.
Today, a number of archaeologists believe that the first
Australians, Timor's southern neighbour, were in fact Timorese.
"I was drawn to Timor-Leste because it is historically important
to the region and the world," Lape said. "It was a place of
earliest human migrations from Africa to Australia and New
Guinea."
As the centre of this Asia-Pacific crossroads, Timor is an
important key in the history of human migration, "when we know
more about these early Timorese then we will know more about the
early settlers of Australia."
Lape has been questioning: Why is Timor-Leste so different from
Indonesia, and especially Maluku? How have people adapted to
Timor-Leste's unique climate and geography?
But to answer these questions is a race against time and
progress. In 1999 East Timor broke free after 24 years of
Indonesian occupation. It was an occupation known for its
secrecy. Westerners, feared to be spies, journalists or pro-
Timorese activists, were not especially welcome in the province.
Much archaeological work was put on pause during those years.
Now, trying to catch up, Lape says he can see valuable sites
disappear as the country opens up to the world and readjusts
itself after 24 years of conflict.
"Sites are everywhere, but people often don't recognize them when
they are building things – or if they do, only after it is too
late to save them," he said.
Since 2005 Lape has been studying the ruins of a 5,000-year-old
village at the eastern tip of the island. The site is as far from
Dili, East Timor's capital, as one can get – there is no phone
service, electricity or internet, but only jungle and sea,
fishing villages and farmland.
In these parts the biggest threat to preservation is not eBay –
it's the locals. "The site I worked on in Ira Ara, for example,
was already half destroyed because people had been digging away
at it to get stones and soil to build a small chapel," he said.
The Timorese government is responding to these threats. In August
most of the districts in which Lape works were dedicated as the
Nino Konis Santana National Park – East Timor's first.
Pedro Pinto, the director of the park, said the government is
making an effort to protect everything it can through better
local awareness and management.
"We are preparing a plan for management of the [archaeological]
sites," Pinto said. "This will be a guide to preserving the sites
for future managers."
In August Pinto hired Adelino Rogario to conduct awareness
trainings for the 10,000 estimated Timorese living within the
national park.
Unlike national parks in many developed countries which are empty
of villages, East Timor's national park is speckled throughout
with isolated collections of thatched huts. Rogario said those
communities, scattered across mountain, marsh and jungle, are
needed.
The park is 126,000 hectares big and is currently overseen by
only a handful of forest guards. So Rogario conducts his
trainings to get communities on board as a vital first line of
protection.
"These sites are something valuable to the Timorese, something
which is ours," said Rogario. "But first we must protect, then
conserve and then promote." That is, once the sites are found.
Rogario said that he estimated there are many archaeologically
important sites still nestled in mountain crags or smothered by
the virgin lowland rainforest.
Even as Timor seeks to protect these wild, historically vital
areas, the country is eager to develop.
In the middle of the district is a large lake that has been
picked as the site for a hydroelectric power plant and each year
the nation spends more on roads and bridges which bring jobs to
impoverished local economies and perhaps later, hundreds of
tourists.
Preserving the past is a race against the future, Lape said.
Tourists can bring poorly planned development schemes and, too
often, looters of archeological sites.
"Looting of objects for sale has been a growing problem in
South-East Asia, during Indonesian times and even now, many
cultural objects were stolen and sold on the global antiquities
market," said Lape.
Nuno Oliveira, an advisor to the secretary of state for culture,
is leading a team of Timorese across the country armed with GPS
devices with which he says they will collect data on sites of
historical and cultural significance and store it online.
The locations of the oldest, most sacred places in Timor will be
recorded and then the sites will be assessed in terms of
importance to the community and antiquity, among other criteria.
But Oliveira is a realist and he said despite his work change is
slow and in coming years even more sites could be destroyed or
badly damaged. It gives his work urgency. "At least we'll have
some information out there, before this stuff is destroyed
forever," he said.
Prensa Latina - October 10, 2008
Dili – East Timor celebrated Cuba's Independence day within the
World Drive Against the Blockade with a new telephone line
(roaming) joining both countries.
Engineer Jose Brandao, manager of Timor Telecom, said October 10
means freedom for Cuba and Ambassador Ramon Hernandez helped
boost it through bilateral communications with a call to the main
offices of ETECSA telephone company.
Ambassador Hernandez called the roaming contribution from the
field of communications, within the World Drive, to breach the
near 50-year unfair and failed US Blockade of Cuba.
The diplomat reminded that Cuba will address late this month for
the 17th time the UN General Assembly on the Cuban resolution
stressing on the need to end this unilateral measure.
The roaming Timor Leste-Cuba inauguration also involved local
officials from communications, social and state-run institutions,
relatives of Timorans studying in Cuba and Cuban collaborators.
February 11 shooting
Politics/political parties
Social conflicts/refugees
Independence struggle
Agriculture & food security
UNMIT/ISF
Human rights/law
Catholic Church/religion
Police/military
Opinion & analysis
East Timor daily media
News & issues
East Timor sells off its artefacts, history
East Timor honors Cuban independence day
Former prime minister of East Timor visits President Yudhoyono
Tempo Interactive - October 1, 2008
Kurniasih Budi/Ninin Damayanti, Jakarta – Former East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri visited President Yudhoyono during the Idul Fitri gathering at the presidential palace on Wednesday, after attending the Idul Fitri prayer at the Istiqlal Mosque.
The deposed prime minister did not explain the purpose of his visit and left the presidential palace after greeting the president continuing his visit to Vice President Kalla at the vice presidential office.
Alkatiri currently holds the post of Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) the rival party of National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) led by Xanana Gusmao.
Alkatiri was forced to resign from office in June 2006 after weeks of political unrest sparked by rebelling East Timor troops. A parliamentary election one year later brought Xanana Gusmao to the Prime Minister post.
| February 11 shooting |
Sydney Morning Herald - October 31, 2008
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's President, Jose Ramos- Horta, has found the man who shot and almost killed him, instantly recognising him during a visit to Dili's Becora jail.
"I stared at him. He turned away, embarrassed and couldn't look me in the eye," Mr Ramos-Horta told the Herald yesterday. "I have been waiting for him to come forward and confess his crimes."
Mr Ramos-Horta said the man he identified as having shot him twice in the back in Dili on February 11 was not Marcelo Caetano, the rebel named as his attacker who was hunted in East Timor's mountains by hundreds of soldiers, including Australia's SAS commandos. "Marcelo Caetano was wrongly accused," Mr Ramos-Horta said. "I never said it was him. It was a media beat-up."
Mr Ramos-Horta realised the mistake in April, when Caetano, a member of the gang of the renegade soldier Alfredo Reinado, surrendered with other rebels. Rather than "deep anger" showing on the face of the President when he met Caetano, as one Australian newspaper reported, Mr Ramos-Horta said he was upset that a dreadful mistake had been made.
Mr Ramos-Horta said the man who shot him was one of Reinado's gang, among a group of 22 rebels held in Becora jail until East Timor's prosecutor-general completes an investigation into the attacks. "Those rumours and innuendo that it was an element of [East Timor's army] or somebody else who shot me are absolutely wrong," he said.
Mr Ramos-Horta, who survived the attack after emergency surgery in Darwin, said he had not asked the name of the man he identified as his attacker.
"I await the legal process," he said. "If or when the prosecutor wants me to come face to face with the man in an identification parade, I will do it."
Mr Ramos-Horta said he saw the man from less than 20 metres. "I looked at the intent in his eyes and at that precise moment I turned to run and he shot me twice in the back."
He was not worried the investigation into the attacks was not complete. East Timorese knew the basic facts about what happened and prosecutions would begin in February.
"What they know is that the President was shot by elements of Alfredo Reinado on February 11," Mr Ramos-Horta said. Reinado and one of his men were shot dead at Mr Ramos-Horta's house.
Mr Ramos-Horta was visiting Darwin yesterday, where, in an address to the Parliament, he urged the Northern Territory to develop close ties with East Timor.
| Politics/political parties |
Canberra Times - October 26, 2008
Jenna Hand – East Timor's Opposition Leader has denied a rally of up to 70,000 anti-government protesters would breach the fragile peace in the South-East Asian nation.
Speaking ahead of his visit to Canberra this week, Mari Alkatiri said he did not believe a demonstration by Fretilin supporters would lead to riots of the kind seen in 2006, in which at least 37 people died. Fretilin has not named a date for its proposed march.
"The march itself will never destabilise the country," he said. "It is a way for the people to feel free that finally there are free demonstrations without violence... It is our constitutional right."
Dr Alkatiri said the purpose of the march was to protest against Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's "unconstitutional" and "corrupt" government. "I think the Government needs to know that people are aware of the corruption. It is time for the people to say something, but peacefully," he said.
The Fretilin opposition party maintains it was cheated in last year's parliamentary election, which was overseen by the United Nations. "We won the election in 2007 and we did not have the opportunity to govern," Dr Alkatiri said, adding that the international election scrutineers "knew Fretilin won the election".
He is calling for another election to take place next year rather than waiting until 2012 to challenge the Government.
The second secretary of the Embassy of Timor-Leste, Lisualdo Gaspar, said any allegations of government corruption needed to be substantiated by investigations and evidence.
Dr Alkatiri also denied his party was behind pamphlets circulating the capital that allege discrimination is rife within government institutions. "I think that it is groups that are close to the Government doing this. Xanana is really trying to divide the people," he said.
Last week, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced Australia would withdraw 100 troops from East Timor early next year, reducing the number of Australian personnel to 650. Dr Alkatiri said he would like to see all Australian troops removed by the end of 2009.
Dr Alkatiri will give a public lecture tomorrow at the ANU's Finkel Theatre in the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Garran Road, from 12.30pm-1.30pm.
ABC News Online - October 23, 2008
East Timor's Opposition Leader has rejected Government accusations that the Fretilin party is stoking security tensions by planning a mass demonstration.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says the Government will not hesitate to arrest violent demonstrators.
Mari Alkatiri has told Radio Australia it is Fretilin's democratic right to hold its so-called Peace March, just as it is the Government's right to arrest violent people. He says the Government was trying to blame others for its own mistakes.
"They've been trying to solve problems by using only money, but not to solve the political problems through political means, that they've failed," he said.
"The Government has failed at all levels, and they're trying to blame others for their own mistakes." Fretilin has not named a date for its mass demonstration.
Violence between eastern and western factions in East Timor flared in May 2006, killing 37 people and displacing 150,000 East Timorese.
Mr Alkatiri says his party was not behind an anonymous pamphlet circulating in Dili threatening more violence if a person from the island is named the new commander of the police force.
"Fretilin has nothing to do with this kind of issue," he said. "Xanana has to be blamed for this kind of 'east and west' in Timor Leste. He was the one in 2006 to divide the country into east and west, Xanana himself."
Reuters - October 22, 2008
Canberra – East Timor's government accused the opposition Fretilin party of stoking security tensions in the restive country Wednesday, as Australia announced plans for a limited troop withdrawal.
Security strains similar to those that caused a surge in regional and ethnic violence in 2006 have been rising in East Timor over recent weeks as the government tries to root out police corruption and appoint a new commander.
An anonymous leaflet has been circulating throughout the capital Dili threatening more of the east versus west violence that flared in May 2006, killing 37 people and driving 150,000 from their homes, if an easterner gets the police job.
Government spokesman Agio Pereira said Fretilin, the main opposition party, was "not helping the country to consolidate peace, harmony and stability" with plans for a march supposedly in support of peace, but actually dividing security forces.
"Any step to revisit regional East-West hostilities in Timor- Leste is unfortunate and unacceptable," Pereira said in a statement received by Reuters.
Also fuelling tensions was the arrest by United Nations police this month of Baucau police commander Aderito da Costa Ximenes over disciplinary issues in the country's second biggest city, located east of Dili.
Pereira said security in Dili had now been stepped up, and while Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was supportive of peaceful demonstrations, violence would not be tolerated.
Australia earlier Wednesday said it would reduce the number of peacekeeping troops it had in East Timor as security continued to improve.
"The East Timorese authorities have shown through their professional handling of the security situation that the time is now right for some drawdown," Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said.
East Timor has struggled to achieve stability since independence from Indonesia in 2002. In February, rebel soldiers carried out an unsuccessful attempt to kill President Jose Ramos Horta, who was wounded and flown to Australia for surgery. Gusmao escaped injury in the attack.
Fitzgibbon said about 100 Australian soldiers would return home early in 2009, leaving 650 in East Timor, forming the bulk of a 790-strong stabilization force that includes troops from New Zealand.
More than 2,500 foreign troops and police remain in the country to help local security forces maintain stability. (Editing by Bill Tarrant)
Agence France Presse - October 20, 2008
Dili – East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao threatened Monday to arrest protesters who respond to opposition calls for a mass antigovernment rally, amid concerns for the country's stability.
"We will arrest those involved in any protests for the sake of the nation's security," he said when asked about the rally planned by opposition party Fretilin.
"I don't care if people call me a dictator because our priority is stability and security for all citizens."
Opposition leader Mari Alkatiri, who claims the coalition government is unconstitutional, is threatening to stage a large protest to unseat Gusmao but so far no date has been set.
East Timor formally won independence from Indonesia on May 20, 2002 but its brief history has been marred by political unrest and infighting.
Unsigned pamphlets have also been circulating in the capital Dili threatening protests if an easterner is appointed the new police commander when the post becomes vacant in November.
Such claims of regional discrimination sparked a mass desertion by members of the armed forces, leading to fighting in 2006 between military, police factions and gangs in street violence that killed at least 37 people.
An Australian-led international peacekeeping force has been helping to secure the country in the wake of that violence.
Agence France Presse - October 12, 2008
An opposition plan for a massive march on East Timor's capital and rumours of tension in the police force are raising concerns of a return to instability in the tiny Southeast Asian nation.
An unsigned pamphlet has been circulated in Dili complaining of official discrimination against Timorese from the impoverished country's western region in favour of those from the east.
The pamphlet also threatened protests against the government if an easterner is appointed the new police commander when the post becomes vacant in November.
Such claims of regional discrimination sparked a mass desertion by members of the armed forces, leading to fighting in 2006 between military, police factions and gangs in street violence that killed at least 37 people.
With international troops still patrolling the streets in the wake of that violence that also forced thousands to flee their homes, rumours of a return to instability have caused jitters among some Timorese in the capital.
"I heard about the pamphlet and I'm worried that if (a protest by police against the government) happens than it's going to be worse than 2006," said a police officer, who resigned in the lead-up to trouble two years ago.
The opposition Fretilin party has also announced plans for a large protest against Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, repeating its long-standing claim that the formation of his coalition government in 2007 was against the constitution.
Opposition leader Mari Alkatiri has promised thousands of protesters will turn out, but has not yet set a date for the march.
The government has responded to both threats by stepping-up roadblocks in the capital and enforcing a ban on off-duty police officers taking their guns home with them.
President Jose Ramos-Horta, who survived an assassination attempt by rebel soldiers earlier this year, said he would not accept such a protest aimed at "criticising the legitimacy of the government".
Gusmao has discounted the likelihood of unrest but has also urged police to avoid politicking.
"The national police force must display a good attitude so they will be respected. Police officers must show that they are not just carrying out a job, but are willing to serve their country," the premier told AFP.
But deputy police commander Mateus Fernandes denied the pamphlet came from within police ranks, saying unnamed politicians were manufacturing the crisis for political gain.
"This pamphlet is like a dog barking so just let it be and it will quiet down by itself. Some politicians have launched this to realise their own interests via the police and have been using this issue of who will become the police commander," he said.
Edward Rees, a Dili-based analyst and former United Nations security adviser, said the tensions in the police force were not an immediate threat.
But he warned they would likely lay the groundwork for violence "within 12 to 24 months" of the departure of the roughly 2,500 international soldiers and police stabilising the country.
Rees said the pamphlet was part of a bitter internal power struggle in the police with strong parallels to similar tensions in 2004, which in turn helped lay the basis for the 2006 crisis.
"If this kind of agitation was going on in the absence of the 2,500 international soldiers and police that are here then you would have a problem."
A mass rally by Fretilin would be highly destablising but opposition leader Alkatiri is unlikely to carry through with his threat, Rees said.
Fretilin politicians and their backers are making too much money from government contracts to jeopardise that by staging a rally which is expensive to organise and could see contracts dry up, he said.
ABC News Online - October 7, 2008
East Timor's prime minster says he will not allow a new wave of instability as the opposition Fretilin party prepares for a demonstration in the capital Dili.
Our reporter in Dili, Stephanie March, says Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao is concerned Fretilin opposition party plans to mobilize tens of thousands of rural supporters to march to Dili could lead to renewed instability, similar to the crisis of 2006.
He says he while he welcomes peaceful political demonstrations, anyone involved in unlawful acts of violence, will be arrested and prosecuted, without exception.
Fretilin leaders say the peace march is not about attacking the government or causing instability, but an opportunity for their supporters to demonstrate their commitment to the ideals of peace, democracy and justice.
They plan to hold the march following a party reshuffle, but are yet to set an exact date.
There has been ongoing friction between the AMP government and the Fretilin opposition party who say the coalition is illegitimate.
Tempo Interactive - October 3, 2008
Jose Sarito Amaral, Jakarta – Prime Minister of East Timor Xanana Gusmao dismissed Fretilin's threat to bring in thousands of supporters to urge East Timor government to hold a general election, slamming the threat as a dream and no more than that of a kid.
Xanana spoke his response after Fretilin's Secretary General Mari Alkatiri expressed his demand while meeting Indonesia's top officials since Idul Fitri day on Wednesday. Alktiri met separately with President Yudhoyono, Vice President Kalla, and Muhamadiyah leader Din Syamsuddin in Jakarta.
Xanana who endured the independence war against Indonesia and survived recent killing attempt by rebelling East Timor troops led by Major Alfredo Reinado said the threat was a minor one.
