Tiny East Timor on Wednesday signed a UN treaty to protect the Earth's fragile ozone layer, making it the first environmental pact to achieve backing from all 196 member states, the United Nations said.

The Montreal Protocol is designed to phase-out man-made chemicals that damage the planet's ozone layer, which shields life from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer, cataracts and reduce plant yields.

The pact has been so successful that the UN says 97 per cent of all ozone-depleting substances controlled by the 1987 protocol have been phased out.

Substances being phased out have been widely used in refrigerators, air-conditioners, fire extinguishers as well as solvents for cleaning electronic equipment and include chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, halons and methyl bromide.

East Timor, formerly part of Indonesia and just to the north of Australia, is one of the world's youngest nations.

The director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said without the pact, levels of ozone-depleting substances would have increased tenfold by 2050. This in turn could have led to up to 20 million more cases of skin cancer and 130 million more cataract cases. Some of the same gases also contribute to climate change.

"By some estimates, the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances has since 1990 contributed a delay in global warming of some seven to 12 years underlining that a dollar spent on ozone has paid handsomely across other environmental challenges," Steiner said in a statement.

The UN says global observations have verified that atmospheric levels of key ozone-depleting substances are going down.

[Reporting by David Fogarty; Editing by Tomasz Janowski.]

Timor ratifies opposition to US blockade, support of Cuban five

Cuban News Agency (CAN) - September 9, 2009

Havana – The President of East Timor's National Parliament, Fernando La Sama de Araujo, ratified on Tuesday his country's opposition to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government against Cuba.

"The government of East Timor continues to oppose this unilateral measure and demands its lifting," the visitor told ACN in this capital. In another moment of his statement, the head of East Timor's Parliament thanked Cuba for the valuable help it's currently giving to his country.

After describing bilateral relations as very good, he said that Cuba is giving the people of East Timor "what it needs in the health and education sectors, which are essential spheres for the nation's future", he affirmed.

"I'm here to thank the Cuban people and government for that solidarity and to explore possibilities to expand relations between the two countries," stressed La Sama de Araujo, who is on an official visit to the Caribbean island.

Likewise, Fernando La Sama de Araujo, demanded the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

At the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples in Havana, the visitor met with the relatives of Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Rene Gonzalez -The Five, as they're known internationally- who on Saturday we'll have been imprisoned 11 years, serving arbitrary and harsh sentences.

He said that he understands and shares the suffering of these brave men and their loved ones, since he was in prison for six and a half years during the times in which his homeland was occupied and he struggled for its independence.

We know that both The Five and their relatives are facing an unjust situation, but they're not alone, because they have friends all over the world, he affirmed.

La Sama de Araujo said that this is a political case and that US President Barack Obama can and should adopt the decision of releasing these prisoners, since they have not committed any crime.

He pointed out that The Five are heroes before the Cuban people and the world, above all for those who love peace and the truth. On behalf of Jose Ramos Horta, President of the Republic of East Timor, and of the country's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, I once again express our solidarity, he reiterated.

Adriana Perez, Elizabeth Palmeiro, Rosa Aurora Freijanes and Olga Salanueva, the wives of Gerardo, Ramsn, Fernando and Rene, respectively, and Mirta Rodrmguez, Antonio Guerrero's mother, gave the President of the Parliament from East Timor details on the development of this falsified legal process.

Balibo inquiry

Balibo inquiry worries Indonesia

Sydney Morning Herald - September 25, 2009

Brendan Nicholson, Foreign Affairs Correspondent – Indonesia's ambassador has asked the Australian Federal Police to explain why they are investigating the killings of five Australian-based journalists at Balibo 34 years ago.

Primo Alui Joelianto said he rang the new AFP Commissioner, Tony Negus, yesterday to discuss the investigation.

"I just wanted to seek clarification of why he took the decision to start the investigation," Mr Joelianto said. Mr Negus explained to him the investigation was based on information referred to the police by the NSW Coroner. "It's the legal process," Mr Joelianto said. "We can understand that."

The ambassador said the Indonesian Government was concerned about the investigation. "It cannot be beneficial for our relations," he said.

Mr Joelianto said Indonesia would not send its citizens to Australia for trial. The men were killed a long time ago, he said, and Indonesia had considered the case closed.

Mr Joelianto said the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, was right to say that while relations between his country and Indonesia were very strong the dangers to that relationship were complacency and surprises. "I agree with him."

Mr Joelianto stressed he was not trying to intervene in the case and said Indonesia respected the investigation as part of the legal process. After his conversation with Mr Negus, Mr Joelianto met the AFP's assistant commissioner for border and international Affairs, Kevin Zuccato.

In September, Mr Smith said the Indonesian Government was "somewhat surprised" to hear the AFP was investigating the Balibo killings.

In November 2007 the NSW Deputy Coroner, Dorelle Pinch, found the Balibo Five were executed by Indonesian forces to stop them revealing details of Indonesia's invasion.

Two Indonesians named in the inquest were Yunus Yosfiah, who is now a retired general, and another soldier, Christoforus da Silva. Ms Pinch found there was strong circumstantial evidence the five were killed on orders by the head of Indonesian Special Forces, Major-General Benny Murdani, to Colonel Dading Kalbuadi, Special Forces Group Commander in Timor, and then to Captain Yunus. Murdani and Kalbuadi are dead.

Indonesia claimed the five were killed in crossfire during the battle for the town.

Australia told to resist Indonesian 'blackmail' over Balibo probe

Agence France Presse - September 17, 2009

A leading press freedom group has urged Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to resist Indonesian "blackmail" over a war crimes probe into the 1975 deaths of five Australia-based journalists.

Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) wrote an open letter to Rudd late on Wednesday warning that the world was watching Australia's investigation of the "Balibo Five", who were killed during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.

Australian police last week announced they had launched a war crimes probe into the deaths, nearly two years after a Sydney coroner ruled they had been deliberately murdered by Indonesian forces to keep the invasion secret.

The surprise move prompted Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to warn that such an "inaccurate mindset" could damage relations with Jakarta, which considered the case to be closed.

Rudd has dismissed the comments as "bumps in the road" in Australia's sometimes fraught relationship with neighboring Indonesia.

Jean-Francois Julliard, RSF secretary-general, said Yudhoyono's "hostility" was contrary to international justice and called on Rudd to take a strong stance.

"We urge you to find the political, diplomatic and judicial means to bring the perpetrators and instigators of this multiple murder to justice," Julliard wrote.

"We urge you, prime minister, not to yield to Indonesian diplomatic blackmail, which for too long has resulted in your country remaining silent on this matter."

Coroner Dorelle Pinch in 2007 said Indonesia's military had murdered the five – Britons Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie, Australians Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart and New Zealander Gary Cunningham.

RSF said Pinch's inquiry "clearly showed Indonesian army officers committed war crimes", including Yunus Yosfiah, who rose to become the country's information minister in the late 1990s.

The journalists were killed in the East Timor border town of Balibo as they covered the Indonesian invasion that led to a 24- year occupation of the former Portuguese colony.

Jakarta has always maintained the reporters died in crossfire as Indonesian troops fought East Timorese Fretilin rebels, a version of events accepted by successive Australian governments.

Anti-terror ambassador says Balibo probe won't hurt ties

Australian Associated Press - September 16, 2009

Sydney – An Australian investigation into the deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor will not undermine anti-terrorism links with Indonesia, Australia's Counter Terrorism Ambassador says.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) last week announced it would launch an official war crimes investigation into the 1975 deaths of the five journalists in the East Timorese border town of Balibo.

The announcement came almost two years after a NSW coroner concluded they had been deliberately killed by Indonesian forces and has ruffled the feathers of Indonesian authorities.

But William Paterson, appointed Australia's ambassador for counter terrorism in 2008, said the working relationship between the AFP and its Indonesian counterparts was robust enough to withstand the investigation.

"The Australian Federal Police have developed a very good and quite enduring relationship with their Indonesian counterparts, and I think it is understood on both sides how effective that has been in dealing with the terrorist threat," Mr Paterson told an audience at Sydney's Lowy Institute on Wednesday.

"I think that can probably sustain a fair amount of pressure, which will come not simply through the Balibo issue, but through other issues as well."

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has also said the investigation would not impact on the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

However, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the decision to investigate such an old episode was backward- looking.

For three decades, successive Australian and Indonesian governments have claimed the five journalists were accidentally killed in crossfire.

In a wide-ranging speech on counter terrorism in the Southeast Asian region, Mr Paterson said that while Indonesia had been successful in blunting Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the terrorist group behind the Bali bombings had been able to regroup.

Mr Paterson said the bombings of Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz- Carlton hotels on July 17 this year shattered hopes that terrorism had been contained by Indonesia in recent years.

Of major concern was fugitive terrorist mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, whose JI splinter group is suspected of carrying out the July hotel bombings that killed seven people, including three Australians.

"He appears to have had little difficulty in recruiting supporters, including those prepared to seek martyrdom as suicide bombers," Mr Paterson said.

"He also appears to be able to draw on a network of sympathisers who offer safe haven in his continuing evasion of justice.

"Noordin appears to have upped the stakes. The 17th July bombings may have been an attempt to demonstrate to al-Qaeda Noordin's capability in an attempt to secure the status of an al-Qaeda affiliate, with the advantages that might bring in recruiting (and) funding."

Al-Qaeda backing would "magnify" his reach across the region, Mr Paterson said.

Top is also suspected of organising the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2003 attack on Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, and the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Mr Paterson warned that conditions across South-East Asia were ripe for terrorist recruitment, with democratisation providing a space for extremist organisations, the internet offering a platform for radical views, and poverty and unemployment fostering support.

He urged the international community, including Australia, to continue development assistance to the southeast Asian region to ameliorate the socio-economic issues that lead to radicalisation.

"If you're a young person in southern Thailand, or poverty- stricken rural Java, and have no access to a decent education which will get you employment and a stake in your society, then you're likely to be pretty dissatisfied and pretty susceptible to an extremist message," he said.

Rudd clears air with Yudhoyono to head off rupture on Balibo

The Australian - September 15, 2009

Dennis Shanahan and Stephen Fitzpatrick – Kevin Rudd has been forced to make plans with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to avoid any diplomatic rupture caused by the Australian Federal Police's inquiry into possible war crimes in East Timor.

The Australian government was caught with little time to cushion the impact on Australian-Indonesian relations of the investigation, announced by new AFP Commissioner Tony Negus only days after his appointment.

The Prime Minister spoke to the Indonesian President by phone on Sunday and the two leaders agreed to co-operate to ensure disruption in the sometimes turbulent Australian-Indonesian relationship was minimised.

A spokesman for Mr Rudd said the two "agreed to find ways to manage this question in a way that least affected the bilateral relationship".

But there has been criticism of the AFP's decision in Jakarta and last night Indonesia's military said it would refuse to co- operate with Australian police in any inquiry into the killings of five Australian-based journalists in Balibo in East Timor in October 1975.

In 2007, a NSW coroner ruled that the killings of the so-called Balibo Five were likely to have been a breach of the Geneva Conventions, and referred the matter for further investigation. Last week, soon after being sworn in, Mr Negus announced a criminal investigation into allegations of war crimes, following testimony at the inquest into the death of one of the five, Brian Peters, that Indonesian military officers ordered their killing during an invasion of East Timor.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith contacted Jakarta before the public announcement but Mr Rudd spoke to Dr Yudhoyono on Sunday.

Last night Indonesian Air Vice Marshal Sagom Tamboen said there had been no formal request for assistance from the AFP, "and hopefully there will be none, because for us the problems of Indonesia and East Timor are in the past".

"This was the decision of the Indonesian and East Timorese governments when they accepted the Truth and Friendship Commission report, that it was done with," he said.

That report, handed down in July last year, found that Indonesia bore "institutional responsibility" for the violence in 1999, immediately after East Timor's independence referendum.

However, it also allowed Jakarta and Dili to resolve not to launch prosecutions on the basis of any evidence given to the commission, which prompted the UN to withhold its support from the five-year inquiry.

Air Vice Marshal Tamboen said the Balibo inquiry was purely a domestic affair for Australia. "If they want to investigate this, they must do it as an internal matter," he said. "What help is there remaining for us to give? We've done with it."

One of the two men named in the report of NSW Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch last year was retired army captain Yunus Yosfiah, who rose to become information minister in the post-Suharto years. Both he and the other man named, Christoforous da Silva, were members of Indonesia's special forces in 1975.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said yesterday that, while the granting of visas for any AFP officers to conduct inquiries in Indonesia would be a question for the immigration department, he would be "surprised" if it occurred.

Australia's 'Balibo' film may not reach Indonesian viewers

Jakarta Post - September 12, 2009

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The Indonesian government may prohibit the Balibo movie being screened here as it may be deemed "offensive".

Indonesia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Friday that neither he nor any other government officials had seen the film but, based on media reports about the controversial film, it was likely to offend the public.

"I don't think the censorship agency will allow such an offensive film to be shown in this country as it will open up old wounds," he said at a press briefing. "We have to ensure that the interests of the larger community are being served."

Balibo depicts the brutal killing of five foreign journalists by Indonesian soldiers during the invasion of the then East Timor in 1975.

Directed by Australian Robert Conolly, the movie was released two months before the Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced it had reopened the investigation into the deaths of the five journalists, known as the Balibo Five.

The Indonesian and Australian governments had concluded that the journalists, two of them Australian, were accidentally killed in the crossfire and considered the case closed.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, however, promised the families of the slain journalists, during his 2007 federal election campaign, that he would resolve the case.

Balibo is based on a book written by Jill Jolliffe, who witnessed the first incursions of the military into the Balibo territory and reported the death of her five colleagues. She moved to Portugal in 1978, but continued to follow the story of the Balibo Five for more than 30 years.