Alkatiri was forced to resign in 2006 after riots sparked by rebelling troops based on the western part of the country over claims of being discriminated from their fellow troops on the eastern part of the country.
A recent report said that leaflets had been circulating in the capital Dili recently, ahead of the inauguration of the new East Timor Police Chief. The leaflets in English and local language Tetum reject the government choice of new police chief from the eastern part of te country and that there will be kidnappings on government official if the government install the new police chief.
The latest conflict follow a series of political unrest in the newest country in South East Asia which saw the murder attempt on President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao who took over the government after Alkatiri was deposed. Shady reports published days after the attack on President Horta said that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed during the attack.
An East Timor parliament spokesman Duarte Nunes reminded the public to stay calm amid the threat surrounding the installment of the new police chief, saying the leaflets were provocative.
Tempo Interactive - October 2, 2008
Famega Syafira/Wikipedia, Jakarta – Fretilin demanded a re- election in East Timor, the party Secretary General Mari Alkatiri said on Thursday when meeting the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin in Jakarta.
Alkatiri said the current East Timor government is unlegitimate and do not have a strong constitutional ground, "we want a re- election" Alkatiri stated.
Alkatiri claimed development was halted and conflict potentials have not been contained since he was deposed by his party rivals. He threatened to mobilize up to 200.000 supporters to push the government to hold a re-election imediately giving a maximum time of one month.
Fretilin reigned in May 2002 after the United Nation handed over the sovereignity of East Timor to the winning party on the August 2001 election.
Alkatiri was forced to resign in 2006 as unrest sparked by rebelling troops led by Major Alfredo Reinado. Reinado led the troops based on the western part of the country bordering Indonesia to raise their discontentment of being discriminated by the government compared to their fellow troops in the eastern part of the country.
Alkatiri however run for the post again when a parliamentary election was held in June 2007, Fretilin won the biggest vote. But rival party the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) led by Xanana Gusmao which won the second largest vote took control of the parliament after forming a coalition with the third and fourth largest party by number of votes.
| Social conflicts/refugees |
Reuters - October 10, 2008
Dili – Tens of thousands of people are preparing for their third bout of flooding since 2006 in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) as the rainy season once again descends on Timor- Leste.
The government has so far helped over 7,500 families return home in 2008 and is planning to close more camps soon, but many IDPs will face heavy flooding once again and in some cases landslides in the coming months.
"Our idea is to prepare for the rainy season as if the current camps are going to be there for the duration of it," the country director for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Luis Vieira, told IRIN.
IOM and other aid agencies, along with the government, are in the process of assessing the needs of each camp with the aim of developing an action plan.
"Some work has been done to raise tents above the ground to reduce potential flooding, but some tents have deteriorated and are coming to the end of their useful lifespans, so we will have to purchase more tarpaulins," Viera said.
The largest remaining IDP camp in Metinaro, 25km east of Dili, and home to almost 10,000 people, is one of the most vulnerable.
Situated at the bottom of a hill near the coast, the area is prone to flooding and in past rainy seasons dwellings built near run-off areas have been destroyed by landslides.
Risk of disease Loss of property is a concern, but along with the rain comes an increase in health risks. "We have a lot of health problems because there are so many people crowded together," vice camp manager Infalito Pinto told IRIN.
Around 60 percent of health problems in IDP camps are attributable to water-borne diseases such as dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria and dengue, said health authorities.
"If there is a flood tomorrow, stagnant water in and around the camp might create a spate of epidemics which could spread to the camps quickly, creating another disaster," Suresh Pokharel, water and environmental sanitation adviser with Plan International, told IRIN.
Roads cut off by floods can also cause major problems as drinking water for the camp is trucked in daily, said Pokharel.
Community action
The key to successfully preventing and dealing with environmental health problems associated with the rainy season is by getting the communities to work together, Pokharel said.
"We are providing clean water, but it doesn't mean IDPs are drinking clean water," Pokharel told IRIN. Dirty communal tanks and household water storage pots are a common problem, he said. "There are so many ways in which water can be contaminated," he said.
Awareness raising activities that inform people as to the need to keep communal water tanks clean, and improve personal hygiene are being carried out in the camps by the government and supporting aid agencies.
Most communities are receptive to the efforts of the non- governmental organisations and government agencies to improve camp conditions and sanitation.
However, it can be a challenge to get communities to take responsibility for their environmental health and to maintain facilities, said Vieira.
They know they are only living in the camps temporarily, so rather than thinking about maintaining the sites, their focus is on plans for returning to their original villages, Pokharel said, even though most of them in reality will not be leaving the IDP camps any time soon.
It is unlikely the Metinaro camp will close before the end of 2008, but the government hopes all the IDP camps will be closed in 2009.
Tents and sanitation equipment need to be maintained until then, providing an opportunity to teach people skills. As additional sanitary toilets and safe water storage tanks are installed, they demonstrate to the IDPs more hygienic practices, Pokharel said. Such environmental health awareness will serve them well in the longer-term when they return home. (sm/bj/cb)
| Independence struggle |
BBC News - October 9, 2008
Many ordinary people were celebrated as heroes for the role they played during East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia.
Dutch journalist Tjitske Lingsma, who reported on the conflict, tracked down a young man who saved the Timorese enclave of Oecussi by smuggling a desperate plea for help inside his flip flops.
The taxi stops at the arts school just off the main road in Dili, East Timor's coastal capital. A student shakes his head: "Lafu was seen here for the last time in 2004."
Later, we hear that Lafu has returned to the family home in the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi in Indonesian West Timor, the scene of brutal attacks during the independence struggle.
Twelve hours later, after an uncomfortable night on a ferry, the jungle-clad mountains of Oecussi loom.
Lafu, 25, is waiting on the quayside among a crowd of people gathered to meet the boat. On his borrowed motorbike he leads the way to a whitewashed house with an attached corrugated iron shed where he tells his story.
Flip flops and a catapult
Lafu, whose full name is Fredolino Jose Landos da Cruz Buno Sila, was a wild boy. Aged 13 he slapped his school teacher in a fit of anger and ran away from home.
He did not return for three years until 1999 when Indonesia agreed to a referendum on independence for East Timor after 24 years of occupation. Lafu was too young to vote but those who could voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence.
In response the Indonesian army and loyalist militia groups unleashed an orgy of violence. Lafu fled to the mountain hamlet of Kutete with thousands of refugees but with basic supplies running short he set off for a nearby village to look for a shop.
"I was wearing a black baseball cap with a ribbon in the Indonesian colours, red and white, so the militia would think I was pro-Indonesia," he recalls.
While he was away the militias came to the village, destroying it and forcing the refugees down to the beach where they huddled together in fear.
With the Indonesian army planning an assault on Oecussi the pro- independence leaders chose Lafu for the dangerous task of crossing the military lines to deliver a plea for help to the Australian-led international peacekeeping force, Interfet.
From a chest in the room, Lafu pulls out a catapult and a pair of flip flops. He takes up one of the shoes and carefully pulls apart the sole. "Here they hid the letter," he says.
'Betrayed'
In the morning he set off for Atambua, a border town crawling with militia. "They invited me to drink. With a [pounding] heart I agreed. I took my flip flops off so I could sit on them. When the militia were very drunk I ran away.
"By shooting birds with my catapult I could get closer in a seemingly innocent way – until I was stopped by an Indonesian soldier who warned me that Interfet was nearby."
Lafu bolted: "I sprinted towards the border where I saw Australians. I lifted my arms and walked towards the soldiers."
Lafu had escaped and was taken to Dili by helicopter where he delivered his plea for help to Interfet commander, Maj General Peter Cosgrove, and Timorese guerrilla leader Taur Matan Ruak.
To his horror Interfet did not immediately decide to rescue the besieged people of Oecussi. Instead Lafu was taught how to operate a radio and taken back to Oecussi, where the foreign soldiers abandoned him on the beach. "They had betrayed me," says Lafu.
By the time Lafu rejoined the pro-independence leaders in Oecussi killings had already begun.
In desperation, with starvation looming and the militias circling, Lafu used his radio to contact Interfet to tell them that an attack was under way. "It is not going well. I have to run," he said and switched off the radio.
The next morning the refugees were awoken by the sound of approaching helicopters. "We ran towards the beach and could only cry. We were finally safe!" Lafu had rescued the enclave and became a hero.
'Drinking to forget'
An Australian who heard Lafu's story sent money so the family could rebuild their house. Today his father rents it to UN workers for $100 (#58) a month.
The income is a lifeline and pays for school fees for Lafu's brothers and sisters. Despite his hero status, the post- independence years have not been kind to Lafu. In Dili a former bishop sponsored him through theatre school but in 2003 the money ran out and Lafu left.
"After that I tried to join the army," he says, "but I failed the physical test."
Then his mother died. "I started to get bored and became a thug. I joined a gang which protected the neighbourhood where I lived against other gangs. During serious fights people got wounded and even killed."
Disillusioned with life in the capital Lafu returned to Oecussi in 2006 just as the fragile peace was shattered again when rebels, army, police and criminals clashed. People died and houses were burned in the violence.
"I left Dili because I could not find a job. But in Oecussi I have no work either," Lafu laments. "The government is neglecting us."
Lafu belongs to a lost generation of young Timorese who do not know where their lives are going.
"I am happy because we have freedom, but sad because we don't have work. With friends I often start drinking to forget our situation. We drink until we get sick. Only then we stop."
Australian Associated Press - October 22, 2008
Karen Michelmore, Ubud, Bali – Naldo Rei's thick, wavy hair trails down his back. He has worn it this way for much of his life, for protection, and as a symbol of resistance.
Although the fight to free East Timor is long over, the 33-year- old continues to wear his hair this way, perhaps as he battles his own lingering personal demons.
"It's not over but at least some of the burden that I carried has gone away," he says. "I think slowly, slowly I'm going to be a normal person."
Rei was just an infant when Indonesian forces parachuted into East Timor like "white winged angels" in 1975, forcing his family to flee into the thick jungle of the half-island for three years.
He was nine when his father was killed by the Indonesian military, and when he himself began work as a child soldier of the clandestine resistance movement.
Soon afterwards Rei – named by his comrades Puto or Oan Kiak Funu, orphan of war – experienced the first of many horrific spells in prison, enduring attacks with razor blades, electrodes and fists, after which he would cry himself to sleep, until, one day, the tears stopped.
He vowed, if he survived, he would record the experiences of his family and country, for history. Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor is the result of that promise.
"At that time I promised myself I would stand up for my rights, my people, my land even if I died, no problem," he explains.
"I started thinking that one day, if I survive this war I will write down everything of tragedy that happened to me. That's how it started."
Resistance is the first personal account of the violence that racked the tiny nation written, in English, by an East Timorese national, Rei says. He says the process of writing was cathartic – although at the time it felt like another nightmare that lasted five years.
"After the referendum in 1999 and 2000 I decided to write this book, but every time I wrote about the torture or imprisonment, I (had to) just walk away and then disappear for two or three hours," he says.
"It was really, really hard, it was like a nightmare writing a book especially a memoir. "Then I decided it has to come, it has to come, because it's really important for myself.
"If not I will be staying and living in the nightmare. Every day, every night, every time I saw someone (who looked) Indonesian, I just wanted to escape because I felt that they were going to follow me everywhere I went.
"After I wrote this book I had so much relief (from) all the pain that I've been carrying for so many years."
The book offers an insight into the clandestine network the East Timorese established during Indonesia's bloody occupation, along with personal emotions many experienced – loneliness, isolation and mistrust from within their own communities.
He says that many East Timorese were like walking dead. "We were alive but we were dead as well," Rei said. "If you saw our eyes we were dead... because (we were) watching all these horrible things happening."
Rei travelled to Jakarta in 1995 to try and raise awareness and support for the East Timorese struggle in Indonesia, and eventually escaped to Australia with a business visa and fake passport.
"I went there and I sought asylum in Australia but I was never recognised by the Australian government so I had a bridging visa," Rei said.
"I never had medical care, I had no right to study... I had no right to get a job. Australia was really a big prison for me because I could not go anywhere, I had no money so... my life really depended on the solidarity of people who were helping me, from 1997 to 2000."
Rei returned to East Timor after the independence referendum, but returned twice to Australia on study scholarships.
He now considers himself "the luckiest man in East Timor" because he was able to work through his pain by writing, in a country where many are still traumatised.
While the book provides a powerful personal account of Rei's journey, it is oddly uplifting in parts. Rei is no victim – his is a story of courage and survival.
Rei's book will be released in East Timor on December 7 – the anniversary of the invasion – and he is translating it into Indonesian for its eventual release there. It was released in Australia earlier this year.
Last week (October 15-19) it was also highlighted at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali, where Rei spoke publicly about his experience as a child warrior.
"I think Indonesia should recognise what happened in East Timor... this is their story too," he says. "I never fought against the Indonesian people. We only fought against the Indonesian regime."
Rei, a freelance journalist, says he is frustrated East Timor's leaders have been unable to maintain the tiny nation's stability – following the long independence struggle.
"My country's future, I'm really optimistic, but I'm really upset with our leadership as well," he says.
"They should sit down together and solve the problem – we have to prioritise the national interests not other political parties.
"We can do it – in the resistance time we were all together and fighting the one enemy. Why can't we do it now, just sit down together and solve the problems.
"I think we are free, but the problem is that we have been through all the horrible things, and how can you change your mentality from (one of) resistance to development because it's really hard.
"I managed to do it through writing a book. If I didn't write the book I think still now I would become crazy."
[Resistance: A Childhood Fighting For East Timor, by Naldo Rei, is published by University of Queensland Press.]
Canberra Times - October 15, 2008
The village of Tai Tete is a 40-minute climb from the town of Maliana, in the west of East Timor.
The rangy figure of Joana Fatima leads us along a small track to her village. We walk past groves of lontar palm, clamber over black volcanic rocks and skirt around the grounds of a crumbling, Portuguese-era boarding school. As we get higher, the air thins and cools and we walk through shady stands of pine and pass small clusters of traditional thatched houses. Women pound rice and corn in waist-high wooden pestles; toothless dogs howl at us; children stare.
Life up here is a marginal, hand-to-mouth existence. Most villagers live almost entirely outside the cash economy, surviving on whatever they can grow or the livestock they keep.
In such straitened circumstances, the generosity of Joana Fatima is all the more remarkable.
Throughout the 1990s, during the last decade of Timor's war of independence against Indonesia, Fatima played a crucial role as cook, comforter and way station for Timorese freedom fighters.
This humble, matter-of-fact woman fed and sheltered dozens of guerrillas in her one-room, thatched hut. The guerrillas would come down to Tai Tete under cover of darkness, looking for a feed, a place to rest or somewhere to recuperate if they were sick.
Some would eat, stay a few hours and go back to their hideouts; others would stay a night or two, lying low inside the hut during daylight hours. No guerrilla was ever turned away, in spite of the enormous risks for Fatima and her family.
Had they been discovered, they would almost certainly have been interrogated and tortured. "I could have been arrested, my husband could have been arrested or they could have come and taken my daughters," says Fatima. "But we believed in the struggle for our homeland, that's why we did it."
The Timorese tradition of always serving guests the best food the host has placed an added burden on Fatima. She and her family ate meat once a month if they were lucky, but she says she would always try and rustle up a chicken or the choicest vegetables for her guests.
While Fatima was the first point of call for the guerrillas, she didn't operate alone. She was at the apex of a well-organised network of fellow villagers other families would contribute food when they could and local boys would act as security, on the look-out for Indonesian patrols.
Even those families who didn't actively support the guerrilla effort were bound by an unspoken code of silence had any of them hinted to Indonesian informers, soldiers or intelligence about the night-time comings and goings, retribution would have been swift and unmerciful.
She still remembers most of the men she helped over the years, reeling off the names of well-known former freedom fighters such as Gilberto Brito, Lian Ba Oin, Rodak and Semo Sai.
And while she's proud of helping the guerrillas and the larger resistance effort, it's a pride tinged these days with disappointment.
While many of the former soldiers she fed are now on government pensions or have landed plum civil service jobs, she has received nothing for her troubles no recognition and no pension. Only one former guerrilla ever came back to thank her, bringing her a goat and a sack of rice.
Like most of her fellow villagers, Fatima still lives from the small crops she grows and the livestock she raises. She has little money.
Her youngest girl, a bright 14-year-old named Nanda, wants to board at an agricultural high school in a neighbouring town, but Fatima can't pay for books, transport or for the student hostel where Nanda would stay.
"We were happy to support the resistance and [the guerrillas who were] our children and our brothers," she says. "But they have a different life to us now, some of them are big guys. We don't know whether they remember us or not.
"It doesn't matter," she says matter-of-factly. "God is great. The land here, the rocks, the fires that we used to cook on, they are our witnesses, they saw what we sacrificed."
The only other proof she has of dedication to the resistance effort is a receipt which she keeps carefully tucked away inside a plastic ID envelope she wears around her neck. She takes out the receipt, issued by the Council of National Resistance in April 1999, which calls on "patriots" from across Timor to give to the war effort.
She and her husband each donated about $10, a considerable sum at the time. Not being able to sign, they put their thumbprints on the receipts and someone else has carefully printed their clandestine names Moving On (Lao Ona) and Our Struggle (Ita Nian) under their thumbprints. The former guerrilla who countersigned the receipt is now an MP in the coalition Government in Dili.
But the only link Fatima has with him nowadays is his signature on a carefully preserved receipt, testimony to her support for Timor's hard-won independence.
| Agriculture & food security |
Deutsche Presse Agentur - October 21, 2008
Dili – In the high, craggy mountains south of East Timor's capital, Dili, a tangled blanket of wild, unkempt coffee trees is blooming. If the flowers, now tiny flecks of white against the dark green trees, do well, it could mean more than 7 million dollars in the pockets of some of the poorest people on earth.
It could also mean a hot cup of coffee next year in Hamburg and school fees for a Timorese family.
But it's a long way from flower to bean, and there are no guarantees. These coffee trees are some of the oldest producing trees in the world, grown in some of the worst soil, and they are mismanaged.
This year's crop was a success, largely because of an excellent rainy season. More beans were sold than at any other time since East Timor was a Portuguese colony 33 years ago.
But what about next year? In East Timor, an impoverished South- East Asian nation of 1 million people, coffee is the main export crop and the biggest moneymaker for tens of thousands of farmers, but after six years of independence, coffee production has only just met colonial production levels.
Shane McCarthy is an agribusiness adviser with Co-operativa Cafe Timor (CCT), the largest coffee exporter in the nation. McCarthy has worked for decades on coffee farms around the world, and he said there are unique challenges getting Timorese coffee production back on track, some agricultural and some cultural.
For one thing, most coffee trees the world over are 15 to 20 years old and nestled in volcanic soils. Not so in Timor. "About 90 per cent of the trees here are over 30 years old," McCarthy said. "Some of the trees are over 70 years old."
And the island of Timor, a far-flung eastern speck in the Indonesian archipelago, is one of the only islands in the chain not of volcanic origin.
The soil there is silt, and at one time, it was a seabed. When most of the coffee trees were planted, East Timor was still a Portuguese colony.
In those days, it rigorously produced coffee, but in 1975, the Portuguese pulled out and Indonesia invaded East Timor, which makes up the eastern half of the island while West Timor, a former Dutch colony, has belonged to Indonesia since 1949.
The coffee districts, those closest to the Indonesian border, were hardest hit by the invasion. "There was no maintenance of the trees at all," McCarthy said. "No one pruned anything, and no one planted new trees. It was a war zone for 15 years."
During the Indonesian occupation, the coffee industry was taken over by the military. "They ran the coffee into the ground," McCarthy said. "They harvested coffee at the point of a bayonet."
McCarthy estimated that two generations' worth of farming knowledge was lost and, by the time the Indonesians left, the trees had reverted to wild jungle.
Despite the trees' condition, the lack of skills and the poor soil, the coffee sells. One of the CCT's biggest clients, for example, is the US coffee giant Starbucks Corp.
"This is the only place I know that has ocean-floor limestone soil, and yet miraculously, it is still considered some of the best coffee in the world," McCarthy said, adding, however, "It is also some of the lowest-yielding coffee in the world."
A hectare of coffee plantation in East Timor currently produces about half of what the same plot in neighbouring Papua New Guinea can produce, but getting the right rains at the right time this year helped CCT farmers sell 19,000 tons of coffee cherries, compared with 8,000 tons last year.
Timor Corp, the second-largest coffee exporter in the country, doubled its output to more than 6,000 tons this year. Jose Vidigal, manager of Timor Corp, said nearly all his coffee ends up in Germany, and he has never been able to sell so much since the company started in 2000.
There's not much to be done for the weather, but McCarthy said the CCT is training its members to better care for their trees. He said tree maintenance alone could bump up production by 10 per cent per year.
Lomelino Salsinha is the manager of a CCT tree nursery in the Ermera district, one of the country's chief coffee-growing regions. No one is expecting 2009 to be another bumper crop. The rains haven't come yet, and there is still a lot of work to do pruning and replacing trees.
Instead, Salsinha said, he is focused on 2012 and beyond. He said he understands that coffee is the key out of poverty for his neighbours. "When the coffee harvest is good, life here is good," he said. "People have money. They can send their kids to school."
But even after one flush year, Salsinha said, life in Ermera is largely unchanged as most farmers blow their coffee income on parties. Part of his job, he said, is teaching members of the cooperative to plan for lean years, save their money and take better care of their trees.
Cultural attitudes can hurt coffee production as much as bad soil and old trees, he said.
"People don't save their money," the manager said. "They go out and buy cows or pigs. The people here don't really think too much about the coffee plant," Salsinha said. "They just pick the beans and sell it. That's it."
Reuters - October 16, 2008
Rob Taylor, Canberra – East Timor is facing a food crisis and more than half the fledgling country's youngest children are now going hungry as global food prices soar, a new aid report warned on Thursday.
More than 70 percent of households surveyed across East Timor were "food insecure" and unable to find enough to eat each day for almost half the year in what was fast becoming a food crisis, a group of international aid organisations warned.
"They've had what they call the hungry season," Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said, adding the lean period in the poverty-hit nation generally lasted only months.
"That's been prolonged and we're now talking about people not having enough to eat, going to bed hungry every night, for about five months of the year," Hewett said.
The survey covered most of East Timor, including the Manatuto, Liquica, Manufahi, Bobonaro, Oecusse, Covalima and Lautem districts.
The number of children under 5 suffering from chronic malnutrition was as high as 59 percent in many areas, while in some districts food insecurity touched 90 percent of households, it found.
"Children are lacking protein, lacking enough food, suffering from chronic malnutrition. It's about one in two children under the age of five," Hewett said.
Asia's youngest country has been unable to achieve stability since a hard-won independence from Indonesia in 2002. As well as ethnic and regional divisions, youth unemployment in the $320- million economy is above 60 percent.
Adding to poverty problems, the East Timor army tore apart along regional lines in 2006, when about 600 soldiers were sacked, triggering violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes.
Hewett said East Timor was facing a hunger crisis reflected in other parts of Asia, the Pacific and Africa as global food prices spiralled beyond the reach of ordinary people, with an extra 100 million people now being pushed into food insecurity.
In East Timor, rice prices had doubled due to climate change and a global shortage, hitting thousands despite a government subsidy to blunt the impact.
"There is a need for greater support for emergency food programs. There is also a need to focus on upping our investment in agriculture," Hewett told Australian radio.
The aid groups, including the Christian Children's Fund, Concern Worldwide and CARE International, said a new push to unblock global trade talks was needed to end US, European and Japanese food subsidies, and improve agriculture production.
The global financial crisis was also hitting the world's poor far from the epicentre of panicked markets, as rich countries turned their attention inwards and looked at cutting aid.
"Those hidden victims are people living in developing countries. With any crisis it's the poorest who are hit hardest," he said.
| UNMIT/ISF |
Canberra Times - October 27, 2008
Ross Peake – The Australian Defence Force is in East Timor for the long haul although the size of the contingent will vary according to the stability of the tiny nation.
Last week the Federal Government decided 100 of the 750 troops could be withdrawn because of an improvement in security. Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said he was encouraged by the growing ability of the East Timorese to deal with security, with the help of the United Nations.
The International Stabilisation Force will now have a combined strength of 790 troops, drawn from Australia and New Zealand.
The Australian troops deployed to the impoverished nation to Australia's north are part of more than 3000 ADF personnel serving overseas.
The last budget predicted the East Timor operation would cost $174 million this financial year, one of the smaller deployments in what has been a dramatic surge in military deployments over the past decade.
The military operation began in 1999 to allow the East Timorese to vote in national independence elections free from the threat of Indonesian-backed militia thugs.
Since then, Australia has virtually signed on to an open-ended commitment to help maintain law and order. The shooting of President Jose Ramos Horta and attempted ambush of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao earlier this year threw the country into crisis again and questions were raised about the costly intervention to stabilise the country.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sent more soldiers and police, as former Prime Minister John Howard did in 1999 and again two years ago. But the death in the coup attempt of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has raised hopes the rebellion will wither without his leadership.
Brigadier Mark Holmes, a career soldier originally from Brisbane, was sent to Dili in July to take command of the ISF. He says the security situation is improving and people are moving freely on the streets.
"The situation here is stable and secure, and the East Timorese are progressing positively with more commerce," he said. "It's quite a visible sign of progress here that the people are moving freely.
We've now got many more people out and about getting on with daily life. It's quite a vibrant and active community at all hours of the day."
Despite the temperature and humidity, Australian soldiers are fit enough to play sport, Brigadier Holmes said. "When we have some downtime, regardless of the time of day, the lads usually kick the football around or they get on the volleyball court or go to one of the gyms we've set up," he said.
"Playing soccer with the local Timorese is a very popular activity and it's played at all times of the day and in the early evening."
Adjunct Professor Norman Day, from RMIT, who has visited East Timor 24 times as a consultant on the reconstruction, says the lack of middle management is holding back economic growth.
"It has been obvious right from the start that it doesn't matter what you do: unless you've got someone to manage, it's completely irrelevant," he said.
"I remember Xanana saying once, there is no chance anything here will happen quickly. You guys from the West think it will but it won't, it's a two-generational problem because we haven't got an educated middle management team and we haven't got educated people."
Professor Day said he often compared the administration of East Timor with that of Vietnam.
"In East Timor they might be better if they had a one-party government because at the moment they've got about 20 parties involved in governing the place. It's only a million people and it doesn't work.
"There's so much dispute and argy-bargy and doing deals that they're not really getting on with the idea of nation-building in the way that they would like to."
The East Timorese had some bad experiences with foreign consultants who had "forgotten to listen", such as a Japanese engineering company which proposed building road tunnels through the mountains.
"The Japanese had mapped everything, they'd done a wonderful job. We used to watch them lay their photographs down, they were very meticulous," Professor Day said.
"The fact is they hadn't asked the basic question or understood the nature of the place. The East Timorese are animists and their view is that their island, their home, is a crocodile.
"The crocodile settled there millions of years ago and they live on the crocodile, they are born out of the crocodile and they die back into the crocodile so you don't drill holes in the crocodile."
Professor Day said the Australian troops were doing a good job and were highly respected. "Australians have got a terrific reputation for fairness and equity that others haven't."
Agence France Presse - October 22, 2008
Sydney – Australia will reduce its troop deployment to East Timor because of the improved security situation, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Wednesday.
Australian troop numbers in the fledgling country peaked earlier this year in the wake of attacks on the tiny nation's president and prime minister.
The decision to bring 100 soldiers home by early next year, following the removal of 200 troops announced in April, will leave some 650 Australian military personnel on the island, Fitzgibbon said.
"The reduction in the total number of deployed personnel under Operation Astute is appropriate given improvements in the security situation in East Timor," he said in a statement.
The Australians have been serving alongside New Zealand soldiers in the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) which will number 790 personnel following the latest limited withdrawal.
Fitzgibbon said while the Australian and New Zealand soldiers would continue in their mission, Canberra had been encouraged by the growing ability of the East Timorese, with the support of the United Nations, to manage security.
"The East Timorese authorities have shown through their professional handling of the security situation that the time is now right for some drawdown of the Australian ISF presence," Fitzgibbon said.
Australia will maintain the ability to rapidly reinforce its troops at short notice, as it did following the assassination attempt on President Jose Ramos-Horta in February.
The Timorese government had requested the extra troops after Ramos-Horta was gunned down by rebel soldiers at his home on February 11, the same day that President Xanana Gusmao also survived a shooting attack.
"Australia remains committed to supporting the Government of East Timor in developing its Defence Force and maintaining security and stability," Fitzgibbon said.
| Human rights/law |
Reuters - October 13, 2008
Soibada, East Timor – East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta said Monday he wants the United Nations to drop its investigation into bloodshed surrounding a 1999 independence vote from Indonesia.
Leaders in East Timor and Indonesia said in July that the issue 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."
But the United Nations, which boycotted the truth commission, has said it will continue to back prosecutions through the Serious Crime Unit, which it set up to assist East Timor's prosecutors' office in probing the violence in which the United Nations says about 1,000 East Timorese died.
"As chief of state, I don't authorise or allow the UN investigation into the 1999 crimes. Our position is keeping good ties with Indonesia," Ramos-Horta told Reuters during a visit to Soibada district, about 100 km (60 miles) from the capital, Dili.
Several Indonesian military officials were tried in Indonesian human rights courts following the 1999 violence, but none was convicted.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975, won independence after a violence-marred, UN-organised vote in 1999. It became fully independent in 2002. (Writing by Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Sugita Katyal and Paul Tait)
Radio Australia - October 10, 2008
East Timor's President and chief prosecutor are at odds over the prosecution of senior military figures for their role in illegally arming civilians during the 2006 crisis.
Last week, the prosecutor general said it was the president's fault he'd not yet been able launch the action, while Jose Ramos Horta says there are other priorities.
Presenter: Stephanie March
Speakers: Longuinhos Monteiro, East Timor's Prosecutor General; Jose Ramos Horta, President; Mari Alkatiri, former Prime Minister; Luis Oliveira, Judicial System Monitoring Program
March: A United Nations commission of inquiry into the 2006 crisis recommended Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak – known in East Timor as TMR – be prosecuted for illegal weapons transfer, along with former defence minister Roque Rodrigues. As members of the superior defence council the pair enjoy an immunity that the President has the power to lift.
Prosecutor General Longinous Montiero asked the President four months ago to waive the immunity, but has not yet received a response. He says he is frustrated his office gets blamed for failing to launch an investigation into Brigadier Ruak's actions.
Montiero: Everybody is demanding 'the office of the PG do nothing, all cases are pending, nothing is updated when we asking no answer' – so what can we do... (cut off by journalist)
Journalist: So you hope to try TMR? You hope to bring him to court?
Montiero: Well I don't want to say that we will try or not but at least we need to hear, I cannot accuse anyone before we hear.
March: Last week the Prosecutor General caused a stir in Dili when he sent summons to three other high-ranking military officers.
Colonel Lere Anan Timor, Major Mau Buti and Colonel Falur Rate Laek are now considered formal suspects in the investigation into the military's role in arming civilians during the 2006 crisis.
Brigadier Ruak says he will cooperate with investigators once his immunity is lifted, but President Jose Ramos Horta, says the prosecutor general should focus on other things.
Horta: Because in the mean time there are other priorities facing him, facing the nation, that the nation is very concerned about and that is the assassination attempt on the President and the Prime Minister. These were not attempts of assassination of individuals but of the President and the Prime Minister, these must have absolute priority.
March: In February this year the President and Prime Minister were attacked by a gang of former soldiers who had defected from the military during the political crisis in 2006. He has said previously that he doesn't care if the investigation into the February attacks takes up to two years.
Horta: And once that is concluded we can move on, backtrack to others like 2006 and others – there are many cases – 2000, 4000 case on his desk. The priorities are yes, February 11 2008 and then we go back to 2006.
March: But Luis Oliveira, acting deputy director of watchdog NGO the Judicial System Monitoring Program says failing to lift the immunity will reinforce East Timor's strong culture of impunity and send the wrong message to the people.
Oliveira: (translation) It sends political message, it sends the message to the East Timor society is that justice is politicised because the State says it is not urgent. But for our position justice is urgent and must be open to all of people so all people can feel justice, justice must be done for all of people not for one side only.
March: He says the president is not correct when he says the attempted assassination case is more important than those from two years ago when tensions between the police and military erupted into violence, killing 37 people.
Oliveira: (translation) The 11 February case is related to the 2006 cases, that why the prosecutor general is trying to use authority to deal with these cases from 2006 as well.
March: Brigadier Ruak, was the leader of the Falantil armed resistance when East Timor became independent in 1999 and still has many supporters both in and outside the military. Senior Fretilin opposition party members – including former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri – have said they are prepared to act as lawyers on his behalf. But some observers fear even an investigation, may lead to trouble.
Alkatiri: the problem is not with those people who are being called now to make their own testimony to justice system the problem is their supporters, the army as a whole. We have to manage this very carefully.
March: Luis Oliveira from Judicial System Monitoring Program says it is possible the President is preventing Brigadier Ruak from being investigated to avoid instability.
Oliveira: (translation) There could be a political reason behind this. Because if they open the case it could have a negative impact on the current situation. So our president doesn't prioritise the case – maybe he has his own reasons but from my point of view for the social aspect of the justice system, there should not be any exception for anyone to face justice.
| Catholic Church/religion |
Deutsche Presse Agentur - October 13, 2008
Dili – The East Timorese ministry of justice is preparing a penal code which would decriminalise many abortions, but with little visible public support and no public debate, civil society groups are questioning the law's origins.
The law, which is similar to abortion laws in Australia, Timor's southern neighbour, and Portugal, East Timor's former colonial power, would make abortions available to women if the pregnancy threatened the life, physical or mental health of the mother.
Currently East Timor does not have its own penal code and instead relies on an old Indonesian penal code. That penal code outlaws abortion.
Fernanda Borges, the only female party leader in parliament, has accused foreign legal advisors and the UN of pushing the law against the will of Timor's 1 million people, the majority of whom are devoutly Catholic.
"People like UNFPA think it's great because it'll reduce population size, but that's not the point," Borges said. "The point is development."
The UN Population Fund has been working in East Timor since the country's break from Indonesia in 1999, but agency representative Hernando Agudelo says it does not promote abortion.
"We are respectful of cultural principles in this country," he said. "In Timor the people are against abortion, so we must respect this culture's beliefs."
Agudelo said UNFPA has never been consulted about any abortion laws and he believes the law was written by Portuguese legal advisors within the ministry.
Borges said she, too, suspects Portuguese legal advisers had a hand in the abortion law as Portugal just passed a similar law last year.
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony and the old influence is still strong. Portuguese advisors are common in many ministries and their language is one of the two official languages in Timor.
All laws, including the draft penal code, are written in Portuguese even though most people here can't speak or read the language.
Borges called the abortion law, "a Western thing. I'm against the idea of Western culture that says abortions are a way to reduce population size."
Even Timorese women's leaders who have pushed publicly for decriminalization say there ought to have been more public debate on the draft penal code.
Agence France Presse - October 22, 2008
Dili – A move to soften tough abortion laws in mainly Catholic East Timor is stirring opposition from the powerful Church.
Activists are backing a proposed law that would loosen the country's blanket ban and allow abortions for women whose lives are in danger.
But church leaders have refused to drop their objections that the bill, scheduled to be voted on by parliament next month, violates basic religious teachings. "The church is opposing this because they always see abortion as a crime," said Filomena Barros dos Reis from the Alola Foundation women's rights group.