Historian Clinton Fernandes from the University of New South Wales' School of Humanities and Social Sciences, who acted as a consulting historian for the film, said Connolly was committed to historical accuracy.

"(The five journalists) were killed deliberately on orders that emanated from the highest levels. Their corpses were dressed in uniforms, guns placed beside them, and photographs taken in an attempt to portray them as legitimate targets," Fernandes said on his website.

The film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July. There is a possibility that it will be screened at the annual Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) in December.

JIFFest festival manager Nauval Yazid said the festival had not finished selecting movies but acknowledged that Balibo was among them. "I haven't received any official notification from the government about the banning of the film," said Nauval.

Film Censorship Institute (LSF) chairman Mukhlis Paeni refused to comment on the Foreign Ministry's statement. "I can't give you any comments before I see the film," he said.

In 2006, the LSF banned four films at JIFFest: The Black Road about the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and three about Timor Leste, namely Tales of Crocodiles, Passabe and Timor Loro Sae.

Government to ban 'Balibo' as Australian police begin new probe

Jakarta Post - September 11, 2009

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government is considering banning an Australian film that tells the story of five foreign journalists who were killed by Indonesian soldiers during the invasion of East Timor in 1975, calling the film "offensive".

Since Balibo, directed by Australian Robert Conolly, was released two months ago, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have surprised Jakarta by announcing it has reopened its investigation into deaths the journalists, known as the Balibo Five. Both the Indonesian and Australian governments had previously concluded the reporters were killed in crossfire.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said neither he nor any other government officials had seen the film, but that based on reviews he said it was likely to offend the public.

"I don't think the censorship agency will allow such an offensive film to be screened in the country, as it will open old wounds," he told reporters.

The film is based on a book written by Jill Jolliffe, who witnessed the first incursions of the Indonesian military into Balibo, and reported the deaths of her five fellow journalists. She moved to Portugal in 1978, but has continued to press for justice for the Balibo Five for more than 30 years.

Yudhoyono: Balibo Five probe a step in wrong direction

Jakarta Globe - September 10, 2009

The Australian Federal Police's decision to investigate the "Balibo Five" incident in East Timor in 1975 is a backwards step that could harm relations between Australia and Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday.

Yudhoyono, speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting at the presidential office, said the AFP's decision to launch the war- crimes investigation into the deaths of the five journalists was contrary to the spirit of ending the dispute between Indonesia and East Timor.

"This is not in line with our spirit to look to the future between Indonesia and East Timor to end all issues that disrupt the relationship between the two countries, which agreed to form the Commission of Truth and Friendship," Yudhoyono said.

The president added that at the time, Australia even agreed to the establishment of the CTF and worked to end the dispute by offering several recommendations.

"This is important, so the good or even great relationship between Indonesia and Australia isn't harmed by problems that might have arisen because of a mind-set or way of thinking that, in our opinion, is inaccurate," Yudhoyono said.

He also said Indonesia had been the victim of past abuses during the Dutch colonial period, but added that the country did not dwell on the past.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, meanwhile, said the nation could handle any diplomatic challenges posed by the probe.

"Our friends in Jakarta have been surprised by this because it's been quite a long time" since the journalists died, Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., noting the decision to investigate was initiated by independent police chiefs.

"But I believe we can manage these challenges. There are bumps in the road with most relationships around the world and I think we'll have to manage this one as well."

Yunus Yosfiah, who led the Indonesian troops into Balibo at the time of the killings, on Thursday refused to comment on the latest developments. "Please direct your questions to the defense minister. I don't want to talk about it," the former minister said.

The 65-year-old man served as information minister during the short-lived presidency of BJ Habibie and served as a lawmaker for the United Development Party (PPP) from 2004 to this year. He is now vying for a post at the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

"Show me the files if you want my answer," Yunus said at the parliamentary compound shortly after attending a test for the BPK post. "I have talked about this so many times and I don't want to say the same thing again."

Separately, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono maintained the government's official position that the journalists were killed in crossfire between Indonesian forces and East Timorese Fretilin soldiers, because the Indonesian government and the Australian police had already been briefed on the matter.

"It is just that at any time there may be parties in Australia who reopened the case for local political consumption, usually NGOs, but this time it was the police," said Juwono.

He added that the case was only a local issue, as the families of victims and government officials had looked into the matter years ago.

Juwono added that when he served as ambassador to Britain, he met with relatives of some of the victims and explained that the individuals were killed by crossfire between the Indonesian Army and Fretilin.

"It is a part of an open political system where any state, party or official can open anything [they see as requiring an explanation]," he said. "It is a local issue and we should not respond." (Jakarta Globe and Agencies)

Indonesian anger at Balibo probe

Melbourne Age - September 10, 2009

Tom Allard Jakarta and Brendan Nicholson – Indonesia has warned that its relations with Australia will be harmed by an Australian Federal Police war crimes investigation into the 1975 slaying of five journalists in East Timor.

In a sharp official response to yesterday's announcement of the AFP probe, the Indonesian Government said it would not co-operate with investigators.

"We don't understand why past issues like this are being raised," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah. "It is not conducive to the bilateral relationship, especially when we are aiming at building something better between the two countries."

The AFP has confirmed that it began a formal probe into the deaths of the five Australian-based newsmen on August 20.

The announcement, which was applauded by relatives of the newsmen, comes almost two years after NSW deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch found they were executed in October 1975 by Indonesian Special Forces to stop them revealing details of the invasion of East Timor.

Indonesia insists the men were killed in crossfire during the battle for the town of Balibo.

The AFP probe is likely to focus on Mohammad Yunus Yosfiah, an army captain at the time of the killings, and another soldier, Christoforus da Silva. The NSW inquest was told that Captain Yosfiah ordered the murders under instructions from two superiors, both of whom have since died.

The AFP probe faces big hurdles, including whether Indonesia will allow the extradition of Mr Yosfiah and Mr da Silva. It is also still to be seen whether Indonesia, and the men's families, will allow exhumation of their remains.

The AFP said investigating war crimes allegations could be difficult where witnesses and evidence were overseas and where considerable time had passed since the killings.

The 2007 inquest focused on the death of one of the Balibo five, Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters. Ms Pinch found Mr Peters was probably killed first, followed by his colleague Malcolm Rennie and Channel Seven's Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart.

Mr Yosfiah, who has denied ordering the killings, lives in Jakarta. Mr da Silva is believed to live on the island of Flores.

Asked whether Indonesia would agree to their extradition, Mr Faizasyah was dismissive. "Our position is that it's 'case closed'. We have no intention of re-opening this case."

Former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso, whose Sydney hotel room was broken into by police seeking to summons him to the inquest, said he was puzzled by the new investigation.

"What I know is that both governments, Indonesian and Australian, have decided not to reopen the case," he said. "So... why do we have this now?" Mr Sutiyoso served in the military in East Timor, but was not near Balibo when the newsmen died.

Analyst Hugh White of the Australian National University questioned the continuing focus on Balibo, and said the new investigation would not help relations with Indonesia.

He said the killings were deeply disturbing at the time and he could understand why they continued to torment the men's families. "But for the country as a whole, our obsession with what happened at Balibo in 1975 has started to become a distraction from a whole lot of much more urgent and important questions, which include the nature of Australia's relationship with the new Indonesia," he said.

The sister of Brian Peters, Maureen Tolfree, said from her home in Britain she was over the moon about the probe. "Wow, at last! That's brilliant news," she said.

University of NSW academic and ex-army intelligence operative Clinton Fernandes also applauded the probe. "Australian aid to Indonesia is half a billion dollars a year. There are 16,000 Indonesian students studying in Australia and $15 billion a year in bilateral investment and trade each year," he said.

"Considering that, the Indonesian Government should not be making a fuss about extraditing someone like Yosfiah. "He is a figure from the past."

Flinders University legal expert Grant Niemann said the renewed focus on the issue after the release of the film Balibo may have prompted authorities to act. He warned of "numerous" problems for investigators. "The delay is a real problem because the evidence isn't fresh," he said.

The legal basis was also an issue. "If they got the defendants here... they could possibly prosecute them [under] the Geneva Convention, but that is a very long bow."

Balibo Five case is closed and should remain closed - Indonesia

Australian Associated Press - September 9, 2009

Adam Gartrell – The Balibo Five case is closed and should remain closed, the Indonesian Government says.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) today announced it had begun a formal war crimes investigation into the deaths of the five Australia-based newsmen, who were killed in the East Timor border town of Balibo in October 1975.

The AFP probe comes almost two years after a coronial inquest concluded Indonesian forces deliberately killed the journalists to cover up their invasion of East Timor.

The inquest dismissed claims by successive Australian and Indonesian governments that Australians Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart, Britons Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie and New Zealander Gary Cunningham were accidentally killed in crossfire.

But it's a line the Indonesian Government is still sticking to. Foreign Affairs Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the case should not be resurrected.

"In our view, this case is closed and should stay closed," he said. "We will not reopen this case. And we want an explanation from the Australian Government. What is meant by this investigation? What is the purpose of investigation? How will it be conducted?"

Theo Sambuaga, an influential Indonesian MP who heads up a parliamentary commission that oversees security and foreign issues, said the AFP investigation would be "a waste of time".

"What Australian police do by reopening this case is worsen the relationship between Indonesia and Australia, both its people and governments," he said. "It's hurtful because Indonesian people will think Australia is looking for something that does not exist."

Deputy NSW Coroner Dorelle Pinch linked several former senior military personnel to the deaths. Two – former army captain turned politician Yunus Yosfiah and soldier Christoforus da Silva – are still alive.

Sambuaga said Indonesia was unlikely to cooperate with the AFP probe. "It depends on what's being requested," he said. "But if they want us to hand over our people, to agree to any extraditions, certainly not."

Balibo five families welcome inquiry

WA Today - September 9, 2009

Britt Smith – Some relatives of the Balibo Five journalists say they are optimistic about a new investigation into the murders, but others remain cynical it will result in justice.

The Australian Federal Police on Wednesday launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing of the Australia-based newsmen in East Timor.

The probe comes nearly two years after a coronial inquest concluded a group of soldiers led by Indonesian Special Forces captain Yusuf Yosfiah ordered the deaths of the journalists to cover up their invasion of East Timor.

It's believed three of the men were shot. Another – probably cameraman Brian Peters – was attacked in the street and the fifth man was stabbed by Indonesian Special Forces Commander Christoforus da Silva.

Police are at pains to point out the difficulties associated with any investigation, citing "complex legal and factual issues" that delayed the decision to investigate.

Despite the APF's concerns, Maureen Tolfree, the sister of Brian Peters, remains hopeful of bringing those responsible for the deaths to trial.

"I don't think anything is difficult. Timor got its independence, I got my coronial inquiry. I know police have been frustrated over the years but anything can happen," she told AAP.

"It has been a long time and things have changed... I just hope Yusuf Yosfiah and his cronies are brought to justice because it's no good having a point of law if you are not going to use it. It's an injustice that has to be put right."

For Suzanne Andel, a cousin of Malcolm Rennie, the news brought relief from years of frustration over "inaction". "The (2007 NSW) inquest verdict gave us a lot of hope," she said.

"It made it clear they had been murdered and we expected action, but nothing eventuated and we have been very frustrated... and we went into a real downer."

"We don't want people to get away with murder. It means a lot to us and it means a lot to the East Timorese people. If you can't get justice for five Australian journalists, how can you get justice for a small, poor nation."

John Milkins, the son of Gary Cunningham also welcomed the investigation, saying two retired Indonesian soldiers and former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam must be held responsible for their alleged roles in the murders.

"In my view and in my opinion, this is a major blot in the copy book of Whitlam and every other prime minister to date," Mr Milkins told AAP. "For those who have had the courage to come forward, I say thank you, but for others, well may we say God save the Queen because nothing will save your conscience."

Mr Cunningham's brother Greg admitted to being a little cynical. "At least we have something happening," he told ABC Radio. "I don't see why it has to take so long... I think if there was the will they could have done something before."

The Australian government must formally accept the findings of the 2007 inquiry and resist the temptation to accept Indonesia's explanation the five died in the crossfire.

The affair had tainted Australian-Indonesian relations ever since, Mr Milkins said.

"There is no statute of limitations on war crimes. Simply we must ensure Indonesia fulfils its international obligations to the Geneva Convention and other treaties between Australia and Indonesia," he said. "Yusuf Yosfiah and Christoforus da Silva must be extradited to face a court of law," he said.

Indonesia raps Australia war crime probe for Balibo Five

Jakarta Globe - September 10, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Heru Andriyanto – Indonesia on Wednesday rejected an Australian Federal Police war-crimes investigation into the deaths of five foreign journalists allegedly killed by Indonesian troops in East Timor in 1975.

"The case is closed and we have no intention here to reopen it," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told the Jakarta Globe, adding that since the ministry had only heard of the case from the media, it would seek clarification from Canberra.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Christian Zebua said all East Timor cases had been settled.

"All the suspected military officers have been tried by the [ad hoc] human rights tribunal. Cases like the so-called Balibo Five were closed a long time ago," he said. "We are now building this nation and don't want to move backwards or return to the past."

The AFP's surprise announcement on Wednesday came nearly two years after a coroner's investigation ruled that the journalists were murdered in the East Timor border town of Balibo as they tried to surrender to Indonesian forces during an incursion into East Timor two months ahead of the December invasion.

"Allegations of war crimes committed overseas give rise to complex legal and factual issues that require careful consideration by law enforcement agencies before deciding to investigate," the AFP said in a statement.

Indonesian Military spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen said certain conditions must be met before Australian authorities could investigate the case.

The probe must "fulfill legal procedural requirements of the country, obtain permission from the Indonesian government for summoning the two generals [Sutiyoso and Yunus Yosfiah] to testify, and have sufficient evidence to reopen the cases," Tamboen said.

He said it fell on the government, not the military, to respond to the planned investigation.

"The military actually has nothing to do with the case because both [Sutiyoso and Yunus] are now civilians. They have retired from the military," Tamboen said. Sutiyoso is a former governor of Jakarta, while Yunus served as minister of information from 1998 to 1999.

Tamboen stressed that the alleged incident took place in East Timor, now a sovereign country that had agreed with Jakarta to mutually settle past issues through their joint Commission of Truth and Friendship.

"It means that Australia should also know that Indonesia and East Timor have mutually agreed to reach a peaceful settlement on past incidents. So Australia must first consult with East Timor and Indonesia about their plan to investigate the case," he said.

Indonesia has repeatedly said the journalists died in a crossfire between troops and East Timor forces.

Balibo probe faces huge hurdles

ABC News - September 10, 2009

Emily Bourke – Australian Federal Police investigators face a formidable task if they want to mount a successful war crimes prosecution in the case of the Balibo Five, legal experts warn.

It has been 34 years coming, but the AFP has confirmed it has started a war crimes investigation into the deaths of the five Australian newsmen killed in East Timor.

Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters with his colleague Malcolm Rennie and Channel Seven's Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart were killed in October 1975 by Indonesian Special Forces.

While Indonesia has claimed that the newsmen were caught in the crossfire, others have maintained that they were killed to prevent their reporting on Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

Indonesia says it is seeking clarification from the Federal Government about the decision to open the investigation.

Foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah says there is no way Indonesia will consider reopening the case and that any new investigation will give rise to "many difficulties", because the alleged crimes took place so many years ago.

Gary Cunningham's brother Greig has cautiously welcomed the AFP investigation.

"To actually have something happening on the side of the AFP I must say we are very pleased about, but we are almost still a little a bit cynical," he said.

"I don't see why it has taken so long. I know they explain complex legal issues etcetera, but I thought that was what they were paid for. I think that's why there's supposed to be whole departments of legal people and that's what they were supposed to have worked out.

"The analogy I've often used is in that in the 18 months that we've been waiting, I think they'd arrested and prosecuted all of the Bali bombers, so I don't quite see why it takes so long. I think if there's a will they could have done something before."

Mark Tedeschi QC is senior crown prosecutor in NSW and was counsel assisting a coronial inquest in 2007.

"The inquest that was held in Sydney which although technically was only into the death of one of the five in fact covered all five deaths, was a very exhaustive inquest and it took some considerable time and effort," he said.

"At the end of it, the deputy coroner Dorrelle Pinch came to some findings and made some recommendations and it's very pleasing to see that those findings and those recommendations have led to the setting up of this investigation by the Australian Federal Police."

'Not straight forward'

The AFP's statement indicates the inquiry will not be straight forward. It says investigations into war crimes allegations can be problematic where witnesses and evidence are overseas, or where a significant period of time has elapsed since the offence.

Don Rothwell, a professor of International Law at the Australian National University (ANU), says the AFP will have the advantage of the evidence that was presented to the NSW coroner in 2007.

"Whilst very little evidence was obtained from Indonesians in relation to that inquiry, there was a significant number of leads given as to possible Indonesian witnesses and persons who may actually have been culpable for these events," he said.

"So to that end, the AFP will not be starting this inquiry afresh, but they'll have a large amount of initial evidence to work from.

"But ultimately one of the greatest impediments could be that even if charges are laid in Australia, the persons would be subject to the charges presumably would be in Indonesia.

"And ultimately the extradition of persons back to Australia, on what could be seen possibly as being political charges, could prove to be exceptionally problematic."

It will fall to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to decide if charges can be formally laid.

Long time Indonesia and East Timor watcher Damien Kingsbury isn't optimistic about what the AFP investigation will yield.

"I think what's likely to happen is if there is sufficient evidence and charges are laid, that the extradition process will be gone through and it will then end up as an Indonesian judicial matter," he said.

"And they will simply say that in the circumstances, that Australia doesn't have the capacity or the right to demand extradition, and they will refuse it – and that will effectively be the end of the story."

Given Indonesia has long regarded the Balibo case as a closed book, Damien Kingsbury says the relationship between Canberra and Jakarta will inevitably be strained.

"I don't see it being allowed to get to the point of breaking the relationship, but I think it's going to be one more of those issues that has tested the relationship in the past and will continue to do so in the future," he said.

But for the families, including Greig Cunningham, their pursuit of justice will not be swayed.

"The least I would want is a warrant to be issued for the arrest of these people so that at least if they step out of Indonesia, that they can be picked up," he said.

"But this is the start of something positive for a change. I mean, all we've had for so long is some negativity from our Government, from all political persuasions, starting from the Whitlam government.

"I would just like – and the families – all we've ever wanted, I believe, is the truth, which I believe has come out within the coroner's inquest. Now we'd just like some justice for these people."

AFP probe watched closely in East Timor: Balibo author

ABC News - September 10, 2009

Sara Everingham – The author of a book on the Balibo Five says the Australian Federal Police's decision to open an investigation into the deaths of five Australian-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975 will be viewed with great interest in East Timor.

Jill Jolliffe wrote the book Cover Up, which was used as the basis for the recent film Balibo.

She says political leaders in East Timor will be watching the events closely, especially in light of their recent decision to release former militia leader Martenus Bere from a Dili jail.

Bere was released at the end of last month on the same day East Timor was celebrating 10 years since its referendum on independence from Indonesia.

President Jose Ramos-Horta has voiced his opposition to an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses in East Timor during the Indonesian occupation and in 1999, saying it is important that Indonesia be given time to bring them to justice.

But the President has been quoted in media reports as saying those responsible for the deaths of the Balibo Five should be prosecuted.

There has been vigorous debate in East Timor over Dr Ramos- Horta's stance on the international tribunal. Jolliffe says the AFP investigation will cause further discussion.

"I think the common people in East Timor will see it as a very interesting example and I think there is a very widespread need and call for justice from ordinary people in East Timor," she said.

"This will strengthen their faith that perhaps one day, they will see justice done for the pretty terrible crimes that were committed against them by the Indonesian army during its occupation of the territory.

An Indonesia and East Timor expert at the University of New South Wales, Dr Clinton Fernandes, says the general population in East Timor will receive the news of the AFP investigation with jubilation.

"Unlike East Timor, Australia is not sharing a land border with Indonesia, no longer has to worry about being attacked by Indonesia and so we can actually make this thing happen."

He says an international tribunal will eventually be set up for East Timor. "Don't forget that the international tribunal for Rwanda was opposed by only one state, and that was Rwanda, because it had its own fears. But that happened and it has contributed to the valuable jurisprudence to international law.

"Similarly an international criminal tribunal for East Timor will happen. It takes time just like the independence of East Timor takes time... but this is all going to happen."

Australia probes journalist killings in East Timor

Associated Press - September 9, 2009

Kristen Gelineau, Sydney – Australia has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian forces in East Timor.

The probe announced Wednesday comes two years after an Australian coroner investigating the deaths found they were deliberate and probably ordered by senior Indonesian officers.

The coroner's findings contradicted the Indonesian and Australian governments' official version of events: that the journalists were killed accidentally in a crossfire between Indonesian troops and East Timorese defenders.

The findings by New South Wales state deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch in 2007 strained Australia-Indonesia diplomatic ties because it named three former senior officers of Indonesia's special military forces who likely ordering the killings, and suggested they should face possible war crimes charges.

At the time, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry rejected Pinch's conclusion and said it would not change their belief of what had happened.

The bodies of the five journalists – two Australians, two Britons and a New Zealander known as the "Balibo five" – were found burned in the East Timorese town of Balibo. Indonesian special forces and their East Timorese proxies attacked the town Oct. 16, 1975.

Pinch investigated the death of Brian Peters, 29, a British-born cameraman working for an Australian television network. Pinch – who heard evidence from witnesses and viewed secret intelligence documents during the six-week inquest – concluded Peters was killed by members of the Indonesian Special Forces to prevent him from revealing that the commandos participated in the Balibo attack.

Indonesia invaded East Timor after the small island descended into civil war following the end of Portuguese colonial rule. Indonesia's invasion plans were secret at the time, and direct involvement of Indonesian troops in operations in East Timor was highly sensitive.

The coroner, required to make findings only on Peters, said it was impossible to separate the death of one of the journalists from the others and that her conclusions applied equally to all of them.

The other journalists were Malcolm Rennie, 28, from Britain, Australians Gregory Shackleton, 29, and Tony Stewart, 21, and 27-year-old New Zealander Gary Cunningham.

Pinch's investigation was referred to Australia's attorney general, who then turned the case over to the federal police in January 2008. The agency said it waited until Aug. 20 to launch an investigation and notified the journalists' families Tuesday.

If sufficient evidence of criminal acts is found, the police will ask the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charges.

The announcement of the police investigation comes one month after the release of the film "Balibo," which allegedly shows the journalists being shot on the orders of Indonesian army officers. The film will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend.

"It's only taken 34 years to kick it all off and obviously they've reacted to the film coming out," Paul Stewart, whose brother Tony Stewart was among the journalists killed, told The Associated Press.

"But given that the Indonesian government is full of guys who served in East Timor, the families aren't holding out much hope for anything really happening. But it is being acknowledged – we (have) got to be grateful for that."

Australia probes reporters' 1975 deaths in East Timor

Bloomberg - September 9, 2009

Ed Johnson – Australian police have begun a war crimes investigation into the deaths of five journalists in East Timor in 1975 after a coroner ruled they were deliberately killed by Indonesian soldiers.

Deputy Coroner for New South Wales state Dorelle Pinch found in November 2007 that the men, known as the "Balibo Five," were killed by special forces to stop them revealing details of Indonesia's invasion of the territory.

The Australian Federal Police said in a statement today it began a probe last month after the Attorney-General's Department referred the matter to the force.

The Australian, British and New Zealand journalists were killed in the town of Balibo on Oct. 16, 1975, as Indonesian special forces took part in covert operations to prepare for an invasion of what was then a Portuguese colony. The Indonesian military denies any wrongdoing in the deaths and has said the men were killed accidentally by crossfire.

"It's case closed for us," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said by telephone. "We will ask for clarification from the Australian government on the nature, purpose and scope of this probe."

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the investigation is a matter for police. The government doesn't believe the probe will affect the "mature and multifaceted relationship" between the two countries, the department said.

Killed 'deliberately'

Brian Peters, 29, in the company of fellow Briton Malcolm Rennie, 28, New Zealander Gary Cunningham, 27, and Australians Gregory Shackleton, 29, and Anthony Stewart, 21, was killed "deliberately, and not in the heat of battle, by members of the Indonesian Special Forces," the coroner ruled.

The coroner was tasked with investigating only Peters's death, although she noted her findings were applicable to all of the men. To "investigate the death of one of the Balibo Five was to investigate the deaths of all," she wrote in the report.

If the investigation points to a "real possibility of criminality," the force will refer the matter to Australian prosecutors, who will determine whether to pursue a case, according to the police statement.

'War crime allegations'

"The investigation of war crime allegations can be problematic where witnesses and evidence are located offshore or where a significant period of time has elapsed since the commission of the offense," the AFP said. "The standard of proof in a criminal proceeding is high, and differs from that of a coronial inquiry."

Indonesia, which already controlled the western part of the island, invaded East Timor in 1975 and occupied the territory for 24 years.

A campaign of violence by pro-Indonesia militia during the territory's 1999 vote for independence killed hundreds of civilians and forced about 250,000 people to flee to the western half of the island.

East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, became independent in 2002. The island lies about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Australia.

Australian Federal Police launches Balibo war crimes probe

Melbourne Age - September 9, 2009

Brendan Nicholson, Canberra – Thirty-four years after the event, Australia's national police force has launched a war crimes investigation into the murders of five Australian newsmen at Balibo, East Timor, allegedly by Indonesian troops.

In November 2007 NSW deputy coroner, Dorelle Pinch, found that the Balibo Five were executed in October 1975 by Indonesian Special Forces to stop them revealing details of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.

"There is strong circumstantial evidence that those orders emanated from the head of Indonesian Special Forces, Major- General Benny Murdani to Colonel Dading Kalbuadi, Special Forces Group Commander in Timor, and then to Captain Yunus," Ms Pinch found. Murdani and Kalbuadi are dead.

Indonesia claimed the five were killed in crossfire during the battle for the town.

Ms Pinch's explosive finding followed her lengthy inquest into the death of one of the five, Brian Peters.

Two Indonesians named in the inquest were Mohammad Yunus Yosfiah who was an army captain at the time and who is now a retired general, and another soldier, Christoforus da Silva.

Ms Pinch said Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters was probably the first killed, with colleague Malcolm Rennie and Channel Seven's Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart killed soon afterwards on the orders of Captain Yunus.

She recommended that the Commonwealth Attorney General take action. The then Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, said on November 16, 2007, that he would refer the matter to the AFP and that was done in January 2008.

The Age/Herald understands that when Brendan O'Connor became home affairs Minister earlier this year he asked the police to explain an apparent lack of progress sincE then.

Today the AFP has confirmed that it began a formal investigation into the deaths of all five on August 20 this year and it has told the families it is underway.

The AFP said the investigation of war crimes allegations could be difficult where witnesses and evidence were overseas and where considerable time had passed since the killings occurred.

The families of those killed have been told that the investigation is underway.

The AFP said that if the investigations revealed enough information and evidence of criminality then a brief would be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions who would decide if the matter should go to court.

Television journalists Greg Shackleton and Malcolm Rennie, cameramen Gary Cunningham and Brian Peters, and sound recordist Tony Stewart were killed after trying to capture images of Indonesian troops as they invaded the former Portuguese colony.

Then prime minister Gough Whitlam, and subsequent Australian governments, have claimed the men were killed in the crossfire between Indonesian troops and East Timorese Fretilin forces. But in November 2007, the NSW deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch released her findings into the death of Mr Peters.