East Timor's current law, which was copied from Indonesia's criminal code during the country's 24-year occupation, bans abortion in all cases.
The new bill contains stiff jail terms of between two and eight years for abortionists and women who get abortions. It would also not allow abortions in the case of rape or incest.
But dos Reis said she has told church leaders that allowing abortions in the case of potentially fatal health complications would save lives.
"We still have a lot of pros and cons because the community of Timor-Leste, they still trust the church... so we are still discussing with the church," she said, using the country's official name.
Justice Minister Lucia Lobato told AFP last week that the proposed law would not significantly liberalise the government's strongly anti-abortion stance.
"The general principle is that abortion is a crime," she said. "So a mother or a pregnant woman who gets an abortion, consciously or unconsciously, it's still a crime and it has to be processed legally so punishment can be made."
The one exception, she said, was if a doctor certified that the pregnancy was a threat to the mother's life. This has proven too much for the Catholic Church.
"In principle, the church worldwide doesn't agree with abortion under any conditions because we have the technology to protect mothers, such as transplants," Pastor Martinho Gusmao, from the diocese in the city of Baucau, said in an interview last week.
Impoverished East Timor, which gained independence in 2002 after more than two decades of Indonesian occupation, has the world's highest fertility rate, with the average woman giving birth to eight children, says the United Nations.
Around 98 percent of the population is Catholic and most people remain unaware of birth control despite many church leaders throwing support behind programmes promoting contraception.
President Jose Ramos-Horta recently visited the Vatican and is reportedly eager to sign an agreement known as a "concordata" with the Holy See to formalise East Timor's status as a Catholic country.
The agreement reportedly would guarantee the church certain privileges in terms of its claims to land and property in East Timor, and would strengthen its influence on issues such as abortion.
| Police/military |
ABC News Online - October 10, 2008
The police chief of East Timor's second biggest city has been arrested amid rising tensions within the force. Stephanie March reports Baucau police commander Aderito da Costa Ximenes was arrested by members of the UN police on Thursday.
The sub-inspector has been suspended from his position since August for disciplinary issues, but has continued working despite repeated warnings from superiors.
While the UN says the crime is not serious, the move comes at a time when tensions are rising within the force as the government prepares to appoint a permanent national commander.
An anonymous leaflet has been circulating throughout the capital threatening to reignite the east/west regional conflict that flared in 2006.
The leaflet makes threats against the government if a person from the East is appointed to the top job.
Police have increased security in the capital Dili and set up nightly check points to search cars for illegal weapons.
Australian Associated Press - October 6, 2008
Police in East Timor have been ordered to set up checkpoints and step up patrols to stop officers from taking weapons home, amid signs of mounting tensions in the force.
Police have been ordered to search cars for illegal weapons, with one aim of the operation to stop police from unlawfully taking their weapons home when they finish work.
The order follows the circulation of an inflammatory leaflet pointing to a flare-up of regional tensions among police, similar to the rift among armed forces that sparked deadly violence two years ago.
East Timor was torn apart in 2006 when east-west tensions sparked deep divisions in the armed forces and ultimately triggered violence that left at least 37 people dead and around 150,000 displaced.
The leaflet warns of action "against the government" if someone from the east is appointed as East Timor's permanent police commander.
Interim police commander Afonso de Jesus said police had been ordered to make sure officers were not taking their weapons home.
"One regulation (we have is) when police cease their duty their firearms are supposed to be put in the armory," de Jesus said. "But some go home and take their weapons home with them."
An operational order issued to police calls for a checkpoint to be set up close to the residence of the State Secretary for Security, who is charged with appointing the new police commander.
UN police last week said they were taking the emergence of the leaflet seriously and trying to confirm its source. "We pay attention to any information regardless of classification," Acting UN police commander Juan Carlos Arevalo said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said last week that the leaflet was "deeply concerning".
"As we have seen before, if this sense of discrimination and resentment is left to fester it can cause serious problems down the track," said ICG analyst in East Timor Anna Powles.
There are other signs of problems within the police force. Members of the Task Force Unit recently threatened to strike over a pay dispute, leading to a heated confrontation at police headquarters.
And the Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro last week revealed that de Jesus, the interim police commander, was being questioned in relation to disciplinary issues.
Australian Associated Press - October 1, 2008
Worrying signs are emerging of tensions within East Timor's police force, similar to the rift among armed forces that sparked deadly violence in 2006.
Authorities are preparing to appoint a new police commander amid a new push to rid the force of corrupt and undisciplined officers. But evidence of a flare-up in regional tensions, between those from the country's east and west, have authorities concerned.
An inflammatory leaflet has been circulating in the capital, Dili, warning: "If a person from the east is appointed as commander, we will petition and organise people from districts to go against the government".
East Timor was torn apart in 2006 when east-west tensions sparked deep divisions in the armed forces and ultimately triggered violence that left at least 37 people dead and around 150,000 displaced. The unrest prompted countries including Australia to send in troops to restore order.
Government sources and one UN official believe the leaflet was written by a group of officers within the police force. It includes threats of violence and calls for early elections if anyone from the east is appointed police commander.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the development was "deeply concerning". "As we have seen before, if this sense of discrimination and resentment is left to fester it can cause serious problems down the track," ICG analyst in East Timor Anna Powles said.
Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, who now leads the opposition Fretilin party, said the threats mirrored the kind of tensions that led to the 2006 violence. "In 2006 they started with this kind of thing – the pamphlets and letters dividing the people," he said.
But unlike in 2006, there are 1,500 UN police and almost 1,000 Australian and New Zealand troops deployed in East Timor.
UN police are taking the emergence of the leaflet seriously and trying to confirm its source. "We pay attention to any information regardless of classification," Acting UN police commander Juan Carlos Arevalo said.
State Secretary for Security Francisco Gutteres believes the leaflet was written by officers who will be hurt by a new promotions system aimed at wiping out corruption and nepotism. "I am quite sure that more than 80 per cent of the police are quite supportive of the new changes," he said.
But there are other signs of problems within the police force. Members of the Task Force Unit recently threatened to strike over a pay dispute, leading to a heated confrontation at police headquarters.
And the Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro last week revealed that the interim head of the police, Alfonso de Jesus, was being questioned in relation to disciplinary issues.
Radio Australia - October 1, 2008
Tensions are brewing in East Timor's national police force as the government works to weed out corruption and rehabilitate the force.
The administration in Dili hopes it can eventually farewell the 15-hundred UN police, who've taken responsibility for internal security for the past two years. But police reform may not be going as smoothly as the government would want.
Presenter: Stephanie March
Speakers: Mari Alkatiri, former East Timorese prime minister and leader of Fretilin opposition party; International Crisis Group analyst Anna Powles; State Secretary for Security Francisco Gutteres.
March: Last week members of East Timor's Police Task Force Unit threatened to strike in protest against pay issues. Their anger led to a confrontation at police headquarters. The prosecutor general Longinious Montiero also confirmed that the interim head of the police, Alfonso de Jesus, has been questioned over disciplinary issues.
But the most worrying element for civil society groups in the series of drams surrounding the local police, is an undated, unsigned flyer being passed around Dili about the government's plan to appoint a new commander in November. An excerpt from it is read here by an actor:
Letter excerpt: There is a lot of discrimination in the government structure, as the majority are from the east. If a person is appointed to commander from east we will make a petition in our institution and also organize people from districts to against the government, and we will demand the president call early elections.
March: It was words like those that ignited the crisis of 2006 and tore the nation's military and police apart along regional lines – loro mono from the west, and loro sae from the east. Mari Alkatiri was prime minister in the lead up to the 2006 crisis, and is now the president of the opposition party, Fretilin.
Alkatiri: This is the repetition of 2006, even in 2006 they started with this kind of thing, the pamphlets and letters accusing, dividing the people into loro mono and loro sae.
March: State Secretary for Security Francisco Gutteres and a United Nations official believe members within the police force are responsible for the flyer. Anna Powles from the International Crisis Group says it's "deeply concerning".
Powles: I think the government and international community should certainly be cognisant of this and take it seriously because as we have seen before if this sense of discrimination and resentment is left to fester it can cause serious problems down the track
March: The UN police say they are taking the matter seriously and trying to confirm who wrote and distributed it. State Secretary for Security Francisco Gutteres.
Gutteres: I am not really concerned about it. This letter comes from someone who is concerned about the program that this government is trying to do about the rank adjustment. Maybe some people, when it comes to rank adjustment, they may be affected.
March: Francisco Gutteres says past promotions in the force – known as the PNTL – have often been influenced by nepotism or corruption. The government is now establishing clear criteria for moving up the ranks.
Gutteres: Many people that probably feel by having these new rules, new systems, they may be affected. They may say, 'well in the past I was undisciplined, I have not much capacity, I became a leader of PNTL because of my closeness to someone, and if this system is established means I will have not have many chance of being promoted.'
March: He plans to appoint foreign police officers to the promotions board that will ultimately choose the new commander to give legitimacy to the controversial position.
Gutteres: I am quite sure that more than 80 of the PNTL members are quite supportive of these new measures and are not trapped in this kind of issues.
March: While both the UN and government are working to rehabilitate and restructure the politicized and factionalised PNTL, Anna Powles from the International Crisis Group says serious issues still remain.
Powles: Certainly the major problems seem to be ill-discipline, a lack of professionalism, issues around unity in the force because of the number of different units in the force, issues over pay and moral.
March: She says changes to the force – such as the rank adjustment process- are necessary but are controversial given the current environment.
Powles: All processes like that have the potential to be both positive and negative, they can be potentially divisive if not handled carefully. Hopefully they will solve issues but rehabilitation of PNTL is extremely complex task and if not handled correctly is going to create resentment among certain parties.
March: The UN said earlier this year it will hand responsibility for internal security to local forces by early next year, but remain in East Timor in a supporting role.
| Opinion & analysis |
Green Left Weekly - October 31, 2008
Ruth Ratcliffe – "They've been trying to solve problems by using only money, but not to solve the political problems through political means, that they've failed", Fretilin leader Mari Alkatiri, told Radio Australia on October 26.
"The government has failed at all levels, and they're trying to blame others for their own mistakes", Alkatiri continued.
Six years after becoming an independent nation, a recent Oxfam report revealed that in parts of East Timor up to 90% of families aren't confident of getting enough to eat each day.
Fretilin, the main opposition party, won more seats than any other party in last year's elections. However, a coalition led by Xanana Gusmao's party, the National Congress for Timorese Resistance, was formed that locked out Fretilin.
Now Fretilin is organising a "peace march", which will submit a petition to the government stating its concerns. A date for the rally has not yet been set.
Rumours of potential violence erupting at the rally have been circulating, connected to an unsigned pamphlet alleging discrimination against Timorese from the impoverished western region and calling for protests if an easterner is appointed to the post of police commander in November.
Tomas Freitas, an activist from the NGO Luta Hamutuk in Dili, told Green Left Weekly, "Fretilin as a party, has made it clear that they will mobilise their militants, and members will come down to Dili soon".
Freitas continued "there are rumours – for example that the national police will break into two groups and one group will sign the petition. However the commander of police in Dili district has said to the public, that the police would not tolerate any kind of violence from the rally.
"Also the Bishop of Baucau has criticised Fretilin regarding this rally. The situation is very unstable."
On October 12, AAP reported that the government was enforcing a ban on off-duty police officers taking their guns home. President Jose Ramos-Horta stated that he would not accept a protest"criticising the legitimacy of the government".
Alkatiri has rejected media speculation that Fretilin is behind the pamphlet, telling Radio Australia, "Fretilin has nothing to do with this kind of issue".
"Xanana has to be blamed for this kind of`east and west' in Timor Leste. He was the one in 2006 to divide the country into east and west, Xanana himself."
Alkatiri told Radio Australia it was Fretilin's democratic right to hold the march, just as it is the government's right to have those responsible for violence arrested.
IRIN - October 31, 2008
Dili – Timor-Leste is addressing ancient land disputes created by centuries of occupation and confusion over land titles.
For 450 years, East Timor was a Portuguese colony and for 25 years thereafter occupied by Indonesia. At independence in 2002, the country was left with overlapping claims of land ownership and property deeds. Most land in Dili during the Indonesian occupation belonged to the state.
"The history of land ownership in Timor is extremely complicated," Nigel Thompson, of the USAID-funded "Ita nia rai" (our land) project, told IRIN. As part of the US$10 million project, a database will be developed, with citizens registering their land claims.
"Securing land title for farmers in rural areas will help protect them from potential exploitation as global demand for crops such as rice increases and bio fuels become more popular," Breanna Risdel, public information and awareness team leader for the project, told IRIN.
However, resolving conflicting claims will depend heavily on final approval of a land and property law that is due to go before parliament by year-end.
Rural vs urban disputes
Risdel said most disputes in rural areas took place over inheritance of land but claims were often resolved through traditional dispute-resolution methods.
However, disputes in urban areas have been exacerbated by multiple land title claims and repeated displacement of families over the years.
Many residents – both Indonesian and East Timorese – fled the capital during the violence around the Indonesian withdrawal in 1999, and many more were displaced during conflict in 2006.
People returning to the city after the violence subsided occupied intact and destroyed houses, often rebuilding or repairing them with their own money.
Possession a priority
The key objective of the Ita nia rai project is to develop a land law that will prove satisfactory for those occupying land as well as those who claim an official title.
There are many wealthy families who lay claim to large tracts of prime land, mainly in Dili. People without titles, who may have a legitimate claim to such land, currently occupy much of it.
Funding the dispute-resolution process from government coffers and possibly establishing a separate tribunal to deal with land rights, is the only way to ensure all claimants get fair consideration, Ibere Lopez, policy and legislation specialist for the project, told IRIN.
"If you don't do that the only way to enforce land rights is through the courts," he said, adding that poor people would struggle to defend their land claim as the court processes are expensive.
Very few land disputes are resolved by the courts. "The courts are busy with the criminal cases and they don't know how to deal with these [land] issues," Lopez said.
Women's rights
Women head 19 percent of households in Timor-Leste, and are being encouraged to make land claims.
Both patrilineal and matrilineal systems exist in customary law, but there are social barriers to formally recognising women as property owners.
"In the public information and awareness [part of the project], we stress constitutional issues of equality [and in the] focus groups involve women, because traditionally they tend to miss out on this information," Thompson told IRIN.
Solution not perfect
Considering the confusing title systems of the past, the recognition of possession before title is probably the fairest solution, Lopez told IRIN.
One of the options in the draft law before the Minister of Justice entails the government paying compensation to those who claim to have a title, and awarding a new title to the possessor of the property.
However, even under this system some people will lose out, he said. "There is no way any process, any criteria [or] any land law would please everyone."
Lusa - October 28, 2008
Dili – Mounting tension between East Timor's government and the opposition and continued regional-based rivalries in the police and army have left the country in a state of "pre-crisis and fatalism", a Timorese expert in strategic affairs warned Tuesday.
"People begin to interiorize a new crisis and no one appears to be able to keep it from erupting", Loro Horta, the son of President Josi Ramos Horta, told Lusa in Dili, referring to the bloody turmoil two years ago that involved rival security force factions and communal gangs.
"The risk we face is that the irritation between the government and (opposition party) Fretilin spins out of control with groups reacting to the constantly escalating tensions", Horta said.
The Singapore-based academic described the country's leadership as hobbled by "three egos, each bigger than the other" that limited the possibility of the president, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmco and opposition chief Mari Alkatiri combining to quell rising political uncertainty and unrest in the police and the army.
Fretilin, which denounces Gusmco's coalition government as unconstitutional, was "one step away" from withdrawing from parliament and provoking an "institutional crisis", Horta said.
The prolonged political feuding, he added, was developing against a background of continued dissention within an "unraveling" and "demoralized" national police that lacked a "strong command structure" and an army still suffering the consequences of regional rivalries that fractured it during the 2006 wave of violence.
Horta forecast that "if a new crisis erupts" it would first break out in the police force. As an additional sign of the reigning uncertainty and instability, Horta said his father's Timorese presidential guard had not been paid in two months and remained without radio equipment.
Though severely wounded, President Ramos Horta survived an assassination attempt by renegade soldiers in Dili last February.
Asia Times - October 24, 2008
Matt Crook, Dili – The streets of Dili are quiet – for now. Clashes between rival gangs have subsided and thousands have finally returned to their homes after fleeing the fighting that erupted in East Timor in 2006.
But behind the veneer of calm, the entrenched conflicts that sparked that street violence simmer.
The opposition Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) is engaged in a war of words with East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. For weeks, FRETILIN members have promised – without announcing a date – to hold a "peace march" in Dili, which many fear could instigate new clashes. Fueling the fire, Gusmao threatened on Monday to arrest any anti-government protesters who joined such a march.
United Nations troops are preparing to pull out of East Timor, but there are rising concerns that the new island country's national police force, the Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL), is woefully ill-prepared to take over their security responsibilities, despite a series of UN training programs.
East Timor is once again at a potential tipping point, with fears that political friction, police factionalism, an east-west divide, police-military animosity and high unemployment could lead to a repeat of the 2006 violence, when 37 people were killed and up to 150,000 fled their homes.
East Timor's history has been plagued with infighting, which until 1999 was directed mainly at Indonesian occupiers. FRETILIN is still irked: after winning the popular vote in the 2007 parliamentary election the party watched rival Jose Ramos-Horta form a coalition government led by the second placing party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT).
FRETILIN secretary general Mari Alkatiri said in an interview, "We never recognize the government because we won the election and the president of the parliament decided to invite the second-most-voted party to form the government. We want to have a government that can rule our country without corruption, without nepotism and with competency." The purpose of the FRETILIN- proposed peace march is to push for new elections, as well as to "show clearly who is who in this country and who has the most support from the people and to prove that this government has no legitimacy," Alkatiri said.