She referred the matter to the Federal Attorney-General. The Attorney-General's Department referred the matter, involving the deaths of all five men collectively known as the Balibo Five, to the AFP on the attorney general's behalf in January 2008.

The AFP started its investigation on August 20, 2009. The families of the deceased were formally notified in writing on Tuesday.

"The investigation of war crime allegations can be problematic where witnesses and evidence are located offshore, or where a significant period of time has elapsed since the commission of the offence," the AFP said.

The AFP will refer its findings to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) if their investigation uncovers "sufficient material" to compile a brief of evidence of criminality or a real possibility of criminality.

It is then a matter for the CDPP to consider, in accordance with the prosecution policy of the Commonwealth. The standard of proof in a criminal proceeding is high, and differs from that of a coronial inquiry.

The AFP says it will continue to keep the families informed of major developments in the investigation. (With AAP)

Ramos-Horta changes tune on Balibo

Sydney Morning Herald - September 2, 2009

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, has called for the killers of five journalists at Balibo in 1975 to be brought to justice.

The stance is in sharp contrast to comments he made last Sunday on the 10th anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence, when he declared Timorese must bury the past and oppose an international tribunal to prosecute the killers of up to 1500 people before and after the 1999 vote.

"It is not that one human life is worth more or less," Mr Ramos- Horta told the Financial Times. "It's that... we have hundreds, if not thousands of East Timorese who collaborated with Indonesians. Are we going to try everyone?"

Mr Ramos-Horta's support for pursuing those responsible for the deaths of the Australian-based newsmen known as the Balibo Five follows the screening of the new feature film Balibo across East Timor last week. The film stirred new interest in the killings of the five as well that of Roger East, an Australian journalist killed in Dili two months later.

Mr Ramos-Horta presented a medal of honour to the film's director, Robert Connolly, on Sunday.

In 2007 the NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch, found the five were killed to cover up Indonesia's impending invasion of East Timor. Ms Pinch pointed the finger at a former Indonesian minister, Yunus Yosfiah, and another soldier, Cristoforus da Silva.

Mr Ramos-Horta told the Financial Times that those responsible for the death of its correspondent Sander Thoenes in Dili during the 1999 violence should be prosecuted.

Mr Ramos-Horta's rejection on Sunday of a tribunal and a call to the United Nations to abandon its investigations into hundreds of the Timorese killings provoked widespread criticism. Fretilin, the main opposition party in Dili, accused Mr Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate, of being out touch with the people.

Timorese activists have also criticised his opposition to prosecutions, calling at a solidarity conference in Dili for the UN to establish a tribunal to prosecute past crimes in the country.

The United Nations Mission in Dili issued a statement last night directly contradicting Mr Ramos-Horta's stand that East Timor bury the past and not pursue prosecutions for past crimes.

"Accountability is an essential foundation to consolidating the rule of law and with building lasting peace and prosperity," the mission said. "Concrete steps need to be taken to ensure full accountability, to end impunity and to provide reparations to victims in accordance with international human rights standards."

Balibo filmmakers honoured in East Timor

Australian Associated Press - September 1, 2009

The filmmakers behind the political thriller Balibo have been awarded East Timor's Presidential Medal of Merit in recognition for their contribution to the country.

President Jose Ramos Horta presented director Robert Connolly and producer John Maynard with the medal at a ceremony in the capital Dili on Sunday as part of the fledgling nation's 10th anniversary celebrations.

The Presidential Medal of Merit is a special honour that is only awarded to those who have made a great contribution to the country.

The ceremony, which was also attended by the film's star Anthony LaPaglia, followed seven nights of screenings of Balibo, which has been dubbed into the Tetun language of the local population.

The film, about six journalists killed in East Timor in 1975, has been shown around the country on an inflatable screen, accompanied by Maynard and actor Tom Wright.

Maynard says it has been a humbling experience to be able to show thousands of people in East Timor the movie, which is the first feature film made in the country.

"This was a once in a lifetime experience for us, as well as the Timorese audiences who were, for the very first time, seeing a feature film dubbed in their own language about events in Timor," Maynard said.

"Men, women and children were moved to tears as they sat on the ground and watched what was for many part of a hidden history and for some, a painful memory."

Balibo is currently screening around Australia. It has taken $643,093 so far at the box office, but will expand to more than 50 screens from mid September.

Justice & reconciliation

East Timor defends decision not to try war crimes

Associated Press - September 29, 2009

United Nations – East Timor's government is defending its policy of not pursuing war crimes trials for Indonesian officials responsible for thousands of deaths during their 24-year occupation of the half-island nation.

Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa says the country needs to balance justice with the need to reconcile with its giant neighbor, which has refused to cooperate with war crimes probes.

Da Costa acknowledged that his government has faced sharp criticism over the issue by human rights groups calling for an international war crimes tribunal to try those responsible.

The former Portuguese colony broke free of Indonesian occupation in 1999, when 1,500 people were killed by departing occupation troops. After three years of UN governance, East Timor declared independence in 2002.

Culture of impunity denies justice over Timor

Financial Times - September 20, 2009

John Aglionby, Jakarta – The final article written by Sander Thoenes before he was murdered in East Timor a decade ago on Monday was headlined: "Military's power undimmed by humiliations."

And Indonesian human rights activists say the same headline could be written today. The culture of impunity over past abuses that the Financial Times' Jakarta correspondent was pointing to remains very much in place.

"The roots of the culture of impunity are still very strong," said Usman Hamid, head of the non-governmental Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (known as Kontras). He added that officials of the ruling elite seemed to have "very limited" respect for the rule of law. "There's been virtually no progress in the last 10 years."

Thoenes's case is a glaring example of this. In November 2002, East Timor's prosecutor-general, based on work carried out by the UN-led serious crimes unit in the country, indicted two members of Indonesia's military – Major Jacob Sarosa and Lieutenant Camilo dos Santos – over the 30-year-old's death.

They were charged with 15 counts of crimes against humanity for 20 murders and other acts they and soldiers under their command in Battalion 745 had allegedly committed as they withdrew from East Timor following the territory's overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia after 24 years of brutal occupation.

Passion for truth

Sander Thoenes, who died tragically 10 years ago, was a 30-year- old Dutchman with a passion for the truth, and a determination to expose corruption and human rights abuses in the world around him, writes Quentin Peel.

He had been reporting for the Financial Times from Indonesia for two years before he was killed in East Timor, and had demonstrated outstanding potential as a foreign correspondent. He was brave without being foolhardy, resourceful in seeking out stories in a world of erratic contacts, with an eagle eye for a good story and the colour to illustrate it.

He began his career as a journalist in Moscow, moved to Kazakhstan for the FT where he reported on the whole of central Asia and then landed his dream job as correspondent in Jakarta just as the Asian financial crisis hit the region in 1997.

Writing with wit and elegance in his second language, and eking out the modest income of a freelance journalist to explore the vast Indonesian archipelago, he wrote on everything from mining company results to corruption in government, the causes of the "haze" that produced choking smog across south-east Asia, and the best cooking to be had in Jakarta.

He adored Indonesia, and was hugely popular among the international press corps. His death, allegedly at the hands of drunken and indisciplined Indonesian soldiers running amok as they withdrew from East Timor following the territory's referendum vote for independence from Jakarta, cut short a brilliant journalistic career.

According to the indictment, they ran into Thoenes as they drove through Becora, a suburb of the capital, Dili. Thoenes, who spoke Indonesian and had been to East Timor several times, had arrived in Dili only a few hours earlier. He was replacing a colleague and wanted to investigate reports of alleged atrocities by the Indonesian military and their local militias.

After leaving his bags at a hotel, Thoenes hired a motorcycle and driver and headed to Becora. There, the indictment says they came across men in uniforms, also on motorbikes. Thoenes's driver turned to flee but the soldiers gave chase and shot at them. Their motorbike fell and the driver escaped. But Thoenes did not.

The indictment describes how he is alleged to have died. "Battalion 745 soldiers... carried Thoenes to the side of the road. Two soldiers, including Lt Camilo dos Santos, pointed their guns at Thoenes as he lay on the ground. Sander Robert Thoenes was then shot once in the chest and, as a result of that gunshot, he died."

Neither man has been formally investigated, let alone prosecuted. Maj Sarosa's whereabouts are unknown but it is thought he is still in the Indonesian army. The military declined to say when, or even if, he had left the army.

Lt dos Santos is now a captain serving in West Timor, part of Indonesia. He said: "No comment, no comment," and hung up the phone when contacted about the case by the FT last week.

Jakarta's refusal to pursue the case is unequivocal. Hassan Wirajuda, the foreign minister, who refused to attend the 10th commemoration of the referendum until the East Timorese released an Indonesian from jail, said last week: "I can assure [you], on behalf of the government of Indonesia, we are not interested to reopen the case. This is part of our decision not to open old wounds – part of a dark chapter of our joint history with [East] Timor."

This view contrasts sharply with the attitude of Josi Ramos- Horta, the East Timorese president. He told the FT last month that the killers of Thoenes should be brought to justice, as should the murderers of six journalists working for Australian media who were killed in 1975 when Indonesia invaded East Timor.

Five of these men were killed in the small border town of Balibo. This month, after decades of inaction, the Australian police said they had begun a war crimes investigation into their deaths after an Australian coroner ruled that they had died unlawfully.

Jakarta reacted with surprise, in spite of being warned about the move, which came weeks after Balibo an award-winning film,, about the killings was released in Australia.

In the wake of the violence surrounding the 1999 East Timor referendum, Jakarta did form a human rights tribunal for East Timor. None of the most senior generals was tried, and all of the 20 people prosecuted – during a process that international observers described as seriously flawed – were acquitted or freed on appeal.

Indonesia and East Timor instead settled their differences through a truth and friendship commission, which did not recommend any prosecutions and which satisfied few Timorese.

People including Mr Hamid believe that there is little hope in the short- to medium-term of the atmosphere changing, particularly as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian president who starts his second five-year term next month, is a retired general.

"Indonesia's justice system is still under the direction of the executive," said Mr Hamid. "And at the moment its position on abuses in East Timor and elsewhere is very clear."

The murder of Munir Thalib, Mr Hamid's predecessor as head of Kontras, is another example of the continuing impunity. He was poisoned on a flight to Amsterdam in 2004, and Mr Yudhoyono vowed to convict his killers. But the perpetrators, who allegedly have links to state intelligence, remain unidentified.

Mr Hamid has not completely given up hope. "The new political generation is starting to change its mindset," he said. "So in another 10 years we might see some movement."

Comarca Balide Prison: A monument of tragedy

Jakarta Post - September 13, 2009

Pandaya, Dili – A man dropped a pale brown book onto my lap, startling me and interrupting my interview with human rights activist Lita Sarmento in the hall of the CAVR (Timor Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation) offices in an eastern suburb of Dili.

Soon Chiquito Guterres, a CAVR employee – as I learned his identity later – became engrossed in chit-chat with Lita, so I leafed through the pages of Penjara Comarca Balide: 'Gedung Suci' (Comarca Balide Prison: A 'Sacred Building'), written by Emma Coupland, a historian working for CAVR in 2004-2005.

It's quite a shock that this place was a dreaded house of torture the Indonesian occupation troops used soon after they invaded East Timor in 1975 until as recently as 1999, when locals opted for independence in a historic UN-sanctioned referendum.

This very hall used to be the prison's main yard, where detainees were tortured and humiliated in public. From the moment I set foot at the unpretentious complex, I was continually distracted by the odd sight of barrack-like buildings with small windows reinforced with large steel bars.

So you didn't know that, did you," said the smiling Guterres, as I cut his chit-chat, demanding to know if the book refers to the very place we were in. "Yes it does."

Guterres took me around the complex that reminded me of the maximum security Fremantle Prison in Western Australia, which was closed in 1991 after almost 140 years in operation and has been turned into a unique tourist attraction.

Like countless other buildings in Timor Leste, the prison complex was burned down at the heel of the tumultuous Indonesian troops' withdrawal in 1999 and the remains were rebuilt by the Japanese government as the headquarters of CAVR, an independent body created by the UN.

The CAVR has produced the most comprehensive documentation of the 1975-1999 atrocities in East Timor.

Graffiti and paintings created by detainees were among items collected and displayed in the complex, which also functions as an exhibition venue and museum. Photographs of the tragedies that occurred there over the 24-year period are part of its permanent exhibition.

The ironic name "Sacred building" was coined by Filomeno da Silva Ferreira, a former political detainee, to describe the complex as a place where nationalists were locked up for a common cause, an independent East Timor.

The facility was built as an "ordinary" prison by the Portuguese colonial administration back in 1963, on marshy land at the foot of a hill notorious for its malaria-carrying mosquitoes. It replaced an older prison opposite to Palacio do Governo, the present-day government building complex.

The Indonesian military took it over after the Dec. 7, 1974 invasion to detain independence activists and regular criminals charged for minor offences as well as members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) that broke disciplinary rules.

From 1976 on, detainees were brought in from across East Timor. Until 1986, Comarca was Dili's only prison. A new, more humane", prison was built in the Becora area after Comarca authorities complained of an "intolerably crowded" prison. That same year saw female detainees moved to Becora.

Until 1990, the prison was under military police control and remained so until it was deserted in 1999, although Jakarta had ruled that all penitentiary institutions were under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry.

Written based on intensive research from international reports, the book portrays the Comarca prison as a notorious place of torture.

Detainees, who were held there for between a few days and many years, were subject to violent acts – including rape and blackmail – right from the moment they were dragged into the facility. Many told of severe beatings while they were taken there in a vehicle, handcuffed and blindfolded.

They beat us in the car until we got to the prison. Only when we had arrived did they take off our blindfolds and we realized we were at Comarca," a former detainee said as quoted by a CAVR fact-finding commissioner.

In the 1970s, many suspects were detained without charge for many years. Some told commissioners they received even more beatings when they asked prison officers why they were being detained. The first trial only took place in 1983 in Dili, and only after 1990 were more people transferred to Comarca after having been convicted.

Detainees experienced varying degrees of torture. Newcomers were body searched, stripped of their clothing and interrogated about their activism. Women were subject to the same treatment as men.

Many ex-detainees said they were forced to go around in their underpants for days or even weeks.

They were taken into their cells with their thumbs tied together behind their backs after they had been made to stand under the scorching sun in the yard while others chanted "welcome to the prison" repeatedly. Those who passed out would be doused with water and ordered to continue the "ritual".

According to the book, in the early 1980s, the wife of the prison warden was so horrified by the midnight screams that came from isolated cells where military police officers interrogated and tortured detainees that she returned to Indonesia after four months. As a civil servant, her husband was powerless to stop the violent interrogations.

Detainees detailed their accounts on pieces of smuggled paper and passed the notes secretly to Catholic priests during routine visits, and the priests passed the messages on to international bodies such as the London-based Amnesty International.

Most detainees taken off during the night would never come back and were believed to have been killed, they said. During the 1970s and 1980s, death from torture was reported to be commonplace. Beating was said to be the most common form of physical torture. There were reports of detainees being ironed, electrocuted, scolded with a burning cigarettes and boiled in a barrel of water.

The book also details sexual assault women detainees experienced. Some women claimed they were raped by their interrogators. Others said they were forced to undergo their interrogation naked. Some women were reported to have opted for sex with prison authorities for their release.

Among the rows upon rows of cells were eight steel doors belonging to the cells dreaded most because many of the inmates incarcerated in them often ended up dying horrible deaths. These cells were known as the "dark cells" because they did not have windows.

In the 1970s and 1980s, detainees were locked up there for up to eight months but the period was reduced to only a week in the 1990s. Detainees slept on the floor and water was not provided. They would lose orientation and lose track of time during their confinement.

Former detainees say the overcrowded dark cells were extremely dirty. The toilets were clogged and garbage piled up inside and they had to live with it. Each person breathed the same air everybody else breathed and when one person fell sick others would follow.

Things changed for the better in the 1990s thanks largely to interference of international organizations such as the International Red Cross and human rights groups such as AI. Detainees were taken to court and came back for better treatment. Convicts received favorable treatments in return for their good conduct or services they offered in accordance with their skills. They were allowed to take part in soccer or volleyball competitions along with soldiers and police officers.

After touring the complex, reading the book and reviewing Chega!, the newly published CAVR report, I know why many people in Indonesia implicated in East Timor atrocities would do anything to thwart any efforts for an international tribunal.

They must be scared at the prospect of being locked up in a Comarca Balide-style prison.

East Timor 10 years on - still waiting for justice

Green Left Weekly - September 7, 2009

Vannessa Hearman – I was angry that Timorese president and peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta used the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations-supervised ballot in East Timor on August 30 to declare: "There will be no international tribunal."

On this same day in 1999, the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia – their brutal occupier for 24 years.

The Timorese Truth, Reception and Reconciliation Commission estimated that about 1500 people were killed by the Indonesian military and its militias in the period leading up to and immediately after the September 4 announcement of the ballot's results in 1999. The vote revealed that 78.5% wanted independence.

But as Indonesia protested that the ballot had been rigged, its military and their militia friends damaged and destroyed 70% of public buildings, houses and infrastructure.

After a global outcry, including mass protests by Australians, the Australian led-Interfet forces entered Dili on September 20. Many Timorese were forcibly deported on trucks and ships to West Timor. Some Timorese hid in the mountains and countryside, as well as in UN offices, to avoid being relocated.

Back then, a UN investigation team recommended an international tribunal to deal with the crimes against humanity committed in 1999.

Because the scars of this collective trauma remain, on top of the long occupation, supported by governments including Australia, it is hard to understand Horta's stand.

It is even harder to understand in the context of the various exemptions being made by the Timorese government.

For instance, even as Horta delivered his speech, Martenus Bere, an Indonesian man held in Becora Prison in connection with the Suai Church massacre in 1999, was released – reportedly at East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's request.

Victor Sambuaga, an Indonesian embassy official in Dili, said Jakarta had lobbied for Bere's release.

Marie Okabe, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Commissioner of Human Rights, condemned the release and rejected the Timorese government's amnesties.

In another exemption Johny Marques, the leader of militia group Tim Alfa, who was serving a 33-year jail sentence for killing nine clergymen and nuns in Los Palos in 1999, was released in January.

Horta and Gusmao have consistently rejected a tribunal, citing such reasons as "getting on" with the future and building a good relationship with Indonesia. Former PM Mari Alkatiri, from Fretilin, issued a brief call for an international tribunal before also retracting his statement.

The small size of the Timorese elite means there are strong family ties between political and business leaders. They say talking about justice is bad for business with Indonesia.

Trade with Indonesia is booming, but as cheap Indonesian imports flood the market Timorese small business traders have their backs to the wall.

Indonesian soldiers and military officers have never been extradited to East Timor to answer warrants issued by the UN Serious Crimes Unit. Instead, to appease critics, they came before the 2002 Indonesian Ad Hoc Tribunal on East Timor in Jakarta. All were acquitted. In his August 30 speech, Horta called on the United Nations to disband its Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, which has so far completed investigations into only 86 of 396 cases.

Horta's stand certainly helps some, including the disgraced former general Wiranto. In 1999, Wiranto was the Indonesian armed forces chief. Prabowo Subianto was the Army Strategic Reserve Commander.

Both ran as vice-presidential candidates in Indonesian's July presidential elections and they now lead two parliamentary parties – underscoring the ongoing influence of the military in Indonesian politics.

A September 2 Jakarta Post editorial praised Horta's "statesmanship" and argued, unconvincingly, that it was now up to Indonesia to prosecute human rights abuses.

Indonesian human rights activists continue to push for justice for those abused by the Indonesian military and the Suharto dictatorship from 1965 until 1998, but they lack the necessary political support.

The abuse cases include killings in Aceh, West Papua, Lampung, the massacre of half a million leftists in 1965-66, the disappearance of 12 activists in 1998, and the crimes in East Timor.

Each Thursday afternoon, protesters with black umbrellas, marked with the names of places and incidents, stand silently outside the Presidential Palace in Jakarta demanding justice.

The 2004 murder of human rights campaigner Munir, who was poisoned, with the involvement of the intelligence agencies, aboard a Garuda flight to Amsterdam, is also a focus of the Black Thursday protests.

Horta's stand against an international crimes tribunal sanctions impunity for gross violations of human rights in the clearest terms. Both the Indonesian and Timorese people have a stake in the prosecution of the Indonesian military for past human rights abuses.

[Vannessa Hearman worked in East Timor from 2000 to 2002 as an aid worker and United Nations interpreter. She is now writing her doctoral thesis about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-66 and the question of accountability for human rights abuses.]

Justice 'eludes' Timor massacre victims

Agence France Presse - September 6, 2009

Hundreds of people lit candles and held prayers in East Timor on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of one of the worst massacres in the country's history.

Sitting stoically outside an incomplete church in the southern East Timor city of Suai, where up to 200 civilians including priests were killed on September 6, 1999, Manuel Soares prayed silently for his dead son and kidnapped daughter Juliana dos Santos, or affectionately known as Alola.

Indonesian military group Laksaur vice-commander Egidio Manek had "taken" her away as a war trophy and forced her to marry him in neighbouring West Timor, he said. "Every month, I send her some clothing for the three children she now has," he added.

East Timor's First Lady Kirsty Sword Gusmao had named her non- profit organisation Alola Foundation in her honour.

"The people who suffered in 1999, those families won't even come to the church," Soares said. "For the victims, everything is ruined and broken. I came here today to get away from the feeling."

The Indonesian Army and paramilitaries went on the rampage after the 1999 referendum, killing around 1,400 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to other parts of Indonesia.

Australian-led United Nations peacekeepers restored order, ending an occupation that is estimated to have claimed around 100,000 lives through fighting, disease and starvation.

Soares said all he wanted was to see the perpetrators be tried for the human rights violations that happened between 1975 and 1999, but his patience was wearing thin.

"We want justice, but it never happens. They release all the criminals and all the people who were involved in the killings," he said.

The United Nations last Tuesday had condemned the release of Indonesian former militia leader Martenus Bere, who was detained in East Timor on August 8, five years after being indicted for his role in the 1999 Suai Church massacre.

East Timor's government has refused to confirm Bere's release but the Indonesian foreign ministry had said the man had already been moved from detention to Indonesia's embassy in Dili.

"If the government or the UN dared enough, they could go and arrest the militias," Soares said angrily. "They are all liars. They just talk and make promises. All the organisations who claim they help victims, they are just talking and talking," he added.

Timor violence victims to renew call for justice

Melbourne Age - September 1, 2009

Maris Beck, Dili – In East Timor's notorious Balide prison, the walls are scrawled with the hatred of the past. Graffiti left by the prison guards says: "Die or Live with Indonesia", and "Don't forget to pray".

Balide prison was once a place of brutality. For the 30 years that Indonesia occupied East Timor, it was a place of torture, rape, imprisonment, and death.

But today the infamous prison has a different purpose. Victims of violence will today meet senior United Nations officials and East Timorese government representatives to renew their calls for justice and compensation, to ask that perpetrators of past crimes be brought to trial.

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence. But for many, the struggle to overcome the past continues. For those who bear the scars of torture, who lost years of their lives and loved ones, the past is a daily oppression.

Although the United Nations Serious Crimes Unit has indicted almost 400 people, many of those accused of the worst crimes have never been brought to trial.

Maria da Silva was taken to Balide prison in 1977, after she was caught helping the clandestine resistance fighters. She was 23 years old. She was tortured repeatedly – beaten for so long she lost count of the hours.

For months, she was locked in solitary confinement with no toilet and little food. Once another prisoner was put into her cell, badly beaten. She shared the cell with him all night before she realized he was dead.

There were all kinds of violence in the prison, she says. No one was spared.

As Ms da Silva spoke to The Age, there was a brief earth tremor. She paused for a moment and drew her arms close. In Timor, she said, "we believe that such things are signs that the dead are speaking to us, reminding us of the past. "Without justice", she says, "there can be no peace."

Today, she will stand before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, and speak those words, in the prison where she was once held captive. The same request will be repeated by a National Congress of Victims' Families this week.

But in a country where stability hangs in a careful balance, the issue of prosecution and compensation for past crimes is contentious.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur in East Timor, Atul Khare said he was "not so sure" about an international tribunal, but that there should be compensation for victims and "some degree of accountability".

Although Amnesty International called for a tribunal last week, President Jose Ramos Horta responded in his anniversary speech on Sunday by urging the country to leave the past behind. He said: "There will be no tribunal."

Mr Ramos Horta told The Age that there could be no compensation for victims. The fight for independence, he said, "was not a contractual job with insurance."

He said: "We fought for a cause and I'm not going to listen to people coming to me and saying well, I was tortured, I lost a brother a sister and I want compensation – from whom? From the Timorese government? From Indonesia? From the Americans who helped Indonesia? No. The greatest act of justice is that we are free today."

Dr. Clinton Fernandes, an expert on East Timor from the Australian Defence Force Academy, said he believed Mr Ramos Horta is "simply being pragmatic".

He said the "diplomatic burden" of a tribunal would be too much for East Timor to bear. But over the next several years, he said, having such a tribunal might be feasible.

Transition & development

Little to show for billions spent in East Timor

Associated Press - September 4, 2009

Anthony Deutsch, Dili – A decade after tiny East Timor broke from Indonesia and prompted one of the most expensive UN-led nation-building projects in history, there is little to show for the billions spent.

The world has given more than $8.8 billion in assistance to East Timor since the vote for independence in 1999, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press from the UN and 46 donor countries and agencies. That works out to $8,000 for each of East Timor's 1.1 million people, one of the highest per person rates of international aid.

But little of the money, perhaps no more than a dollar of every 10, appears to have made it into East Timor's economy. Instead, it goes toward foreign security forces, consultants and administration, among other things.

In the meantime, data from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Food Program, UN Development Program and others show the money has done little to help the poor. In fact, poverty has increased. Roads are in disrepair, there is little access to clean water or health services, and the capital is littered with abandoned, burned-out buildings where the homeless squat.

"The international intervention has preserved the peace, which was always its primary objective," said James Dobbins, director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center. "Its success in promoting political reform and economic development has been more limited."

East Timor was once seen as the poster child for UN nation- building.

After a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesia that left 174,000 dead, the people of this predominantly Catholic former Portuguese colony voted overwhelmingly in a UN-managed referendum on Aug. 30, 1999, to separate. The vote triggered a rampage by Indonesian soldiers and proxy militias who killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed much of the infrastructure.

A provisional UN administration restored basic services, repaired buildings and resettled hundreds of thousands of people who had lost their homes. With greater powers than any previous mission, the UN was supposed to help create the pillars of a new country, virtually from scratch.

The vastness and complexity of the job became apparent in early 2006, just as the UN was pulling out its last staff members. Fighting broke out between rival police and army factions, killing dozens and toppling the government. Then, last February, President Jose Ramos-Horta was nearly killed by rebel gunmen in an ambush.

Timor still faces grave challenges:

Between 2001 and 2007, the number of Timorese living in poverty jumped nearly 14 percent to about 522,000, or roughly half the population, according to the World Bank.
Children make up half of the poor, and 60 percent of those under 5 suffer malnutrition, the World Bank and World Food Program found.
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation concluded in a 2007 report that very little aid was channeled into "productive activities, including private sector development."
The unemployment rate for 15- to 29-year-olds in the capital, who make up the vast majority of the national work force, was more than 40 percent in 2007, according to the IMF and the state.