FRETILIN's has little to gain should its proposed march devolve into anarchy, but there are other worrisome factors that could lead to new rounds of violence. Much rides on the PNTL's ability to handle a demonstration and the possibility of riots, analysts say. PNTL Operational Commander Mateus Fernandes said in an interview that his men are "100% ready to hold security".
The PNTL, which has 3,194 officers and about 500 based in Dili, has found it difficult to handle even minor public disturbances. At a student protest in June, PNTL officers fired tear gas and made 51 arrests. At a job fair held earlier this month, warning shots were fired as a group of jobseekers broke through a barricade. Later, at a pop concert on October 15, PNTL officers struggled to deal with a heaving crowd of young men, occasionally beating them back with batons.
The PNTL was established in 2002 by the UN, at the time the new country's transitional governing authority. Supporting the PNTL now are 2,600 UN Police (UNPOL) and International Stabilization Force (ISF) troops stationed throughout the country. But even with that aid and armed presence, the PTNL has been strained to maintain law and order during volatile situations.
Some security experts point to alleged shortcomings of the UN's training of the PNTL, which aimed to build it rapidly into a credible, professional force. The UN has a mandate until mid- February, although the handover of power to local forces is unlikely to take place until mid-2009.
There is an alphabet soup of factions within the PNTL, including the UIR, URP, UPF, SIP, CSP, NID, each wearing a different uniform and resulting in parallel policing with different police groups operating independently. Some believe divisions between these factions would make it difficult for the PNTL to launch a cohesive response to major future disturbances.
"PNTL do their own thing. Some of them work with UNPOL, some of them don't. Even with UNPOL here, there were still weeks when it was complete anarchy," said a security expert from a non- governmental organization based in Dili. "The PNTL and the military have pointed weapons at UNPOL on many occasions and told them to get lost. Once those things start to happen, you can't go back and reverse it."
East-west divide
The problems don't end there, however. Tensions have recently intensified in Dili with the circulation of an anonymous leaflet threatening violence against the government if someone from the eastern region of the country is appointed as the new police commander in November.
The leaflet also airs perennial complaints about discrimination in the government structure favoring those who hail from the east side of the country over those from the west. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the letter and the government has been cagey about its relevance. State Secretary for Security Francisco Gutteres said, "I don't believe the leaflet is a concern, although we still have no idea who wrote it."
The east-west regional divide was highlighted in 2006 when Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak fired 600 mostly western soldiers, known as the Petitioners, after they abandoned their posts to protest against alleged discrimination in rank promotions. The controversial move was known to be supported by Alkatiri.
That pique played a large part in the violence that later erupted, where clashes between the police, army, youth groups and others spilled onto the streets and international peacekeepers were called on to help restore order. Ramos-Horta and Gusmao were at the time both engaged in a political battle with Alkatiri and both played the Petitioner's grievances to their political advantage, including through organized protests and a nationally televised address criticizing the military's move.
East Timor's armed forces, the Falintil-Forcas de Defesa de Timor Leste (F-FDTL), now comprises soldiers mostly from the country's eastern region, where Ruak is known to have considerable support. At the same time, he faces possible prosecution for his role in arming civilians during the 2006 riots.
A UN-commissioned report found that Ruak provided weapons to former freedom fighters that had been part of the Forcas Armadas da Libertacao Nacional de Timor-Leste (Falintil), FRETILIN's former military wing. Whether Ruak will ever be prosecuted is up in the air, with fears that if there were tension between the army and the police could lead to new clashes.
Two years later, the grievances of the Petitioners have yet to be resolved. Those who were fired by the government have received lump-sum payoffs, which have kept them quiet, although the issue of discrimination was never addressed. Meanwhile, military members who stayed loyal to their posts are left disillusioned that the soldiers they see as traitors have received handsome payouts.
Ramos-Horta's and Gusmao's government has increasingly taken to paying people in a bid to smooth tensions. For instance, displaced citizens have received funds in the form of government-provided recovery packages, usually between $500 and $4,500 per family.
However, deals still need to be made with the people who have been squatting in the houses of the displaced on their return.
Just as crucial to Dili's stability are the Timorese gangs and martial arts groups that played a significant role in the 2006 violence. Unemployment in Dili is staggering, with more than 40% for the 20-24 year-old demographic jobless. Their prospects are constrained by low education levels, as less than 50% of the country's children make it through six years of learning. The education gap is open to manipulation and youthful frustrations have previously been expressed through violence.
Peace negotiations between rivals gangs and the introduction of a PNTL special task force in 2007 has so far held a tenuous peace, but with such a large group of disenfranchised youth, the issues that drove them to the streets two years ago are still in place. It's unclear whether FRETILIN has the support or funds to stage a mass protest to mobilize these groups to its cause, but with so much else bubbling beneath the surface, East Timor's future as a stable, independent nation is still very much in doubt.
[Matt Crook is a East Timor-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at writer@whatismatt.com.]
Melbourne Age - October 11, 2008
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Trouble appears to be brewing in East Timor again as security forces step up roadblocks and increase security around government buildings.
Fretilin, the largest political party, is organising anti- government protest marches across the country, prompting threats by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to jail participants.
But on the streets of Dili, the seaside capital, the young don't know or care about the bickering and plotting by the country's political elite who have been antagonists for decades.
Twenty-one vulnerable teenagers were given cameras to capture their lives, and the photos they took are remarkable.
A girl cuddles her toy bear; three naked children sit above a water hole; a bride adjusts her husband's tie; a cockatoo rests on a perch; children play soccer; youths tend to goats; children frolic in surf.
One of the youths, Remegito da Costa, wants to become a full-time photographer. "The pictures are my eyes, mouth, ears and feelings," he says.
Rose Magno, a freelance photographer who supervised the project for the non-government-organisation Ba Futuru, which means "For the Future" in the Timorese language Tetum, says it is often difficult and inadequate for young people to express their traumatic experiences through words.
"Giving them an opportunity for creative outlet through the camera lens and visual narrative enables them to transform their negative feelings into seeing positive changes in their personal development and environment," Ms Magno says.
"These children and youth, most of whom have never taken a picture before, ventured out and brought back compelling interpretations on themes such as love, identity, community, peace, conflict transformation and hopes and dreams for their futures."
The photographs feature in a two-week exhibition, called Through My Eyes, at the waterfront Dili office of the European Commission, which funded the project.
Vulnerable youths have previously been given disposable cameras to document their lives in Aceh following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, and in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Photographs from both projects were exhibited around the world.
The Australian - October 3, 2008
Paul Toohey – East Timor's fragile political and justice system is again being put to the test with the country's most senior military figure, Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak, facing possible prosecution over his role in arming civilians during the crisis of 2006.
Brigadier Ruak, who has been named as a suspect but not charged, has said he is happy to co-operate with the prosecutor-general's office once his current immunity status is lifted.
A UN commission of inquiry into the 2006 crisis recommended that Brigadier Ruak, his two colonels and others, including then defence minister Roque Rodriguez, be prosecuted for illegal weapons transfer.
The report found Brigadier Ruak, who upon East Timor's liberation in 1999 was leader of the Falantil armed resistance, began to distribute F-FDTL army weapons to 206 former freedom fighters and police from May 24, 2006.
Brigadier Ruak told the commission of inquiry that at the time rebels were moving on Dili and the F-FDTL did not have the capacity to respond. All the distributed weapons were logged and eventually returned.
Fretilin opposition party leader Mari Alkatiri has volunteered to act as Brigadier Ruak's lawyer if charges were ever laid.
But observers believe the brigadier, deeply popular in the east of the country, will never be prosecuted because it could reignite violent divisions between the army and police, and easterners and westerners.
Fretilin is angry that Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's alliance majority has on three occasions used parliament to invoke immunity on behalf of former police commissioner Paolo Martins, who is also a member of Gusmao's CNRT party.
Martins was also named in the report for distributing weapons in 2006 and abandoning his command, but was not specifically recommended for prosecution.
"No member of this Government would ever again be able to travel past Metinaro – just east of Dili, where the army has its headquarters – if Matan Ruak is charged," said a source in Dili.
"He has substantial support in the eastern districts and elsewhere. He is very, very highly respected. He was our last commander of Falantil and was in the fight for 24 years. All of us are subject to the rule of law, but you can't do this selectively. Let's have Paolo Martins turn up and be questioned."
The issue of prosecuting the country's senior soldier is a very delicate one that will test the country's separation of powers. Timor has failed this test before, with its leaders known to intervene in the justice system in order to get what they believe is the best result.
Brigadier Ruak was responsible for sacking some 600 former western-born soldiers in early 2006 after they abandoned their posts to stage protests. It resulted in spot battles, street violence and a two-year rebel standoff.
| East Timor daily media |
Fretilin Papito resignation case - TP, 15 October
Fretilin party in the National Parliament demanded Tuesday explanation from the government in relation to the reasons surrounding the resignation of the Secretary of State for Rural Development and Cooperatives, Papito Monteiro.
MP Francisco Branco said that the reason for resignation was due to ill health however the rumors spread is that he was forced to resign because he was caught in stealing a mobile in Bali, Indonesia. "We want to have clear information for the government on the question in that we are cleared of what really happened," said Branco.
Reportedly, after tendering his resignation Monteiro went to continue his study in Indonesia on a government's scholarship. Branco argued that if it was the case that Monteiro stole a mobile phone and that he was not processed due to his misconduct, then the government has licensed the same to happen in the future.
He said that Monteiro had to be punished instead of being awarded for the misconduct. "Those who should go to study are denied but those who should be sanctioned are privileged to study," he exemplified.
MP Mario Carrascalao of PSD said that he himself as the president of the PSD had demanded the same clarification from the government but there is no response from the government in relation to the issue.
President cements culture of impunity, says ANTI - TP, 15 October
East Timor's National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) said that the statement of the Jose Ramos Horta recommending general amnesty for those who committed human rights violation in East Timor in 1999 is only to create culture of impunity in the country.
A board member of ANTI, Edio Saldanha, stressed that based on the Constitution specially article 95 section 3, it is the competence of the National Parliament to recommend general amnesty to any criminal. He said that he does not agree with the recommendation of the president to give amnesties to the pro-Jakarta militias and Indonesian generals involved in the 1999 mayhem.
He also said that by recommending public amnesty the president had violates the Constitution and the principle of separations of powers. "Constitution of the Republic article 160 said that crimes committed between 1974 and 1999 have to be prosecuted by either a national or international court," he explained.
He said that the president should not above the Constitution and does whatever he likes by intervening into justice systems. He also recommended that before making such statement, it would wise for the president to hear the views of the victims and their families whether a general amnesty should prevail or justice to ensure that the process is democratic.
Saldanha also mentioned the media report which says that the president would like to close UN Serious Crimes Unit, which he sees as a serious intervention into justice systems here. Saldanha then said that Horta should not worry about the relationship with Indonesia because democratization process in Indonesia also means to promote justice.
Timor wants UN to return powers to PNTL - TP, 15 October
East Timor's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Zacarias Albano da Costa, said Tuesday that recently he had a meeting with Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Timor-Leste, Finn Rieske-Nielsen where they discussed, among other things, the transfer of executive power from UNPOL to PNTL. Da Costa said the transfer of power is deemed to be done as the screening for the PNTL members is done.
Among the issues discussed were the abuse of UN in using diplomatic plates for their vehicles and the designation of a space for the UN mission here. "UN should not use it (diplomatic plate) as they wish; only representatives and certain agencies can use diplomatic plate," said Da Costa. He explained it is important to have an agreement about a uniformed and identified plate number for the vehicles belonging to the United Nations.
As for the designation of a premise for the UN mission here, it was agreed that the government continued to designate the Obrigado Barrack to the UN though the previous government decided award Aitarak Laran for the purpose.
Fretilin denies long march pamphlets to topple government - DN, 15 October
Fretilin MP Arsenio Paixao has denied an allegation of distributing pamphlets about toppling down the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Government. The rumors mongering on the pamphlets has made the MPs in the Parliament worried and has severed impact on the residents' lives.
"Long march will be realized, as we have never recognized this Government and we want it to step down, but should no be going through acts of violence," Bano said. He added they would let the public once it would about to conduct, it might 15 days before and they would not get any official request from the president.
Long march is coup says Carrascalao - STL, 15 October
Social Democratic Party (PSD) President Mario Viegas Carrascalao, said he agreed with Fretilin's upcoming long march, as it would be strengthening peace and stability in the country.
Carrascalao stressed he supported the long march, yet it should be peaceful and if the long march appeared with act of violence and that ought to be considered as coup against the state. "If the long march urged to topple down the Government, significantly means coup against the state," Carrascalao said.
Carrascalao said only the president had the power to make changes to the Government, but if Fretilin wanted to topple down the Government and that they would face the president not the Government.
Gusmao discusses status of Timorese in Indonesia - TP, 15 October
The minister for social solidarity and minister for foreigner with UNHCR director Aknur, meet Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao discussing about the status of Timorese people in Indonesia "We discussed about Timorese people who are currently living in Indonesia if they want to return home," Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa said.
He said, the Timorese people who had decided to become Indonesian citizen, but if they wanted to return they would be accepted as foreigners. The minister for solidarity, minister for Foreign Affairs and the UNHCR director introduced a new UNHCR representative, Alberto Carlos as a first Timorese people who would work in Sudan for implementing the UNHCR's programs.
Horta urges government to watch market prices - TVTL, 15 October
President Jose Ramos Horta has urged the Government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to set up soon an inspectorate for investigating price in the market which is staying in high. President Horta also called on the Government to make table for prices which could impact people's needs.
Horta said the Government should make price table, so that it would be easier for the Government to control it, otherwise would only bring profit for the businessmen. Horta stressed the Government had made efforts amending the tax law, but the prices kept staying in high and this would only bring profits for the businessmen and that the Government should control it.
State secretary calls on people to not commit violence - TVTL, 14 October
State Secretary for Natural Resources, Afredo Pires has called for the country's people to not commit violence, so that foreign investors coming to invest. The state secretary made the comments Tuesday (14/10) after signing an agreement on petroleum cooperation with Korean economy minister.
"Timor-Leste is a rich country, rich of gas and oil and that I am calling on all the Timorese people to not commit acts of violence which can deter the investors," Pires sad. Pires added if the country's stability was good, the investors could come for creating jobs field for the people.
AMP youth promise to defend the government - RTL, 14 October
The President of the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Zito Matos declared Tuesday in the CNRT Headquarter that the AMP Youth are ready to defend the AMP government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. The AMP Youth are from the youth of political parties that formed the AMP such as PD, PSD, CNRT and others.
During a press conference Matos said they recognize that there are corruption practices in the current government. He also urged Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of CNRT to replace independent incompetent minister or secretary of state with those who are from the AMP in order to better defend the interests of the AMP.
He also called on to the Timorese population not to be easily swallowed by rumors spreading in the country.
Martial arts groups fighting each other in Vikeke - RTL, 14 October
A police source from Lacluta in Vikeke reported that two martial group again involved in a group fighting last Saturday (11/10) in Umatolu Village of Lacluta. Agent Eduardo Campos said that five members of the conflicting martial arts were arrested Saturday for creating public disturbance.
The case was then heard on Monday at the Baukau District Tribunal and all the members are now conditionally free. Campos said that the suspects were released because no one got killed during the disturbance and that there was no strong evidence against them. Three suspects were from Kera Sakti while the other two are from Korka.
Fretilin disagrees with the initiative to invite TI - RTL, 14 October
MP Estanislau Aleixo da Silva of FRETILIN said Tuesday that Fretilin does not agree with the initiative of the President of the National Parliament to invite Transparency International to speak to the National Parliament to clarify their findings on corruption in the AMP government.
The former Prime Minister also said that based on the report of the Transparency International, the government had to evaluate itself and then to adopt strong measures to fight corruption in the country. "We may have strong laws but if the government does not take any strong measures to fight corruption, all these laws will be useless," Da Silva added.
He said that the proper reaction should be to consider that there are corruption practices in the AMP government instead of questioning the findings on corruption carried out by international institutions.
Meanwhile PD bench leader, Adriano do Nascimento said that he agrees with the 'goodwill' of the President Fernando 'La Sama' de Araujo to invite the Transparency International to clarify their findings to the National Parliament.
"It is the right of the Transparency International whether to come or not but the problem is that the result of the report has impacted the political stability of the country," he said.
Nascimento also said that any international institutions reporting on the corruption in Timor-Leste had to make their clarification about their finding to the organs of the state as the state is committed to fighting corruption in the country.
AMP's MPs met in Dare to discuss 2009's State Budget - STL, 14 October
President of the National Council of the Majority Parliamentary Alliance (AMP) Fernando 'La Sama' de Araujo said Monday that the AMP had three days meeting in Dare where they discussed among others the issues of 2009's state budget and cabinet reshuffle.
Lasama said the meeting is a normal process because the government was formed by the Parliament and therefore it is reasonable to know the programs of the government for 2009. He added that during the meeting many AMP MPs called upon the cabinet reshuffle to be done soon by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
MP Estanislau Aleixo da Silva of Fretilin said that the government had failed to fulfill its promise to the people to do reform in many public sectors. He said that the government is not serious in dealing with allegations of corruption mushrooming in many government's departments.
He said that now the Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry does not work properly as he is becoming a walking ministry for businessmen, buyers and vendors. He also added that up to date there is no proposal yet from the government about next year's budget to be discussed though the proposal has to be submitted three months before the entry of the new fiscal year.
Ofelino can be imprisoned for 5 years for negligence - STL, 14 October
Dili District PNTL Commander Inspector Pedro Belo said Monday that according to Indonesian penal code article 359, Agent Ofelino Filomeno can be charged for negligence and the maximum sentence could be up to five years behind bars. "That's what the law says but it depends highly on the investigation process," said Belo. He said that Ofelino will be disciplined as well for taking pistol with him when he is off-duty, according to the PNTL's Law No. 13/2004.