Atul Khare, who has headed the UN operation in East Timor since mid-2006, dismissed the World Bank and IMF figures as "absolutely incorrect" and not representative. He said the country has made "considerable progress" since 1999, and the UN East Timor mission has been effective and successful.

"All these figures are a cause of concern, but they are extrapolations, they are not the real figures, and I would not rely on those figures for making assessments," he said. "In the last 10 years, with their own efforts... assisted by the international community, this country has largely, yes, been a success. Were you here in 1999? If you were not here, you cannot gauge."

Khare cited increased fertility rates, among the highest in the world, new buildings and fewer potholes in Dili as positive signs. He said accurate numbers will emerge after 2010, when the next national census is held.

But groups that study East Timor have concluded that a mere fraction of aid money is trickling into the economy – just 10 percent of about $5.2 billion, estimates La'o Hamutuk, a respected Dili-based research institute. Its figure excludes more than $3 billion in military spending by Australia and New Zealand.

The other 90 percent went to international salaries, overseas procurement, imported supplies, foreign consultants and overseas administration, the institute said. About 20 percent of pledged aid was never delivered at all, it said.

Another group, the Peace Dividend Trust, concluded that as little as 5 percent of the UN mission budget trickled into East Timor's economy between 2004 and 2007.

The UN spent $2.2 billion on missions in East Timor between 1999 and 2009. Roughly $3 billion in donor aid – the bulk of it from Australia, Japan, the European Union, the US and Portugal – was channeled through 500 not-for-profit groups and institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The World Bank has expressed concern that too much is being spent on consultants, but could not provide a comprehensive figure. High-level Timorese government officials told the AP that millions of dollars have been wasted on projects that overlapped or were not completed, donor rivalry, mismanagement and corruption. They asked not to be named for fear of a backlash from donors.

President Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate for peace, said the world needs to rethink its aid model.

"Where has this money been invested? That is the question the donor community needs to ask itself," he said. "If that money were to have been spent mostly in Timor, it would have transformed this country, economically and socially."

Much of the money has gone toward security, for which the impact is difficult to measure. An AP tally shows that $3.6 billion was spent in the past 10 years on troops from Australia and New Zealand, who make up the bulk of a foreign intervention force.

Timor's leaders and most experts agree that without outside help East Timor would have been at risk of becoming a failed state. Thousands of foreign soldiers, UN police officers and staff remain across the country, but will start departing early next year.

Today, East Timor's streets are calm. The economy is starting to grow under a new government that took over in 2007 after peaceful elections and is tapping into a $5 billion petroleum fund from oil and gas fields. The fund will be exhausted by 2023, and analysts say if the non-oil economy is not stable by then, people will starve.

Under the current government, compensation has also been paid to a third of the armed forces who deserted in 2006. Pensions payments have also started for the generation of guerrilla fighters who battled Indonesian troops in the mountains for more than two decades.

In the meantime, the people are still waiting for help.

Domingos Pereira, a 40-year-old street vendor, lost his father, siblings and other family members in the fight for independence, and his house was destroyed in riots in 2006. He now supports his wife and six children by selling sodas, cigarettes and candy.

"My expectation was that when East Timor became an independent country, small people like me would see an improvement in our lives," he said. "But after 10 years of our independence, I don't have it yet."

Duarte Beremau sleeps in a two-room, dirt-floor shack with eight family members, including four unemployed adult children. The shelter is cobbled together from rusting sheet metal and has no water, electricity or sanitation.

Beremau, who is illiterate and doesn't know his age, earns $10 a week from a coffee factory, part of which he bets on a Sunday afternoon cockfight in the dusty back streets of the capital, Dili. "Nothing has changed my suffering," he said. "My life is still like it was."

[Associated Press researchers Julie Reed and Randy Herschaft in New York, writers Yu Bing in Beijing, Jae-Soon Chang in Seoul, Robert Gillies in Toronto, Foster Klug in Washington, Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, Ray Lilley in Wellington, Rod McGuirk in Canberra and Tanalee Smith in Adelaide contributed to this article.]

Graft & corruption

Gusmao's daughter 'gave up food company shares'

ABC News - September 2, 2009

Sara Everingham – East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has defended himself against allegations he broke his country's laws by signing a contract with a company his daughter had a stake in.

On June 26, the ABC reported that it had obtained documents that showed Mr Gusmao's daughter, Zenilda Gusmao, was a major shareholder of Prima Foods – one of a group of companies awarded contracts to import rice to East Timor by the end of 2008.

The ABC reported that Mr Gusmao signed off on a $US3.5 million ($4.2 million) contract with Prima Foods.

It was reported Zenilda Gusmao had an 11 per cent share in the company and that according to the laws in East Timor the prime minister cannot sign off on contracts with a company in which a family member has more than a 10 per cent stake.

The Prime Minister says he is an honest man and his deputy says documents showing Ms Gusmao gave up her shares before the contract was signed are authentic.

PM's anger It is clear Mr Gusmao is angry about the allegations of corruption against him. At a recent press conference he said the stories were fictitious and he does not like media that report rumours.

He said in East Timor the people "scream" for the media to grow in its capacity and responsibility so that they do not publish stories that are based on rumours and not facts, and he said Australia was a developed country where rumours had been reported.

East Timor's deputy prime minister, Jose Luis Guterres, says there are documents to support the government's position that Ms Gusmao had given up her shares in Prima Foods before the contract was signed off on.

"I was also very much unhappy with allegations from some of the journalists in Australia," Jose Luis Guterres said.

"But I believe that after the clarifications, things will be clearer, clear, all clear, but I can say to you that we follow our rules. I can tell you that we take seriously the question of corruption allegations and also we are very serious that we pass the law... and that the law was approved and managed in the Parliament to create the corruption commission."

Two documents indicating that Ms Gusmao sold her shares in September 2008 were posted on the website of the East Timorese newspaper, Tempo Semenal, on August 3. The editor of the newspaper, Jose Belo, told the ABC he could not confirm the authenticity of the documents.

Investigations

In a statement ABC News says it is eager to further investigate this story and follow up Mr Gusmao's allegations in relation to recent coverage. It says the East Timorese government has denied the ABC's many requests for access to documents which reportedly support the prime minister's case.

East Timor's Ombudsman, Sebastiao Ximenes, is investigating the way in which the rice contracts were awarded. He has confirmed that he received a letter from President Jose Ramos Horta, dated June 2, calling for an investigation.

In the letter, Mr Ramos Horta said: "There is a widely held view that contracts for the supply of rice are being awarded without proper tender processes, involving collusion and cases of corruption. The persistence of such views is harmful to the good operation of our democracy and it is important that this situation be clarified quickly and thoroughly."

Human rights/law

East Timor opposition threatens to force early election

Agence France Presse - September 18, 2009

Dili – East Timor's opposition threatened on Friday to force an early election in an escalating row with the government over the release of an Indonesian militia leader accused of crimes against humanity.

Fretilin party spokesman Jose Teixeira told AFP the party will "seriously consider" pulling out of parliament if a motion to censure the government of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao is not passed by parliament.

Fretilin, which controls 21 of the parliament's 65 seats, submitted the motion on Monday over the Gusmao government's decision last month to release militia leader Martenus Bere.

"We can't continue to be a part of what has become a violation of law," Mr Teixeira said. "If the censure does not go through, we can't see any way out," he said, adding the withdrawal of Fretilin's MPs would be enough to automatically force an election.

Bere was arrested after crossing into East Timor on August 8, five years after being indicted for his role in a string of human rights violations including the 1999 Suai church massacre in which up to 200 people were killed.

The United Nations' human rights representative in East Timor on Tuesday criticised government "interference" in freeing the militia leader. But Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta have said reconciliation with giant neighbour Indonesia is more important than dwelling on past abuses.

At least 100,000 people were estimated to have died during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, which ended with bloody violence surrounding a 1999 UN-backed independence vote.

Growing anger at release of man accused of war crimes

Sydney Morning Herald - September 17, 2009

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Hundreds of non-government organisations in Dili have backed the United Nations' condemnation of East Timor's release of an Indonesian man accused of crimes against humanity.

The Catholic Church has also condemned the release of Maternus Bere, a former militia commander. An influential bishop, Basilio do Nascimento, declared: "We have to forgive but before we can forgive there must be justice"

Mr Bere allegedly led an attack on a church in the East Timorese town of Suai in September 1999, during which three priests and about 200 civilians were massacred.

In a blunt statement released in Dili, the East Timor NGO Forum described the Government's decision to release Mr Bere on August 30, the 10th anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence, as a "cheap political decision" that bowed to international intervention and violated the independence of the country's judiciary.

"The NGO Forum and its members condemn the political intervention by the Republic of Indonesia into the judicial sovereignty of Timor-Leste," said the forum, which represents more than 300 organisations.

The forum said Indonesia pressured East Timor's leaders to release Mr Bere from a jail in Dili following his mid-August arrest when he crossed the border from Indonesian West Timor to attend a family funeral.

Mr Bere, a West Timor provincial official, was indicted by a UN Serious Crimes Tribunal in 2003 on charges of murder, extermination, enforced disappearance, torture and rape.

East Timor's President, Jose Ramos-Horta, and the Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, secretly arranged Mr Bere's release to Indonesian officials without a court order.

This prompted new calls for the UN to establish an international tribunal to prosecute people accused of crimes in East Timor, including former senior Indonesian military commanders.

But Mr Ramos-Horta ruled out any tribunal and called for the disbanding of UN investigations into people accused of murdering hundreds of Timorese in an August 30 speech that fuelled political tensions in Dili. "We must put the past behind us," he said.

Timor probes legality of militant's release

Associated Press - September 17, 2009

Guido Goulart, Dili – East Timor's Supreme Court is investigating top government officials over accusations they illegally released a war crimes suspect at Indonesia's request – a case that could test the constitution of Asia's youngest democracy.

Judges say political leaders illegally bypassed the courts with the release, highlighting the continuing challenge to establish an independent and viable judiciary after the tiny state broke from hundreds of years of colonialism in 2002.

Formal charges have not been filed, but prosecutors are investigating the possible involvement of several members of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's government, two court officials with first-hand knowledge of the case told The Associated Press in interviews this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Indonesian national Maternus Bere was detained Aug. 8 to face allegations of crimes against humanity, including the 1999 Suai church massacre that left dozens dead, among them women, children and three priests. Bere was set free on Aug. 30 before be could be put on trial.

The killings were part of a wider campaign of persecution and murder by pro-Indonesian forces against the Timorese population that year. The violence, prompted by a vote to split from Jakarta after a brutal 24-year occupation, left at least 1,000 people dead.

The United Nations has expressed concern over Bere's release and called for Timor's leaders to abide by international law. Arrest warrants issued by a UN-backed serious crimes unit are outstanding for nearly 400 suspects, but East Timor has favored reconciliation with neighboring Indonesia over prosecution.

President Jose Ramos-Horta argues that reopening old wounds will not help the impoverished country build a stable democracy.

"The vast majority of the people here don't care about what happened to the guy (Bere)," Ramos-Horta told The Associated Press. "The enemies of yesterday must apologize and forgive each other. The UN human rights bureaucracy is the one out of touch with the reality."

Indonesia's Foreign Ministry says it negotiated Bere's release by phone with Ramos-Horta, Gusmao, Foreign Minister Zacharia da Costa and other officials on Aug. 30.

Indonesian officials waited for confirmation of the release before attending East Timor's celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the independence vote, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

Indonesian officials say that Bere, who was reportedly in East Timor for a family wedding, remains at the Indonesian Embassy in Dili awaiting deportation to Indonesia.

Supreme Court chief Judge Claudio Ximenes told reporters last week that Bere's handover was "an illegal decision made be someone who has no right to do so." "Only a judge can order the freeing of a suspect from a detention center or prison," he said.

The Dili-based La'o Hamutuk research institute, a respected group that studies efforts by foreign institutions to rebuild East Timor, also said the handover violated the constitution.

Gusmao's office said he is ready to accept any legal consequences of freeing Bere, but that he has received no notice of an investigation.

"The Gusmao Government has always been open, transparent and readily willing to participate in any investigations," government spokesman Agio Pereira said in a statement to the AP.

The dispute comes amid relative stability in East Timor, a predominantly Catholic state of 1.1 million people that descended into chaos in early 2006 when fighting between rival security forces killed dozens. President Ramos-Horta was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in February last year.

Bere's case exposes a lack of separation between political powers and the courts, Charles Scheiner of La'o Hamutuk said in an e- mail to the AP.

"It has serious implications for the future of rule of law and justice," Scheiner said. "The investigation by the judicial system is one piece; whether the prosecutor will be brave enough to bring the case to court is yet to be seen."

The opposition Fretilin party is pushing a censure motion in parliament over the Bere release, which could force early elections.

"The government of Xanana will be brought down and the president will have to call early elections," Fretilin's Deputy House Speaker Vicente Gueterres told the AP Wednesday.

Fretilin is the largest party in parliament, but it is unclear if a majority of lawmakers are willing to risk another political crisis.

Roughly a third of East Timor's population was wiped out during the Indonesian occupation, but those crimes go unpunished.

[AP writer Anthony Deutsch contributed to this article from Jakarta.]

East Timor torture witness fears reprisals

Sydney Morning Herald - September 17, 2009

Catharine Munro – An alleged victim of torture in East Timor says he regrets talking to the Australian Federal Police because he is now in danger after the man he accused flew out of Australia.

The journalist Jose Belo was interviewed in Dili earlier this year over his allegations that a fellow Dili resident, Guy Campos, had collaborated with Indonesian special forces when they tortured him in 1995.

"I put myself in danger by talking to the AFP," Mr Belo said. "If Mr Campos comes back to this country I will come to him and reconcile with him and I will forget justice from a Western country... I am very, very disappointed with the Australian Government."

Mr Campos left Australia on Monday for Indonesia having entered the country last year on a World Youth Day visa. He was identified in Sydney by the sister of 11-year-old Francisco Ximines, who Mr Campos had beaten to death in 1979 while trying to extract information.

Clinton Fernandes, Australia's principal East Timor analyst in 1998-99, told the Herald last year that Mr Campos was convicted of the crime in East Timor. A higher court acquitted him.

The Greens senator Bob Brown accused the Government of helping Mr Campos. "It is not just remiss; this is by deliberation. It is a shameful day for injustice."

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had asked federal police to continue investigating Mr Campos but charges were not laid before he left. He had applied for refugee status and been granted a bridging visa which expired yesterday. Had he not left, the Attorney-General could have stopped him from being deported while the investigation continued.

The federal police said yesterday that it did "not have sufficient evidence to proceed with any charge against Mr Campos at this time".

Justice still lagging for Timor's human rights victims, says UN

Jakarta Globe - September 16, 2009

A new report finds East Timor is still lagging in efforts to prosecute human rights violations that occurred under Indonesian rule and during its turbulent transition to independence.

The report from the United Nations says 301 people indicted for human rights abuses during that period are still at large. "The vast majority of those at large are believed to be in Indonesia," the report says, "and Timor-Leste has never formally requested their extradition."

All 18 suspects who faced trial in Indonesia for East Timor violations were acquitted last year, it notes.

The report urges civil society organizations to continue pressing Indonesia to prosecute those suspected of serious rights violations in East Timor.

On Tuesday the UN continued its condemnation of East Timor's recent decision to release alleged former militia leader Martenus Bere.

"What we know is that the legal means to release someone from prison were not followed," said Louis Gentile, the local representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as quoted by AFP. He added that the UN Security Council might consider bringing Bere before an international tribunal.

Indonesia occupied East Timor from 1974-1999. Pro-Indonesia militias wreaked havoc there after the East Timorese voted for independence in 1999.

Australia-Indonesia relations tested over Campos investigation

Radio Australia - September 10, 2009

Australia-Indonesia relations are being tested as the Australian Federal Police conduct a war crimes investigation into the deaths of five Australian journalists killed at Balibo in 1975 and now there's pressure over the case of Guy Campos, accused for crimes carried out in East Timor in the 1990s. He's also being investigated by the Australian Federal Police and is currently in Australia. No charges have been laid, but there's concern Mr Campos could leave Australia before the investigation is complete.

Presenter: Linda Mottram

Speakers: Bob Brown, Senator and Australian Greens party leader; Steve Fielding, Australian Family First party Senator; Joe Ludwig, Australian Special Minister of State; Dr Clinton Fernandes, Senior Lecturer, Strategic Studies, University of NSW.

Mottram: Guy Campos has been accused of collaborating with Indonesia's military involving kidnapping and torture of East Timorese during Indonesia's occupation. Last year, it was revealed by Australia's former principle East Timor intelligence analyst, Doctor Clinton Fernandes, that Guy Campos had been convicted of maltreatment leading to death of an eleven-year old boy, Fancisco Ximenes, in 1979. The conviction was quickly overturned by a superior court.

In separate matters, Australia's Attorney General says, the Australian Federal Police is currently investigating several allegations involving Mr campos in East Timor during the 1990s. Mr Campos is presently in Australia. He came to the country on a World Youth Day visa for the Catholic youth event in July last year. He has remained in Australia since then on a bridging visa.

A day after the separate issue came to light of the Australian Federal Police war crimes investigation into the deaths of the Australian journalists known as the Balibo five, Australian Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown, moved to try to compel the Rudd government to ensure Guy Campos doesn't leave Australia before the police investigation is complete or a prosecution determination about possible charges is made.

Brown: I am very alarmed indeed and I hope that the Senate will share that alarm that Mr Campos may in the coming days, certainly in the coming weeks go back to Timor Leste or to Indonesia and out of the reach of the criminal justice system here in Australia.

Mottram: Another non-government Senator, Steve Fielding, has echoed Senator Brown's sentiments on the issue.

Fielding: It would be outrageous to see this person being able to leave this country without Australia really following through on its obligaitons to actually bring this person to justice.

Mottram: The Australian government says Mr Campos is in Australia legally and can't be prevented from leaving. If he overstays his visa and becomes unlawful, the Attorney General has said in a letter he'd consider acting. But even then, he says Mr Campos can't be stopped from leaving voluntarily. And Australia's Special Minister of State, Senator Joe Ludwig, says its unfair to suggest there are other options at this stage.

Ludwig: This motion is thoughtless at best and unfairly misleading to the families affected by war crimes.

Mottram: Some experts believe the evidence before Australia's top prosecutor against Guy Campos is more advanced than publicly believed. And Doctor Clinton Fernandes, now at the University of New South Wales, says its clear under which act a prosecution could proceed.

Fernandes: There are two acts that confer universal jurisdiction such that crimes committed elsewhere can still be tried in Australia. One is the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, which brings into effect the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Crimes that he is alleged to have committed in 1979 would be prosecutable under that act. However because of legal problems and the need to have a reasonable prospect of a conviction that avenue is not being pursued. There is in fact another act called the Crimes Torture Act which brings into effect the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. Now Mr Campos is alleged to have conducted certain activities that may fall within the ambit of that act in the 1990s. That's the basis for any investigation.

No way to keep alleged East Timor torturer in Australia

Canberra Times - September 10, 2009

Philip Dorling – The Federal Government has conceded an East Timorese man may leave Australia before the Federal Police have finalised an investigation of his alleged involvement in torture and war crimes during Indonesia's occupation of Timor Leste.

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland yesterday confirmed the Australian Federal Police were actively investigating allegations concerning Guy Campos in East Timor during the 1990s. However "only preliminary material has been provided to the [Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions]".

Mr McClelland's advice, contained in a letter sent yesterday to Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, is at odds with sources close to the Federal Police investigation, who say that a detailed brief of evidence was provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions some weeks ago and that the DPP had sought supplementary material to build "as robust a brief as possible".

Mr Campos, 55, who arrived in Australia in the middle of last year on a World Youth Day visa, faces the prospect of deportation after his current bridging visa expires on September 18. He has been accused of involvement in the torture of pro-independence East Timorese activists in the early to mid-1990s.

Among those who claim Mr Campos was complicit in their torture at the Indonesian military intelligence's headquarters in Dili are activist and author Naldo Rei, and prominent East Timorese journalist Jose Antonio Belo, who was a student at the University of East Timor at the time.

The Federal Police began to investigate Mr Campos in relation to possible offences under Australia's anti-torture and war crimes laws after members of Sydney's East Timorese community raised concerns about his presence in Australia.

It is understood Mr Campos is presently making arrangements to leave Australia for Indonesia before September 18.

In his letter to Senator Brown, Mr McClelland said the Department of Immigration and Citizenship "is not authorised to detain people on the basis that the Australian Federal Police is investigating them, and that they may face criminal charges".

Senator Brown yesterday moved a Senate motion calling on the Government "to ensure alleged war criminal Guy Campos remains in Australia until investigations into the allegations about his actions in occupied Timor Leste are completely finalised".

Timor's release of wanted militant sparks anger

Associated Press - September 8, 2009

Dili – A decision by East Timor's government to release a militant wanted for an infamous 1999 church massacre a decade ago this week has sparked angry protests by human rights groups and members of parliament.

The leading opposition Fretilin party walked out of Monday's parliamentary session to protest the release of Martenus Bere, and the Dili-based Lau Hamutuk research institute accused Timor's government of violating the constitution.

Bere, an alleged militia leader, was indicted in 2003 for the Sept. 6, 1999, Suai church rampage when dozens of Timorese civilians were raped, murdered, tortured and abducted. Among the dead were three priests.

More than 1,000 people were killed by Indonesian troops and pro- Indonesian proxy militias during several weeks of chaos surrounding the Aug. 30, 1999, vote to split from Indonesia. The violence, which destroyed much of East Timor's infrastructure, prompted a major foreign military intervention.

Warrants were subsequently issued by prosecutors for nearly 400 individuals allegedly involved in atrocities in East Timor – where 174,000 people died during the 24-year Indonesian occupation – but only one person stood trial.

Bere was recognized and detained by Timorese police last month crossing into East Timor, but released on Aug. 30 – the independence anniversary.

Around 300 suspects "have enjoyed sanctuary in Indonesia," Lau Hamutuk said on its Web site. On the 10th anniversary of the independence vote "the new nation's leaders abrogated its constitution to meet Indonesia's wishes."

Details of the release are still unclear, but Duarte Nunes, a lawmaker for the party of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, said the release was part of efforts to reconcile the past and maintain good relations with Indonesia.

"For the stability and national interests of reconciliation I agreed with the decision of our Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and our President Jose Ramos-Horta to free Martenus Bere," the lawmaker said. "But I am upset and dissatisfied with their intervention... in our judicial process."

The tiny nation's justice minister and chief prosecutor were summoned to explain the circumstances of the release, a statement issued by parliament said.

Timor's release of accused killer slammed

Melbourne Age - September 7, 2009

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's release of an Indonesian citizen accused of crimes against humanity violates the country's own constitution, the top United Nations human rights official has claimed.

Joining growing condemnation of East Timor's leaders 10 years after Timorese won their independence, Navanethem Pillay, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, says their decision is "extremely regrettable and has grave consequences" for the prospects of accountability over bloodshed that left up to 1500 people dead in the country in 1999.

He added that the release contravened successive UN Security Council resolutions rejecting impunity for genocide.

Mr Pillay has asked East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta for more information on the release of Martenus Bere, former commander of a brutal pro-Indonesia militia who led an attack on a Suai church on September 6, 1999, during which three priests and about 200 people were slaughtered.

"I appreciate your government's desire to develop healthy relations with Indonesia and welcome the progress that has been made in that regard," Mr Pillay said in a letter written in Geneva. "However, I trust that you will appreciate that your government should not avoid its international obligations in the name of bilateral co-operation."

Bere, a government official in Indonesian West Timor, was grabbed and beaten by people before being arrested by police when he returned to East Timor for his father's funeral three weeks ago.

Detained on charges laid by the UN's Serious Crimes Unit in Dili in 2003, he was secretly released from a Dili jail on August 30, the 10th anniversary of East Timor's independence vote, and handed over to Indonesian officials, who took him to the Indonesian embassy in Dili where arrangements are being made to take him to West Timor.

As the release was taking place, Mr Ramos Horta was making a speech declaring that his people must bury the past and not pursue the accused killers of hundreds of Timorese, most of whom live in Indonesia.

He called for the disbanding of the UN's Serious Crimes Unit in Dili, which is gathering evidence against more than 300 accused killers.

Amnesty International at the weekend renewed a call for the UN Security Council to establish an East Timor international tribunal, saying Bere's release confirms the unwillingness of East Timor and Indonesia to prosecute past human rights violations.

"Justice for past crimes should not be sacrificed for other pressing needs, such as economic development," Amnesty said in a statement.

President Ramos Horta, a Nobel laureate, claimed in interviews marking the anniversary of the vote, that Timorese do not want to see past killers brought to justice.

But activists in Dili are disputing the claim, pointing to an Asia Foundation survey of 1220 people across the nation last year in which 90 per cent said that murderers should not avoid punishment or paying compensation to victims.

Bere's release has provoked deep emotions because the Suai massacre was the most brutal of the violence that erupted when Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia.

UN condemns East Timor militia leader's 'release'

Agence France Presse - September 2, 2009

Dili – The United Nations condemned Tuesday the reported release of an Indonesian former militia leader accused of taking part in a massacre of civilians in East Timor in 1999.

"If the reports are true, his release is contrary to the Security Council resolutions which set up the UN Mission in (East Timor) and seriously undermines the global principle of accountability for crimes against humanity," Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in a statement.

The UN said earlier this week that the suspect, Martenus Bere, had been released Sunday ahead of national celebrations commemorating 10 years since East Timor won independence from Indonesia in a UN-backed referendum.

The government has refused to confirm Bere's release and the UN appeared to backtrack on Tuesday, saying in a separate statement that its mission in Dili was "not in a position to comment" on Bere's circumstances.

Bere was detained in East Timor on August 8, five years after being indicted for his role in the 1999 Suai Church massacre, in which up to 200 people were killed.

"The UN's firm position is that there can be no amnesty or impunity for serious crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide," Okabe said.

"In that context, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly opposes the release of someone for whom an arrest warrant of this nature has been established."

East Timor's leadership has been criticised for opposing prosecution for those responsible for abuses during Indonesia's bloody 1975-1999 occupation of the half-island, which killed around 100,000 people.

President Jose Ramos-Horta says restoring good relations with Indonesia is more important than "prosecutorial justice", and has said he will not let his country be used as an "experiment" in international justice.

The opposition Fretilin party however says he is out of touch with the East Timorese people, many of whom continue to demand justice for gross human rights abuses committed during the Indonesian occupation.

Women & gender

Timor Leste's women struggle to make their voices heard

Jakarta Post - September 14, 2009

Pandaya, Dili – Anyone looking for a model for the promotion of gender equality should look to Timor Leste.

In this 10-year-old democracy, gender equality is not only written into the Constitution, but is also practiced in reality, even though most women still have much to learn about political ropes. No matter: NGOs and the UN are eager and willing to help.

The country's electoral law, passed in December 2006, requires that, out of every four candidates that a political party fields, at least one has to be a woman.

Now, 19 (or 29 percent) of the 65 members of the national parliament are women, making it the country with the highest proportion of female parliamentary representatives in Southeast Asia.