Meanwhile, PNTL's Acting Commander Inspector Afonso de Jesus said the PNTL will launch an investigation into the negligence of Ofelino Filomeno. On returning from Saturday night's patrol, Ofelino left his pistol on a family's table where his six-year old son Leo grabbed the pistol and then shot his younger brother Alasco Lucky, a six-month old baby on Sunday morning.
De Jesus commented that the sanction to be imposed will be based on the investigation into the incident. "In regard to what sanction to be imposed to Agent Ofelino, it will be dependent upon investigation," he explained.
Foreign minister welcomes ISF commander - TP, 14 October
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Zacarias da Costa and International Stabilization Forces (ISF) Commander, Brigadier Mark Holmes has discussed about cooperation between the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.
Minister da Costa said during the meeting they were talking on the air-cross way by helicopters flying into the Indonesian border zone, as Indonesia had urged to abide by. Da Costa said the country's people when traveling to Oecuse should be flying away from the distance of 12 miles from the border before entering into the enclave region of Oecuse.
He added during the meeting the ISF Commander, Brigadier Holmes also conveying about the replacement of the ISF soldiers in the country with engineering infantry to help support the country's reconstruction.
UN representative meets with foreign minister - TP, 14 October
The UN representative in Timor-Leste had met with the country's Foreign Minister, Zacarias Albano da Costa talking on the UN mission in terms of relationship between the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) and the Government. Minister Da Costa said the UN representative, Fin Rieske Nielsen met with him talking about the relations between the UNMIT and the Government, mainly the implications to his ministry.
Da Costa said apart from talking on the UNMIT's activities in the country, they also discussed about requesting the UN Commission of Peace Building coming to meet with the country's authorities. He added the UN Peace Building Commission was a new mechanism being applied in the countries like Burundi, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau.
Parliament decides to invite International Transparency - TP, 14 October
The Parliament through parliamentary chief of benches has decided to invite International Transparency Organization regarding its report findings that Timor-Leste places highest ranking of corruption.
Parliamentary President Fernanda "Lasama" de Araujo said during the meeting with the parliamentary chief of benches, they had made decision of inviting the International Transparency for explaining method used to gain the findings. "This is very important to respond speculations and ovoid current rumors mongering that the AMP Government is engaged in corruption practices," Lasama said.
Lasama stressed the Parliament should officially request the International Transparency coming to explain its report findings, in a way that the Government could make a self-improvement for the sake of nation building.
AMP to keep responding people's needs - TVTL, 14 October
Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) Council President Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo, said the AMP Government would continue developing its plans and programs for responding the people's needs. Lasama made the comments yesterday in connection with the result of the AMP Council's recent meeting.
Lasama stressed the AMP kept making evaluation to the works of the ministries and seeking for mechanism to respond the country's real situation. "We did not specifically talk on the reforms, but it was only small part of the discussion. We more focused on the Government's programs and the state budget of 2009," Lasama added.
Carrascalao may be appointed for deputy PM - TP, 14 October
Presidential Council for the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) has held a two-day discussion on how to reshuffle the current cabinet. The council might makes decision to appoint Social Democratic President Mario Viegas Carrascalao to be the second deputy prime minister of the country.
The AMP Council President Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo said they had held meeting for the AMP leaders on how to reform the structure of the Government. Lasama said there were so many concerns over the current cabinet and that needed to reform, yet the power was in the hands of the prime minister. "Reforms were also another part to be discussed in the meeting, but we more focused on the state budget of 2009," Lasama said.
Meanwhile, PSD President Carrascalao said he knew about the nomination of him to be the second prime minister, but he might reject the post.
Belo denies an attempted attack on him - TVTL, 13 October
Dili District Police Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo has denied news publicized today by some newspapers that an identified armed group attempted to attack him. The commander was responding to news published today (13/10) that an armed group attempted to attack his residence.
"I am here in good health and nothing happened to me. Do not trust in the false rumors," Belo said. Belo called on the residents in the Capital Dili to not be influenced with such rumors, as it would only make people panic.
Horta questions continuation of investigation into 1999 violations - TVTL, 13 October
President Jose Ramos Horta has questioned continuation investigation into the human rights violation in 1999 by the UN Serious Crime Unit. Horta said he did not authorize to continue the investigation into the case, because it ignored the state's position about sovereignty.
"I do not know the reason why the US and other donors want to spend much money to continue investigating into the case," Horta said. Horta added the country had gone through a mechanism with Indonesia known as Joint Commission of Truth and Friendship (CVA) and the outcomes were acceptable to the people.
President agrees with F-FDTL recruitment delay - RTL, 13 October
President Jose Ramos Horta said Monday he agrees with the decision of the F-FDTL Command to adjourn the recruitment of more than 200 officers into the Defense Force.
"I agree with the decision of the F-FDTL Command to delay the recruitment," Horta said. According to the President, the adjournment is important to give more chances to the Ministry of Defense to correct certain concepts in the basic military law presented to the Parliament recently.
Horta explained that in the law there are two different concepts of obligatory military service and obligatory military registration that create confusion. The recruitment is scheduled to take place next year after the slight change is made in the military law.
PNTL disagrees with suspension of Baukau commander - RTL, 13 October
East Timor's Acting Police Commander Inspector Afonso de Jesus said Monday (13/10) PNTL does not agree with the suspension of the Baukau District PNTL Commander Inspector Aderito Neto by the United Nations Police (UNPOL).
He argued that there should be a profound investigation into the case and that the result of the investigation should be made to the Timorese public before the UNPOL disciplined the PNTL officer.
De Jesus also expressed his dissatisfaction with the supplementary agreement between the state of Timor-Leste and the United Nations where UNPOL has more powers while the PNTL has less power. Accordingly, he added, the PNTL is debilitated by the supplementary agreement to defend its members and officers in case of suspensions carried out by UNPOL.
He explained that UNPOL had also made several suspensions against him though he does not agree with the decision and therefore that issue had to involve the Secretary of State for Security. "I was suspended several times by as I did not agree with these suspensions, the matter had to be settled by the Secretary of State for Security," he said.
Vets do not get paid for incomplete paper-works - TP, 13 October
Secretary of State for former combatants and veterans of resistance Marito Reis said that some veterans cannot get paid because the documents submitted are incomplete. "We have to delay the payment for the families submitted the documents to let the families know that for a fallen veteran, only a person is eligible to get the pension, not two," Reis said.
He added that this kind of problems that slow the payment for some veterans or their families. There has been protest from families of fallen heroes about the slowness of the government in paying pensions to the families of those died. He said that pension for those who died is smaller than those who are still alive because it is the law of the government.
Railos still out of prison - STL, 13 October
Commander for Fretilin former civilian hit squad commander, Vicente da Concecao known as Railos is yet to serve his sentence after receiving an overseas medical treatment. Legal Advisor for Railos, Jose Pedro Camoes said Railos had returned from overseas medical treatment for about a week, but he was yet to be in prison, as he was still spending 60 days of his provisional suspension.
Comoes said Railso was not totally freed, but he would be staying at home due to health condition, while waiting for his court trial in January 12 next year. The Railos hit squad was set up in 2006 during the country's crises by the former interior minister, Rogerio Tiago Lobato who was also Fretilin's deputy president.
We'll seek for support from investors, says Pires - TP, 13 October
Secretary of State for Natural Resources Alfredo Pires said the government of Timor will seek for support from investors to build the pipelines from the Greater Sunrise to Timor-Leste for the national interests of the country.
Pires said that the main concern of Woodside to have pipelines drawn to Darwin is due the problems of security in Timor-Leste, to which Pires said that there is no security problem at all to bring in pipelines to the country. "I think in our point of view there is no security problem here as we have resolved many problems," he said. He added that there if the pipelines are to be drawn to a point in south coast area of Timor-Leste, there would be no security problems.
According to Pires, it is important to create a good environment encouraging investors to invest here. Pires said that the government would bring in brave investor for the development of the pipelines to Timor-Leste. However, he wanted the local qualified and skilled people to work with the company.
For the development of pipelines to Timor-Leste's coast, Pires said he had visited Norway recently and had a chance to look at a new vessel which is going to do pipeline construction.
Unidentified armed groups attempts to attack Dili's commander - TP and DN, 13 October
An unidentified armed group tried to attack the Dili District's PNTL Commander Inspector Pedro Belo in his residence in Bebonuk Dili on the midnight of October 8, 2008. The group was seen in the area driving two taxis whose numbers had been taken out. A neighbor said that on Wednesday between 1 and 2 A.M. an armed group was seen there in two taxis, carrying also automatic weapons.
The group was seen moving around the residence of the police officer, about 100 meters with the taxis whose lights were off. Seen this, PNTL's Task Force Unit was called to the location. However, as the Task Force arrived there the armed group had left the location. A police post has been built in the area after the attempt.
A policeman in the area said that indeed there was an armed group trying to attack Inspector Belo, saying that the group is consisted of former PNTL members. Soon after the Task Force Unit arrived, Belo came out and had the police to go back. "Who attacked me? I am still alive," said Belo after the attack.
Should look at other initiatives over CVA's recommendations - TVTL, 13 October
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Zacarias Albano da Costa, said the recommendations made by the Joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CVA) should also be about other initiatives to strengthen the two country's relationship. The minister made the comments in recent days in connection with the handing over of the CVA's report to the Parliament.
Da Costa said there were so many things recommended in the report, yet should prioritize things related to strengthening the two countries' bilateral ties. "We are working with the Indonesian Foreign Ministry in Jakarta for looking at an action plan to implement the recommendations," Da Costa said.
Da Costa added his ministry would explain the CVA's recommendations to the people throughout the country.
GNR trains PNTL's instructors - STL, 13 October
The UN-GNR Police from Portugal has completely trained 44 of the Timorese National Police (PNTL) to become instructors for the police in future. State Secretary for Security, Francisco Guterres said the UN-GNR police provided training for the country's police officers due to getting mandate from the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste UNMIT).
Guterres said the police officers were trained with theory on the police's works and how to develop curriculum in the police academy. He called on the country's police academy to develop training for increasing the skills and knowledge for the country's police officers in future.
Need to reform F-FDTL, says Horta - STL, 13 October
President Jose Ramos Horta who is also the country's defense force supreme commander, said the state needed to reform the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) through capacity building from the old generation to the new generation.
President Jose Ramos Horta who is also the country's defense force supreme commander, said the state needed to reform the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) through capacity building from the old generation to the new generation.
The president Jose stressed the defense force' old generation should transfer their skills to the new F-FDTL's officers to lead the defense force in future. "We should create proper conditions for the new generation, the country's veterans should transfer their skills to the new generation," Horta said. Horta explained transition of transferring skills within the F-FDTL ought to be made from day to day and there should be proper investment within the defense force. Horta added the country's security situation had commenced returning to normal, as they were helped by the UN and the International Stabilization Forces (ISF).
Six year-old boy kills sibling with father's pistol - STL, 13 October
A six year-old boy shot his six months-old sibling by using his father's pistol on Sunday (12/10) in Audian, Dili. The fatal incident happened after the father, Ofelino Filomeno, who is a Timorese National Police (PNTL) member forgot to lock the pistol and left the pistol within the reach of his son Leo.
As Leo got the pistol on the family's table, he then shot the head of his younger brother Alasco Lucky and Lucky died instantly. The father was sleeping after returning in fatigue from PNTL's night patrols.
The mother, Nmvia Monteiro, who was preparing the family's breakfast in the kitchen rushed to their room upon hearing the shooting. Seeing Lucky covered with blood and died, she then fell on the ground and became unconscious. A relative of the family said that Ofelino often forgets to lock his pistol after returning from night patrols.
ISF ready to help community policing, says commander - RTL, 10 October
The International Stabilization Force (ISF) Commander, Brigadier Mark Horn, said the ISF was ready to help community policing of the country if they were needed. The commander made the comments during an interactive program held by Timorese Public Radio (RTL) on Thursday (9/10) night on community policing.
Brigadier Horn said the ISF kept staying in the country to help the country's people in restoring peace and stability. "We spoke to community leaders and police for guaranteeing peace and stability within the country," He stressed.
Deputy UN Police Commissary, Joao Carlos Aravalo, said in reaching a good achievement, the community policing was important to build confidence in the community.
Meanwhile, Acting Commander of the Timorese National Police (PNTL), Afonso de Jesus said police was born from the community and that would keep building good relations with them to restore peace and stability in the country.
Bauacau acting police commander officially leaves post - RTL, October 10
Acting Police Commander, Inspector Aderito da Costa Xinemes Neto, said the arrest by the UN-GNR Police to him was against they the law, as reason of the arrest was unknown. On the bases of the arrest, Neto has officially left his post and has handed over police attributes to the new Acting Police Commander, Sub Inspector Joao Cancio Pires on Friday (10/10).
Speaking to journalists, Neto said he handed over the attribute of his post based on the suspension request made by the UN Police. "I was arrested yesterday based upon the UN police suspension request saying I involved in a case," he added.
UN Police arrests Baucau police acting commander - RTL, 10 October
UN-GNR Police has arrested the Acting Commander of Baucau District Police, Aderito da Costa Ximenes Neto. Timorese National Police Operation Commander, Mateus Fernandes said based on the preliminary information he had that the UN police arrested him due to he [Aderito Neto] suspended some of his members who were indiscipline.
Fernandes said the investigation into the case was on going, as the national police was yet to know about the main reason of the arrest. "The reason of the arrest by the UN police was unknown to the national police. Investigation into the case is on going. Only the UN police are doing the investigation without involving PNTL," Fernandes said.
Fernandes added the case had been in the court and had been tried last night in the Bauacau District Court and until now the national police was continuing to contact the UN police about the reason of the arrest.
Meanwhile, State Secretary for security, Francisco Guterres, said the reason of the arrest was also unknown to him and said only the Public Prosecution had the right to publicize it. Guterres added Neto was very cooperative during the court hearing and wanted submitting himself to the legal charge.
Justice minister ready to face justice - TVTL, 10 October
East Timor's Justice Minister Lucia Lobato said she is ready to face justice without using her immunities as a minister if she involved in corruption in the rehabilitation of prisons in Bekora and Ermera. Lobato made the statement Friday (10/10) after giving her statement to office of the Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman in relation to allegation of corruption.
She said that during the meeting, she urged the office of Ombudsman to quickly finish the investigation and then make a report to the office of Public Prosecution. She said that the office of Ombudsman should make announcement to the public if in the end there is no corruption in the case of prison rehabilitation. The allegation of corruption involving the Minister was made by the opposition party.
Australia proposes taking care of maritime security - TVTL, 10 October
Secretary of State for Defense Julio Tomas Pinto said that Australian Ambassador in Timor-Leste had proposed to take care of Timor-Leste's maritime security in order to prevent illegal fishing. Pinto made the statement after together with the Commander of ISF met the Prime Minister who is also Minister of Defense and Security.
Pinto said that the two countries had to work out a legal agreement where the ISF can work with the F-FDTL and PNTL to curb recurring illegal fishing in the southern part of Timor-Leste. He added, the Prime Minister who is Minister of Defense and Security had instead proposed a trilateral agreement involving Australia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste to deal with the issue of illegal fishing in these countries.
Railos is free, handing two weapons to PNTL in Likisa - TVTL, 10 October
Likisa PNTL Commander Inspector Afonso dos Santos said Friday (10/10) that the commander of secret armed group Vicente da Conceicao 'Railos' had handed in two HK 33 together with 1,478 bullets to the PNTL in Likisa on October 8. Dos Santos said on October 6, he got an order from the Minister of Defense and Security Xanana Gusmao to collect the weapons from Railos.
He then explained that on the night of October 8, he went with Railos to Metagou area where Railos himself dug out the weapons and then handed in these weapons to him. He had then handed in those weapons and bullets to the National Police in Dili on Friday (10/10). According to him Railos is free now after having medical treatment in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Dividend Trust makes links with districts: Alves - Timor Newsline, 10 October
Matchmaking Coordinator, Celio Marques Alves, said Peace Dividend Trust was currently making links with districts to help strengthen its programs, such as tenderization and business verification for the country's people.
Alves made the comments during a press conference held yesterday at the office of the Peace Dividend Trust in Balide of Dili. Alves explained they had also provided information to the public and over seas countries, so that the internationals could come and buy the farmers' local products.
Alves added the Peace Dividend Trust also provided training on increasing the skills of the local businessmen and farmers.
PN leaders allow govt to do corruption, says opposition leader - TP, 10 October
Fretilin's bench leader Aniceto Guterres said Thursday that the National Parliament under the leadership of Fernando de Araujo 'La Sama' had been allowing the AMP government to do corruption by being permissive in demanding the transparency from the government.
Aniceto said that the president of the parliament had not kept his own promise to the people once he took office where La Sama said he would never be a mouthpiece for the government.
"The promise of the President of the Parliament has gone with the wild wind and it leaves us with the reality we all face and witness," said Guterres. He also said that the bureau of the parliament had systematically made the parliament a second class organ of state and that it has blurred the principle of separation of powers between organs of the state.
He added that the leadership of the parliament failed to ask the government to present document about the number of national and international advisers working for the ministry of finance and also the documents about purchasing patrol boats.
He said that the bureau had also totally denied the democratic rights of the opposition when state budget discussion was ongoing in the plenary.
Answering to the statements made, president of the National Parliament Fernando de Araujo 'La Sama' said that the parliament can never be an opposition to the government because it's the parliament that forms the government. He said that the parliament cannot value the performance of the government and that this has to be done by the public.
FRETILIN wants to get rid of the Govt through constitutional and peaceful ways - TP, 10 October
Fretilin's president Francisco Guterres 'Lu Olo' declared Thursday that the objective of the peace rally is to get rid of the incumbent government through a peaceful way. "Fretilin's demands have been very clear: through legal and constitutional ways," explained Lu Olo.
The former president of the National Parliament said Fretilin will not use violence or coup d'etat to oust the AMP government as the experience of 2006 shows. He said that in many countries, certain people may have used the weaknesses of the government as a trigger to launch a coup against the government but Fretilin will not do it.
Lu Olo said he was puzzled by the statement of the President Ramos Horta, arguing that the statements do not reflect any neutrality from the President's side. "The right of the opposition to do peace march should not be denied by President Horta," he said.
Lu Olo reminded the President to adopt a neutral position in order to promote dialogues in finding way-outs for existing political differences.
Xanana admits his government's incapability - TP, 10 October
East Timor's Prime Minister Kayrala Xanana Gusmao said Thursday during the official opening of the second legislature term that the challenge for the state, specially the government of the Majority Parliamentary Alliance (AMP) is its incapacity of effectively using plentiful existing resources for the common goods of the people.
"Our challenge now is not lack of resources but lack of capacity to use our existing resources, investing them in productive sectors in order to effectively build the country" he said.
Gusmao added that based on the development plan, in 2009 the government is committed to improving what have been done in 2008, to further consolidate reform agenda and to accelerate economic development.
He said in order to fight against corruption; the government would send a bill to the parliament on the establishment of an anti-corruption commission. He added that the government will also submit a bill on the establishment of a public service commission to ascertain productivity, professionalism, efficiency and integrity in the public service.
Horta calls on gas and oil investors to respect Timor-Leste - RTL, 10 October
President Jose Ramos Horta has called on the oil and gas investors to respect Timor-Leste's willingness to build the Greater Sunrise Oil Field's pipelines to the country.
Horta said building pipeline to Timor-Leste was being the people's interest and said decision of building pipelines should be based on technical and commercial aspects not through a political decision.
Horta said the investors should not make comments early and be influenced with the decision made the Australian Government. The Malaysian Petronas Company is currently doing a research about the possibility of building pipeline to the country.
Gusmao calls on politicians to avoid campaign for discouraging people - STL, 10 October
Prime Minster Xanana Gusmao has called for political parties of the country to avoid political campaigns that only destroy and decrease people's confidence to the nation, as well as making people to be discouraged. The prime minister made call yesterday during a speech marking for the opening of the second parliamentary legislative session at the Parliament House.
Gusmao said today was not time to backward, but the time for moving forward, because the country's people wanted to live in peace and remain calm. Gusmao added the Government kept proposing the Government to support various sectors which would determine the country's development.
Horta keeps urging government and parliament to combat poverty - TVTL, 10 October
President Jose Ramos Horta has continued urging the Government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the Parliament to resolve issue of poverty in the country. The president made the comments yesterday during a speech marking the opening of second Parliamentary legislative session at the Parliament House.
Horta said fighting against poverty in the country was an important way and had been the president's top priority to go forward. Horta stressed the Government should put fighting against poverty as its top priority, because the issue of poverty could impact on security of the country and national unity.
Horta called on the Government officials and MPs to not betray those who had had sacrificed for the country's independence and urged them to work responsibly.
UN urges Government to be proactive in protecting women and children - RTL, 9 October
The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) Counselling officer Jeca de Oliveira has urged the Timorese Government to be proactive in protecting women and children from violent actions. Oliveira made the comments today (9/10) during a press conference held at the office of UNMIT, Kaikoli of Dili.
Oliveira said angry and violent actions were being the cause of mental illness and were also human emotions and that could emerge problem at work if it could not be controlled well. Oliveira stressed the Government needed to put hands into violence appeared within a family, in a way that women and children were protected.
He added the UNMIT counseling officers had approached the victims who were suffering from the mental illness.
Security and defense are important, says Gusmao - RTL, 9 October
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, said security and defense were also important aspects to be priority in supporting the development of education, economy, justice and social security. The prime minister made the comments today (9/10) during the opening of second legislative year of the Parliament.
Gusmao said the Government was proposing the Parliament to initiate legislation in strengthening the country's education, economy, health, justice and social security.
CVA's recommendations not obligatory says Horta - TVTL, 9 October
President Jose Ramos Horta, said recommendations made by Timor- Leste and Indonesia's Joint Commission of Truth and Friendship (CVA) were not obligation for the country's state bodies, such as the Government and the Parliament to follow it up.
President Horta made the comments today (9/10) after handing over the CVA's report to the Parliament during the opening of second legislative year of the Parliament. "Recommendations are only recommendations and are not obligation for the Government and the Parliament to follow them," Horta said.
Horta added the CVA proposed the two countries to create a new mechanism for implementing the recommendations institutionally, but not similar to an ad hock. One of the CVA's recommendations is Timor-Leste and Indonesia should strengthen defense and security sector in the two country's borders.
F-FDTL's recruitment cancelled, says Taur - STL, 9 October
Timorese Defense Force Commander Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak stated Wednesday (8/10) that the recruitment of new officers for the Defense Force is cancelled due to certain complicacy in the new military law. "The recruitment is cancelled because there is a failure in the law which initially says that there is compulsory military service," Taur explained. He added that the recruitment would be resumed next year once the change is made in the military law.
In January 2006 there were 1,435 soldiers registered but as the 'petitioners' were formed around 715 soldiers left the military base and then sacked accordingly. He said that the Defense Force is prepared all the time to take defense responsibility of the county.
Taur says OK to Fretilin's peace march - STL, 9 October
Timorese Defense Force Commander Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak stated Wednesday (8/10) that the people should not be concerned about the forthcoming peace march organized by Fretilin as Fretilin wants also the development of the country. "Don't ever be concerned about this because every one of us want to develop the country," Ruak said after having a meeting with the President of the Republic.
He explained that the Constitution guarantees the right of every one to demonstrate but this right has to be exercised according to the law. Taur believed that there will be no violence during the peace march.
He added that the security situation in the country has returned to normal and therefore the F-FDTL members will be withdrawn from the stations where they were posted after the February 11 incident.
Timor Telecom disagrees with new operator policy - TP, 9 October
Timor Telecom Company (TT) has said its disagreement with the policy made by the Government inviting new operator to compete with them. TT Company has sent an official letter responding the Government's request of having dialog with TT Company.
A member of TT Ocar Lima said although the Government had planned to invite other companies, yet the companies would refuse because numbers of telephone users in the country were lower.
The Government should actually look at the contract made by the former government with TT Company and said if the Government keeps asking new operators coming to invest, he would resign from TT.
Gusmao should pay attention to corruption not long march - TP, 9 October
Social Democratic Party (PSD) MP Mario Viegas Carrascalao and Fretilin MP Francisco Miranda Branco urged Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to pay attention to corruption not the long march by Fretilin. The MPs made the comments yesterday at the Parliament House regarding, the prime minister's recent concerns about the long march as a threat for the Government.
MP Carrascalao said the important issue the Government should prioritize was corruption, as combating corruption in the country could improve the country's image. MP Branco said the report of International Transparency found corruption practices in the country and that Gusmao should prioritize this issue and said should not consider the long march as threat for power.
LUTA-HAMUTUK urges government to review Manitoba contract - RTL, 9 October
LUTA-HAMUTUK NGO has urged the Government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to review contract for the Manitoba Company that is currently responsible for electricity maintenance in the Capital Dili.
A researcher from LUTA-HAMUTUK, Helio Pereira Guimaraes made the comments during a press conference held yesterday. Guimaraes said the current power outage in the Capital Dili was the fault of the Manitoba Company, as the company had not worked properly in the maintenance.
LUTA-HAMUTUK called on the Government to halt contract for the Manitoba Company, if there would be no changes. He added the state budget spending for the maintenance would never bring any profit to the country's people and that the Government should take a concrete action to the company.
F-FDTL holds tactic practices of operation - TVTL, 9 October
The Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) officers held tactic practices of military operation after participating in a joint military training for the Portuguese Language Countries in Portugal.
The 12 of F-FDTL officers on Tuesday (7/10) were involved in the tactic practices of operation to identify and observe hideout of an armed group. Those F-FDTL officers chose the hill of Gagaplamu, Atabae sub district, district of Bobonaro as the hideout of the armed group or being the target of the operation.
Trainer Major Reis said the defense force officers were training about raiding the hideout of an armed group and they were trained about tactic of raiding an ambush.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Mario Batistas said was pleased with the training, because it would help them in commanding a team military in an operation. Lieutenant Helder da Costa said during the training they were learning about making plans and learning about maps.
Council of ministers approves proposed law on anti-corruption commission - TVTL, 9 October
The Government has approved proposed law for the establishment of an anti-corruption commission in Timor-Leste through the Council of the Ministers' meeting. The proposed law was approved to help support the commission in combating corruption appeared and promoting culture of transparency, accountability and integrity of the country.
The Council of the Ministers also approved an organic law for the works of the national intelligence which would help provide information for the sake of national security. Apart from this, the Council of the Ministers also learnt and analyzed over an organic law for the Ministry of Planning and Finance including commission of inter-ministerial of economic development.
Horta is not the constitution and the law, says FRETILIN - STL, 9 October
FRETILIN's bench leader in the National Parliament Aniceto Longuinhos Guterres said Wednesday (8/10) that the President of the Republic should not identify himself with the Constitution and the laws in relation to the Fretilin's plan to stage a peace march. Guterres said as the President, she should know that the Constitution guarantees every citizen's right to assemble and demonstrate and therefore the President should not impede the peace march.
He added that as President, Horta should make the AMP government accountable, they government that he himself appointed to rule the county. "As the head of the state, he may have concerns about the peace march,,.but the march itself should not be impeded," he said.
He explained that the peace march itself would be an event where the people can exercise their fundamental rights.
Guterres argued that in democratic country like East Timor no one should restrain peace march and that if there are any concerns about security, then security institution should be in place to ensure law and order.
Asked about the infiltration of the third party in the peace march, he said that the involvement of the third party is likely to happen, the concern of the people should be on how to deal with it but not to be over-concerned about the party organizing the march.
Meanwhile MP Manuel Tilman of KOTA said that the peace march itself everyone's freedom to express his or her opinion as it is guaranteed in the Constitution. He said that KOTA would participate in the peace march.
NZ and Australian ambassadors meet with Gusmao - TVTL, 8 October
New Zealand and Australian Ambassadors have met with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao talking on the country situation, mainly about maritime security of the country.
The Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Howard said the objective of meeting with the prime minister was to talk on security situation in the country. "In particular we talked about maritime security," Howard said. In regard to a new policy of the deployment of the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) to help resolve illegal fishing in the country's sea, Howard said the details will be discussed with the State Secretary for Defense, Julio Tomas Pinto.
There will be no other crises appear, says Ruak - RTL, 8 October
Timorese Defense Force Commander, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, said there would be no other crises appear within the country. The Commander was referring to the rumors mongering that there would be another petition makers with the Timorese National Police (PNTL).
Ruak said there would be no problem appears in the PNTL, because the police officers and commanders were capable in resolving this matter. "What I have seen here is so many speculations, saying there would be other petition makers by certain police officers. I do believe that nothing would happen," Ruak said.
He added Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, state secretary for defense and security had held meetings with the defense force and police talking on the issue.
Government to watch over Fretilin march, Gusmao - RTL, 8 October
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, said the Government he was leading would watch over the long march would be held by Fretilin party in the upcoming November, so that the people could remain calm. The prime minister made the comments today (8/10) after informing President Jose Ramos Horta on the country general situation.
Gusmao said he was not concerned about the Fretilin's plan of holding peace rally, yet was only concerned about stability in the Capital Dili, because he wanted all the people could live in peace and remain calm.
In regard to the rumors mongering that there would be another petition makers within the police force, Gusmao said he had held meeting with the police officers and commanders for preventing problem.
Timor's Interpol takes part in general meeting in Russia - TP, 8 October
Timor's Interpol Chief, Longinhos Monteiro last Saturday departed to Petersburg of Russia for participating in general meeting of International Police Crime Organization (Interpol) on the serious and minor cases, such as Malibaka case.
Prosecutor General Monteiro said Timor-Leste had many times worked together with International Criminal Police making plan for investigation into serious and minor cases. Monteiro said before representing Timor-Leste in the meeting he had coordinated with the country's criminal police unit, because Timor-Leste was currently being a member of Interpol.
F-FDTL ready to respond violence, says - DN, 8 October
State Secretary for Defense, Julio Tomas Pinto, said the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) was ready to respond violence which might take place during the long march by Fretilin shortly. The state secretary said every citizen and political party of the country had the right to express, yet they should hold it peacefully and said Fretilin had made comments that there would be no violence.
Pinto said F-FDTL's military police were prepared to boost the Timorese National Police (PNTL) for securing the long march and if any violence would be committed, the defense force and the Government would not tolerate it. He added although Fretilin had publicized that would guarantee the long march, yet they should get first authorization from PNTL.
Set aside egoism to live in peace, says PM - STL, 8 October
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said during an opening of Gender's Resource Center at the National Parliament Tuesday (7/10) that women would have to set aside their egoism and interests if they want to see the people to live in peace and harmony.
"Dissipate individual egoism, group interests, sectoral or ministerial egoism, especially among the members of the government in that we can execute our designed programs and plans," Gusmao said.
He believed that if Timorese women live by this principle a peaceful society would be established in Timor-Leste. He urged women to work together to boost their intellectual and technical capacities and to provide access to all existing services. He added that women should adopt a global vision in order to improve their capacities.
The resource center is funded and supported by the United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) and UNIFEM. He hoped that the center would provide information in relation to gender equality and encourage women to take leads.
F-FDTL commanders were only implicated, says Pinto - STL, 8 October
Secretary of State for Defense Julio Tomas Pinto said Tuesday (7/10) that F-FDTL officers did not distribute weapons to civilian but were only implicated in a big cause taking place in 2006 where they had to defend the F-FDTL that was under attacked.
"The involvement of Colonel Lere, Lieutenant Colonel Falur and Commander Maubuti was an implication of a big cause at that time," Pinto said. He argued, "What the commanders did was to simply defend the F-FDTL institution which was under attack then." He said Timorese public knows who distributed weapons to civilians, fueling the crises in 2006.
In relation to the intention of calling Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak to give his statement before the Public Prosecution, Pinto said the call has to be in line with the law and that the call has to be approved by the President of the Republic. "It is important that he is called based on the law such as that it is the competence of the President to authorize it," Pinto reiterated.
F-FDTL would be deployed along TL-Indonesian borders - STL, 8 October
Secretary of State for Defense Julio Tomas Pinto said Tuesday (7/10) that in order to fight against illegal immigrants in the country, East Timor's Defense Force (F-FDTL) has to be deployed along Timor-Leste-Indonesian borders. He added that an assessment team had been dispatched to gather public opinion from the places where the F-FDTL members would be stationed.
To date, the members of the Defense Force has been stationed in Tilomar, Batugade, Maliana, Lolotoe and Bobonaro. A team of the Secretary of State for Defense is scheduled to visit the population living border areas in Oekuse to explain the functions of the F-FDTL in a democratic country.
He said that since the beginning the policy of the state has been to avoid armed conflict with the Indonesian along the borders and therefore the F-FDTL members will be placed behind the PNTL's Border Police and Immigration. Pinto explained that there had been three meetings or so with the Indonesian Armed Forces about the intention of deploying the F-FDTL along the borders.
State bodies keep supporting gender equality - TVTL, 8 October
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Parliamentary President, Fernando "Lasama" Araujo, said the country's state bodies would continue promoting gender equality in Timor-Leste through capacity building program.
Gusmao and Lasama made the comments yesterday during speech marking ceremony for commemorating international day of women in the rural areas at the Parliament house. PM Gusmao said the Government would give more opportunity to the country's women in the rural areas having good skills to move forward with the country's development.
Parliamentary President Lasama has pledged to cooperate with all the diplomatic corps in the country to empower Timorese women.
Police ready to respond situation: Belo - TVTL, 8 October
Dili District Police Commander, Inspector Pedro Belo, said the police force was ready to respond situation, mainly if any violence committed during the long march by Fretilin. The commander said every citizen of the country had the right to hold peace rally or long march, but should follow the existing law being applied.
Based on information they come up and down in the Capital Dili, but should abide by the rule, otherwise, the police would respond it," Belo said. Belo called on the police to keep maintaining security within the country and not involving in politics.
Too early to summon Taur says Horta - TP, 8 October
President Jose Ramos Horta who is also the supreme commander of the Timorese Defense Force, said it was too early for to urge a suspension of Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak for facing inquiry regarding the recent crises of the country in 2006.
The president said the assassination attempt to him by the former rebel leader, Alfredo Reinado Alves and followers on February 11 should be the priority of the court to process it, not the crises of 2006.
Horta was responding a notification made by the country's Public Prosecution to summon Brigadier Ruak to give his statement in the court. Horta stressed the attempted assassination and the ambush on February 11 was an urgent case that needed to be processed soon.
The Public Prosecution is pending so many cases and is not yet to be processed legally. The International Investigative Commission also recommended some soldiers who engaged in the crises, but it did not mean the state should follow it, Horta said.
PNTL members who form new petitioners will be expelled - Radio & TVTL, 7 October
Dili PNTL Commander Inspector Pedro Belo said during a police parade Tuesday (7/10) that any police officers who join forming new petitioners within the PNTL will be expelled from the PNTL. "If anyone wants to make petitioners within the PNTL, she or he will be expelled tomorrow from the PNTL," said Belo.
He called on the police to defend law and order and not to be easily divided by any political maneuvers. He also urged the police to act professionally in responding to the plan of FRETILIN's peace march and the 'rumors' of the new petitioners in the PNTL.
He said around 700 officers of the PNTL would be deployed to provide security during the peace march. He added that PNTL would not give any space for anyone wishing to divide the PNTL and create instability in the country.
Interim PNTL Commander and others questioned over missing money - RTL, 7 October
Secretary of State for Security Francisco Guterres said Tuesday (7/10) that Interim PNTL Commander Afonso de Jesus and other officers are being questioned by the office of Public Prosecution over the missing of US$27,000 during the Joint Operation Command.
According to Guterres they were called to give their statements based on new evidence found from the investigation into the case. "They are still in the PNTL and they are called just to give more details about the case," explained Guterres, adding that as the investigation goes on some more officers would be called to give their statements as well.
He said that the government is still expecting the results of the investigation in order to settle the issue as soon as possible.
Financial crises can beget global security crises, says Horta - RTL, 7 October
East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta said Tuesday (7/10) that if the financial crises in the United States and Europe are not dealt with properly they could beget security crises all over the regions of the globe.
He said the crises had tremendously affected the economy of China because China has not exported a lot of its manufacturers into the markets in the United States and Europe. He argued that as the exportation is low, it slows the economic development there and consequently millions of people will be out of jobs.
According to him, all this economic slow-downs would bring forth instability in the region. He called on the United States and Europe to exert their leadership to curb the global financial crises.
Horta concerned about rumour mongering - TVTL, 7 October
President Jose Ramos Horta said he was concerned about the current rumours mongering that there would be another petition makers from the Timorese National Police (PNTL) regarding the appointment of new police commander. The president said the country's recent crises of 2006 which was sparked the two country's two security forces, PNTL and F-FDTL as a lesson for the country to not repeat what people had experienced.
Horta also concerned about Fretilin's plan to mobilize mobs for holding long march in the upcoming November. "I am calling on the country's politicians, mainly the Fretilin leaders to hold dialog with the state bodies and the bishops seeking solution to the country's problems," Horta said.
Horta also explained in holding a rally there should be clear objective and if the rally would only be held for political purposes he disagreed. Horta called on the all the country's politicians to keep maintaining peace and stability in the country.
MPs debates power outage in the capital - STL, 3 October
Members of the National Parliament suggested the government to recruit more professional as a way to find solutions to the frequent power outage in the capital. MP Pedro da Costa from CNRT made the statement during a plenary session Tuesday (30/9). There are three new generators purchased to deal with the problem frequent power blackout.
Meanwhile, PSD bench leader in the Parliament Fernando Gusmao said that the power blackout happens because there is a failure in the company which operates the electricity. Recently, FRETILIN MP Inacio Moreira demanded the Secretary of State for Water and Urbanization, who also deals with electricity to be sacked due to his incapacity in finding solutions to the recurring problems of power outage.
Govt should reshuffle the cabinet now, says PSD president - STL, 7 October
Social Democrat Party's President Mario Viegas Carrascalao said Monday (6/10) that it is now the time for the government of the Majority Parliamentary Alliance to reshuffle the cabinet as it has ruled for more than one year.
"To my point of view, it is already more than a year and one year assessment would be enough to know who works well and who don't," said Carrascalao. "Those who don't work well should be substituted because there are a lot of capable Timorese out there," he added.
Carrascalao stressed that it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to reshuffle his cabinet. He added there are some ministers who do not work well and if the reshuffle is done by the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister himself would fall down together with such ministers.
MP Aderito Hugo of CNRT said that reshuffle of cabinet is a normal thing in any government in the world and he thinks that it is also the right time to reshuffle the cabinet. Meanwhile President of the National Parliament, Fernando de Araujo 'La Sama' said that it is the competence of the Prime Minister to reshuffle his cabinet.
F-FDTL-PNTL should avoid personal interest, says Ruak - TP, 7 October
Timorese Defense Force Commander, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak has called on the country's security forces, the Timorese Defense Force (-FDTL) and National Police (PNTL) to put national interest as their top priority, so that stability within the country could remain calm.
The commander said if both F-FDTL and PNTL's works were strengthened and that stability of the country could be reached, people would move forward with the development. Ruak therefore said the two country's security forces ought to take responsibility by restoring peace and stability.
Ruak was referring to the current rumors mongering that there would be another petition makers appeared within the police force if the government would not appoint candidate from the country's west. He added during the recent meeting at the office of Foreign Ministry, he had spoken to the two security forces' commanders and other officers to cooperate well and should prioritize national interest.
Zero tolerance to violence, says Defense Secretary - STL, 7 October
East Timor's Secretary of State for Defense, Julio Tomas Pinto, said Monday (6/10) that the East Timor's National Police (PNTL) will have a maximum collaboration with the East Timor's Defense Force (F-FDTL) to guarantee the security for the forthcoming peace march and the two institutions will employ zero tolerance to violence during the march.
He also added that the government would not allow violence to happen from any group or any party as the people want stability in the country. "I hope that the activity of the party will not negatively affect the stability of the country.
He also stressed that it is the responsibility of the party organizing peace march to ensure stability of the country and that the party has to work closely with law enforcement institutions in mobilizing the people for the peace march.
State secretary blames Manitoba Company over outage - TP, 7 October
State Secretary for Electricity, January Pereira, said the blackout of city power in the capital was the responsibility of the Manitoba Company, because this company was the one that supplied fuel for the power.
The state secretary said the Manitoba Company had no proper policy in providing electricity to the residents in the Capital Dili.
Pereira denied the recent allegation by the MPs in the Parliament that the outage of power was 100% the Government's fault. "We cannot do anything, as based on the contract made by the former government with Manitoba Company, the government has no right to put hands into the works of the company," He added.
Police in pursuit of an arson suspect - TVTL, 7 October
Dili district police are currently chasing up a suspect who has set blaze to the internally displaced people's camps in Matuana of Vilaverde, suburb of the Capital Dili.
Police officer, Alarico Cristovao said the police was currently investigating this case and would try to arrest the suspect. Cristovao said they were little bit late responding the situation and the victims had escaped to safer places.
An IDP, Jose Henrique said he was shocked with the incident and asked the Government for a help by looking at problem they were facing. He added the arson had left two wounded and they were now living in Audian with their relatives.
Immigration officers detain foreign nationals - RTL, 7 October
Timorese Police Operation Commander, Mateus Fernandes, said the police immigration officers have detained 28 of foreign nationals at the bars in the Capital Dili, because they have no proper travel documents and involving in prostitution.
The commander said his police officers detained those foreign nationals, as they also missed used their visa for doing other things. Fernandes added the suspects were currently being detained in the police station for investigation purposes.
Fretilin to mobilize mobs of around 200,000 - DN, 6 October
Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres, said every citizen in the country had the right to express their opinions and hold rally, yet should follow the law being applied in the country. Guterres was referring to Fretilin's plan of mobilizing mobs to hold peace really in the capital Dili in the upcoming November.
According to information, Fretilin would mobilize 200,000 mobs throughout the country to hold long march urging responsibility of the Government led Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao during the office tenure. "For me all people have the right to express their thoughts and hold long march as laws allow it," Guterres said.
PNTL yet to get official request from FRETILIN - STL, 7 October
PNTL's Operational Commander Inspector Mateus Fernandes said Monday (6/10) that up to date there is no official request from the Fretilin party to the PNTL in relation to the upcoming peace march.
"We see the issue as a rumor because there is no formal letter yet for us", said Fernandes. He added that once they get the letter, the PNTL will call the organizing committee to decide on the venue for the march. He explained that everyone has the right to demonstrate and the police are ready to provide security but it has to be in accordance with the applicable laws.
Meanwhile, Fretilin bench leader at the National Parliament Aniceto Guterres said that it is the responsibility of the government along with PNTL and F-FDTL to ensure security for those who want to stage peace march. However, he added that it is not correct for the government or any of security and defense institution to threaten people to attend such peace march.
MPs debates power outage in the capital - STL, 3 October
Members of the National Parliament suggested the government to recruit more professional as a way to find solutions to the frequent power outage in the capital. MP Pedro da Costa from CNRT made the statement during a plenary session Tuesday (30/9). There are three new generators purchased to deal with the problem frequent power blackout.
Meanwhile, PSD bench leader in the Parliament Fernando Gusmao said that the power blackout happens because there is a failure in the company which operates the electricity. Recently, FRETILIN MP Inacio Moreira demanded the Secretary of State for Water and Urbanization, who also deals with electricity to be sacked due to his incapacity in finding solutions to the recurring problems of power outage.
FRETILIN demands documents of parliament's car purchase - STL, 3 October
Opposition party in the National Parliament, FRETILIN, demanded documents and other paper-works related to the 65 cars purchase for the National Parliament. The demand was made by MP Francisco Branco Miranda during a Parliament's plenary session Tuesday (30/9).
Branco argued that the money used to buy the cars belongs to the people and therefore the process of the purchase has to be transparent to the people. He said that the process of buying the cars is not transparent amongst the members of the National Parliament.
Vice President of the National Parliament Maria Paixao said that though National Parliament is an autonomous state institution, it is not yet financially autonomous. She therefore asked the opposition party to seek the documents from the government.
Meanwhile, head of National Procurement Office, Francisco da Costa Soares Borulako said that the documents could be given to anyone only if there is decision from the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to do so.
Govt sends new military law to parliament - STL, 3 October
The government had sent a new law on military service to the National Parliament to be discussed and then approved. And the proposal of the law itself had been further submitted to the President of Committee B dealing with the issues of Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Security by the second Vise President Maria Paixao.
President of the Committee, Duarte Nunes, said that the law will be discussed in the Committee before taking it to the plenary of the National Parliament to vote on. Secretary of State for Security, Julio Tomas Pinto, said that if the law is passed as soon as possible, the Ministry would start recruiting new officials for the Defense Force in this month.
Prove you're professional and I'm ready send FSI and UNPOL back, says PM - STL, 3 October
East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said Tuesday (30/9) if the East Timor Defense Force (F-FDTL) and the National Police (PNTL) proved him that they are already professional, the Prime Minister could ask the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) and the United Nations Police (UNPOL) to leave the country.
"The problems becomes smaller with the presence of the international forces and we feel we could not move if there are police from all over the world present here so prove me (you are professional) and I can send them back," said Gusmao.
He explained that East Timor is an independent country but the movement of its Defense Force and its National Police is limited while the Australian soldiers walking around carrying their weapons. "You cannot do it (carrying weapons around) while malaes (foreigners) can; what kind of independence is this?" questioned Gusmao.
He explained that in order to be really professional, the police should not carry their weapons while going to discotheques and that the police agents not to involve in illegal gambling.
As the Minister for Defense and Security, Gusmao asked the officers of both F-FDTL and PNTL to keep the spirit of joint operation to show that they are ready to take responsibility of securing and defending the sovereignty of Timor-Leste.
PNTL officers should avoid personal interest - TP, 3 October
Timorese Acting Police Commander, Afonso De Jesus has called on all Timorese National Police (PNTL) officers to work well in serving the country's people not prioritizing personal interest. The commander made the comments on Tuesday (30/9) in connection with some of the police inspectors who had worked for personal interest.
"I am calling on all the police officers within the police force to work together and keep up with the spirit of nationalism. We cannot work alone within this institution," De Jesus said.
De Jesus said the police force needed help from the country's leaders to professionalize the country's police officers. He added the police institution needed to make changes, because some of the police officers still new and their mentality were not so good.
Parliament calls for people to not panic - TP, 3 October
Parliamentary Committee B has called for the Timorese people to not panic with illegal pamphlets which are currently spreading within the community regarding the appointment of the country's new general police commander.
President of the Parliamentary Committee B for National Security and Defense, Duarte Nunes said the Parliament and Government knew about the spreading pamphlets observing, therefore the people should not panic, but should remain calm. Nunes said the pamphlets were distributed by the irresponsible people to provoke instability in the country and make the people to panic.
The pamphlets said if the Government try to appoint a candidate from the country's east and that would merger instability within the country. He added the Government had planned to appoint a new top police commander in the upcoming November.
Agricultural state secretary symbolically harvests soybean - RTL, 3 October
State Secretary for Agriculture, Marcos da Cruz has symbolically harvested 42 hectares of soybean in Maligo of Kailako, district of Bobonaro.
During a speech marking ceremony for the harvest, the state secretary said planting soybean was an important step to increase the country's local products.
Da Cruz said although he did not exactly know about the quantity of the farmers' products, yet the products in this year was increasing.
After the harvest, the Government was directly buying the soybean products,0, 50 cents per kilogram. The state secretary also held a visit to the project of rehabilitation of irrigation implemented by Tao Propoes Company which will end in the upcoming November.
Court sentences Eugenio to four years in prison - TVTL, 3 October
The Dili district court has made verdict sentencing Eugenio Candido Alves to four years in prison, because he was found guilty involving arson to the Custom Department's former building on August 6, 2007. The court took the verdict based on the Penal Code Article 170 and 180 about committing arson to the public buildings and disturbances.
The trial for this case led by Deputy Penal judges consisting of Maria das Dores, Prosecutor Felisberto Cardoso and public defender Augusto do Santos Marques. Prosecutor Cardoso said he made accusation to five accused, as they were suspected of being involved in burning down the building of costume office in 2007, but the four other accused were released as they were not found guilty.
Meanwhile, Legal Advisor for Eugenio said the verdict was acceptable to him and had discussed about everything related to the verdict with the family of Eugenio.
Public prosecutor to make accusation after having statement from Ruak - TVTL, 2 October
Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro, said the case of the country's crises of 2006 would be taken to court after the Public Prosecution had got statement from the Defense Force Commander, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak.
The prosecutor general said they would make an official request to the Defense Superior Council to allow Brigadier Ruak to give his statement over the case. "This is preliminary process and is not the time for making accusation, the final decision taken after getting statement from Brigadier Ruak," Monteiro said.
In response to the F-FDTL Chief of Staffs, Lere Anan Timur' concerns about ranking hierarchy to question him [Lere Anan] in the inquiry, Monteiro recognized it. Monteiro said the inquiry should actually be done by a prosecutor, yet he was sick and that they handed over it to the investigative police to do it.
He added the president and prime minister had also faced inquiry in relation to the recent crises of 2006.
I'm not afraid of justice because truth is on my side, says Falur - TVTL, 2 October
East Timor Defense Force's Lieutenant Colonel Falur Rate Laek said Thursday (2/10) that he is not afraid of facing justice because the truth is on his side. Falur made the statement after answering the questions from the office of Pubic Prosecution in relation to the 2006 crises in which he is alleged of handing over weapons to former combatants.
"Only those who are afraid of facing justice are those who are guilty and those who are brave to face justice are those who have truth," said Falur. He said that that as he fought for independence and democracy, he himself should uphold justice and therefore he is ready to cooperate with the justice systems.
He explained that he was happy with the questions asked because as a combatant he is always happy. Two more F-FDTL officers would be questioned in relation to the handing over weapons to former combatants in the 2006 crises.
The country is on the verge of dictatorship, says FRETILIN - TVTL, 2 October
FRETILIN's President Francisco Guterres 'Lu Olo' said Thursday that East Timor is on the verge of dictatorship because there is tendency in the current government led by Xanana Gusmao to kill the rights of the people.
The statement was made during a press conference in relation to the statement made by the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao last Saturday in Ainaro where Gusmao threatened the people not to take part in the peace rally organized by FRETILIN.
He stressed that the party will not allow dictatorship to take place again in the country as the people fought hard to get rid off it during the illegal Indonesian occupation.
Lu Olo added FRETILIN is really concerned and saddened by the statement made and he urged Gusmao's government to respect the Constitution of the Republic along with other existing applicable and to respect the rights of the people to stage a peaceful rally.
He explained that the country should be built on the spirit of democracy, tolerance and peace but not on dictatorship. He reaffirmed that the FRETILIN's peace rally is not to create conflict but to affirm democracy and justice in the country and therefore it should not be banned by the government. The date for the peace rally is not yet known.
Govt approves national security law - STL, 1 October
East Timor's government had approved national security act, says a government's press release Monday (29/9). The national security act incorporates internal security act, national defense act and civilian protection act.
It would also define levels of cooperation between defense and security forces regardless of their autonomous institutions and rules of engagement. The law will be submitted to the National Parliament.
Govt wants Muslims to maintain peace and stability - STL, 1 October
East Timor's Vice-Prime Minister, Jose Luis Guterres urged the Muslims in the country to contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in the country. Guterres made the statement during his visit to the An'nur Mosque at Kampung Alor, Dili to congratulate Muslims celebrating their Idul Fitri.
He said that the establishment of peace and stability was important and every Timorese, including Muslims, had to contribute so that the people live a better life. "We all should maintain peace, stability, and love so that the people of East Timor live a better life," said Guterres.
He stressed that the government was to serve every one and ready to work with Muslims to establish peace and stability in the country. Among the visitors were representatives of UNMIT, US embassy and Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Heyward.
Parliamentary table in charge has no right to suspend Caminha - RTL, 2 October
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) Chief of Bench, Eduardo "Dusai" Barreto, said the parliamentary table in charge had no right to suspend MP Cecilio Freitas Caminha without warning him first. Dusai said based on information he had MP Caminha was currently receiving medical treatment out of the country.
MP Fernanda Lay from the Committee I, said the Parliament's internal rule gave opportunity to the MPs who were absent for five days to provide notification letter for stating their reason. Lay said the recent comments made by Deputy Parliamentary President were not threat, but it was a warning for the MPs to abide by.
Court postpones trial of F-FDTL soldiers - RTL, 2 October
The Dili District Court have postponed trial for former civilian hit squad commander, Vicente da Conceicao known as Railos and two of his followers, Mateus Dos Santos alias Maurakat and Leandro Lobato who were suspected of being involved in firing into the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) soldiers in Tasi Tolu on May 24, 2006.
The trial should actually be held on Monday (29/9), yet Railos and Maurakat did not appear in the court. Therefore, the court decided to postpone it to January 12 next year.
The accused Maurakat could not appear in the court, because he was still having security deals with security in charge and whereas Railos was currently receiving an intensive medical treatment in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the court made decision to release conditionally Leandro Lobato, urging him to report himself at police station.
The exchange shootings between the defense force soldiers and the Railos civilian hit squad left nine were killed and three seriously wounded. The Railos Civilian hit squad was set up in 2006 by former Fretilin deputy president Rogerio Lobato who was also the country's former interior minister.
[Compiled by Timor-Leste Daily Media