This tiny country, which declared its independence on May 20, 2002, also has three women in its Cabinet: Justice Minister Lucia Lobato, Finance Minister Emilia Pires and Social and State Secretary for the Promotion of Equality Idelta Maria Rodrigues.

This month's suco (village) level elections are expected to see more women running for office. In these elections, held nationwide every five years, candidates vie for the positions of village chiefs, subvillage chiefs and traditional elders.

At stake are about 10 seats in each of the 442 villages across Timor Leste. While the positions of village, subvillage and traditional elders are up for grabs for both men and women, three seats in the village council are reserved for women, as the law prescribes.

This year, candidacy in the village elections is using a package system", which allows the public to know the gender composition of each package of candidates. In this "package system", people vote for groups of candidates rather than individuals.

Local women have been actively lobbying for greater participation in politics since the then Indonesian province of East Timor prepared to become a free country after the 1999 UN-sponsored referendum gave it independence.

In 2000, East Timor held its first national women's congress, which gave birth to the network Rede Feto that successfully fought for a 30 percent quota for women in the national parliament.

As with men, most women are affiliated with a political organization and those in the parliament are often accused of serving their political parties better than the people they claim to represent.

Lita Sarmento, a women's rights activist and a member of the village electoral supervisory committee, says that although promotion of gender equality has seen an encouraging relative success, local women still need to learn more about real politics because they generally lack education and experience.

In the past, people did not give education a priority because they were focusing on the struggle for independence," she says. Now, they realize they have to pursue higher education to get good jobs. Many are pursuing their postgraduate programs abroad."

So initially, women elected for a village government post did the domestic chores every time they attended a meeting. But understanding of their jobs has been improving since local NGOs and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) starting providing nationwide training for incumbents, those wanting to run for office and the public.

Having set up an office in East Timor in 2000, UNIFEM has provided financial and technical assistance to programs aimed at empowering local women and promoting gender equality in decision-making.

As in many other less-developed countries, women in East Timor used to suffer discrimination under the patriarchal social structure. For centuries, East Timor had been divided into kingdoms, where everything was dictated by the king and women were tasked with the less-respected roles of domestic routines and child raising.

In fact feudalism still prevails in rural areas even today," says Lita, whose activism was inspired by OPMT (Timor Women's Organization) founded by Fretilin (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor) after Indonesia invaded the territory in 1975 and made it its 27th province.

In addition to conducting training programs and workshops for women, NGOs and UNIFEM have been encouraging local women to run in elections. In this predominantly Roman Catholic country, women face no religious barriers to pursuing their political ambitions.

With the highly active NGOs and UNIFEM, the workload of the State Secretariat for the Promotion of Equality is lighter. Its main job is mainstreaming programs in every department aimed at promoting gender-sensitive programs.

With support from UN agencies, women's groups such as Rede Feto regularly conduct training on anything from public speaking techniques and transformation leadership to international laws on women's rights and local electoral laws.

All this has been part of changing old mentalities so that women can move from their traditionally less-assertive roles and adopt the more vocal positions required for decision makers.

Health & education

Cubans bring democracy to East Timor, one letter at a time

Sydney Morning Herald - September 5, 2009

Peter Quiddington – Soon after East Timor voted for independence in 1999, Cuba marshalled its forces and sent hundreds of medical instructors to the tiny country, while preparing to receive many more Timorese for training back in Cuba.

From 2004, the Cubans launched the second stage of their grassroots assault – a national adult literacy campaign.

East Timor has one of the highest rates of adult illiteracy, at more than 50 per cent. In some remote areas it is as much as 90 per cent, and this is a big factor holding back economic development and building democracy.

About 300 medical and 50 literacy instructors from Cuba now work throughout East Timor and this ground force has made inroads into the country's worst health and literacy problems. To the embarrassment of the Australian and international aid establishments, Cuba has imported a successful model of international development.

The efficacy of the Cuban health program has been reported by Dr Tim Anderson at the University of Sydney. He monitors the advance of Cuban medical programs across the Pacific and has written extensively on their success in delivering basic health care and tackling elevated child mortality rates.

Earlier this year, Associate Professor Bob Boughton, an adult education expert at the University of New England, reported on success with the Cuban adult literacy campaign, noting that it ran on less than one-third of the budget of conventional Western programs.

Domingas Arouja lives in the hills south-east of the capital, Dili, and her life is typical for a mother of a young family in rural East Timor, where a population explosion is occurring. She has seven children and lives with her extended family in a cluster of cottages, clad with thatching and corrugated iron. They barely subsist on a few lean crops and rice brought in from Dili.

Like most families their great hope is to escape rural poverty by finding paid work, prompting many adults in her community to take part in a three-month basic literacy program run by the Cubans. Some graduates of the program are now a little angry that they do not have jobs, as they understood – or perhaps misunderstood – that this would be the automatic outcome.

However, there have been small changes to their daily lives. Domingas, who is self-assured and positive about the program, explains (in her native Portuguese) that she now encourages her children to go to school. Knowing how to write simple words means that she can now help her children with their homework, a fact that clearly makes her immensely proud.

The Cuban literacy campaign aims at achieving social outcomes and uses a novel system where a number is linked to a letter, which is then linked to a word that has some significance or use to the student. It also uses a video system to engage participants, who can watch members of their own community learning how the system works.

Fretilin adopted an earlier form of the literacy program in the early 1970s, taking the ideas from the work of a radical Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. The program functioned ad hoc during the Indonesian occupation, but never ceased, even as the Fretilin military wing, Falintil, retreated into the mountains.

It was re-established in 2002 and the Cubans began to assist with a national program from 2004. According to Dr Boughton, the success of the campaign means that about 250,000 adults are on target to achieve basic literacy by 2014. However, because of the politics surrounding the Cuban campaign critical post-literacy funding is in doubt.

Zelia Fenandes recently completed an honours thesis at the National University of East Timor in which she examined the program. She says the squeeze is political and in recent months there have been shortages of salaries and money for fuel. (The Cubans ride small motorcycles.)

Critics of the program point out that the level of literacy is regarded as below some international standards, though this is disputed. But its defenders point out that its aim is a basic level of literacy, which must be built upon.

Economy & investment

Indonesian entrepreneurs chasing dollars in East Timor

Associated Press - September 22, 2009

Elisabeth Oktofani – Previously known as an area of conflict, East Timor is becoming a land of opportunity.

Indonesians often go abroad to take menial jobs such as cleaners or laborers. But in East Timor, they are able not only to create happy lives for themselves and their families, but to participate in building that country's economy.

Meina Sumino from Tulung Agung in East Java owns a Javanese restaurant in Fatuhada, Dili, and said she is better off "earning gold" in East Timor than suffering as a cleaning lady in Malaysia.

"When my husband and I first arrived in Dili, we were very apprehensive about how we would survive in this country," she said. "But we had heard many good things from people in Indonesia.

"When we got here, we found it is a hard and dry land, and there were many United Nations police on the streets. That frightened us a little, but did not deter us. The presence of the United Nations comforts us, although they remind us that while things are stable now, they were not so in the past."

East Timor's president, Jose Ramos-Horta, spoke about the large number of Indonesian migrants in the country last month in an address to the nation on the 10th anniversary its vote for independence from Indonesia.

"Of the foreign workers who are flocking into our country, many have come from Indonesia," he said. "Some are here on work visas. Others entered on tourist visas. Many are here illegally. When I drive around and see their faces, observe their hard work in trying to earn a modest income, I think of the villages and families they left behind pursuing the dream and what is often the illusion of a better life elsewhere. How they end up here is still a mystery to me. But here they are, many thousands of them. We welcome them and must find ways to legalize their stay."

"One thing that is quite difficult to handle here is working permits," said 50-year-old Haji Baharudin, who started a shoe business in Kampung Alor in 2001. He said Indonesians could establish businesses only after obtaining a work permit from the Department of Immigration in the Ministry of Defense and Security, and registering with the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry.

Baharudin left East Timor in 2004 when business started slowing down and returned to his family in Soe, East Tusa Tenggara. However, he went back to Dili in 2007 because, he said, the opportunities are better there.

"I will say people [in East Timor] don't know how to spend their money wisely," he said. "After they get their salary at the end of every month, they appear to spend it very quickly on things that may or may not have much value to them. They are not yet very savvy consumers. That's very different from most Indonesians."

The government is the largest employer in East Timor and salaries are high compared to Indonesia. A senior civil servant earns approximately $700 per month, while the same position in Indonesia pays only half that. In Dili, small restaurant owners said they could take in $100 per day, more than twice what they could earn in Indonesia.

Baharudin said he could buy shoes in Indonesia for as little as $4 and sell them in East Timor, where the US dollar is the official currency, for as much as $20.

"But if a customer comes with less, I will bargain and perhaps drop my price to $18 or $15, as I want them to keep coming back. But even at that price, I am still making good money."

Rudi Hartono also owns a shoe shop in Kampung Alor. He moved to East Timor after one of his friends returned from Dili to their hometown of Atambua, in East Nusa Tenggara. The friend encouraged Rudi to try his own luck in East Timor, saying there were many opportunities there for Indonesians.

"I am happy that I made my way here because now I can see a brighter future for my family even after just six months," he said. "I admit that building a successful business here in Timor is not easy, but it is not nearly as difficult as it is at home in Indonesia."

Suparman moved from Semaran in Central Java to Fatuhada, Dili, where he now has a Javanese restaurant, called Amor.

"If I was still in Java, I might just be a construction laborer and only earning a very small salary that wouldn't even pay for my own food, let alone my family, each month," he said. "But it is very different here. By opening Amor, I am not only feeding my wife and my daughter, but also the local people who work for me."

There are many Javanese restaurants in Dili, Suparman said, although most adapt their menus to local tastes. "If I served authentic Javanese food, I might not have as many customers as I do now. In my experience, authentic Javanese food is not as popular as a more Timorese menu," he said.

Indonesians are not always instantly accepted by the locals, however.

"The first time I stepped foot in Timor Leste, I felt worried and insecure," Suparman said. "I was worried the conflict would start again, but then as time passed and as I settled into life here, I realized that people were more afraid of me than I was of them. This was because they thought I might be ABRI [Indonesian military from the New Order era] from my appearance as a bodybuilder, and my short haircut.

"I came here with optimism and not a gun. I came here to build a better future for my family, and to offer friendship and not animosity. However, as time passed, I realized that the past is still very fresh in their minds. I admit, it hurt me to be suspected and avoided. But I wanted to persist, as I was sure that their reception would improve, as indeed it has. They are friendly to me and we are all friends here."

Fellow restaurant owner Meina initially had some problems also.

"One day, a few Timorese men ate at one of my restaurants and refused to pay the bill," she said. "They argued that they shouldn't have to pay in an Indonesian restaurant in East Timor. That didn't make any sense at all because I came here not as a social worker but as a legitimate businessperson.

"They should realize that we have come to Dili with good intentions. We pay our taxes, our utility bills and fulfil our other obligations, so why discriminate against us?"

Over time such problem have receded, she said, and she now has a good relationship with her customers, suppliers and the East Timorese in general. "We never know where our luck lies until we seize our opportunities, even though this is a country living in the wake of conflict."

China showers gifts on resources-rich Timor

Reuters - September 14, 2009

Dili – Dili's gleaming new Presidential Palace and Foreign Ministry, gifts from China, stand in stark contrast to nearby burned-out buildings and are symbols of how the energy-hungry superpower is growing closer to tiny, oil-rich East Timor.

In the 10 years since the independence vote that led to a split from Indonesia, China has spent more than $53 million in aid to East Timor, also known as Timor Leste.

While that is just a fraction of the $760 million in Australian government aid, China has raised its profile in dusty Dili in several other ways.

It is building big and showing generosity such as its donation of 8,000 tonnes of rice during a recent food crisis. Noticeable projects such as a new Ministry of Defense building, houses for soldiers and schools are underway as are scholarships and training programmes for civil servants.

In all, China is sending a very public message that it is serious about strengthening bilateral ties with East Timor, which many analysts put down to its desire to diversify strategic energy interests.

Loro Horta, who is a China expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and is the son of East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, said that the aid is linked to China's desire for energy and infrastructure contracts.

"The Chinese are desperate for oil, every single drop for them counts and they are definitely looking to Timor as potential to meet that need," he told Reuters in a phone interview, adding that he estimated the total value of investments by Chinese companies in East Timor to be less than $400 million.

East Timor is one of Asia's poorest and least developed countries, but it has enormous oil and gas reserves.

The Bayu Undan gas field is expected to reap $12-15 billion by 2023, the country's Natural Resources Minister, Alfredo Pires, told Reuters in an interview.

Bayu Undan is already the subject of a deal between Australia and East Timor but other, untapped reserves still need development partners.

Another oil field, Kitan, has an estimated 40 million barrels of recoverable light oil, Pires said, and the Greater Sunrise field contains around 300 million barrels of condensate and 9.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the United Nations.

Lucrative opportunities also exist in the minerals sector, including copper, gold, silver and marble, and for big-ticket infrastructure projects as East Timor tries to reverse years of under-investment.

Pires said Spain, China and Australia are all keen on a piece of the Timor resources pie, while East Timor expert Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University said the United States and the United Kingdom are also interested.

Trade routes

China and East Timor's links date back centuries. Hakka Chinese traders sailed there more than 500 years ago looking for sandalwood, rosewood and mahogany. Many stayed on, forming an overseas Chinese community as in many other parts of Asia.

Today, Dili's main street is lined with buildings, some of which display Chinese script, families can be seen praying at a Confucian temple in downtown Dili, while Chinese traders run appliance stores on busy streets.

Chinese labourers are already at work on one of two heavy oil power plants which are under construction after Dili in 2008 awarded the Chinese Nuclear Industry 22nd Construction Company a $360 million contract to build the power plants and a national power grid. East Timor also paid $28 million for two petroleum vessels from China.

Loro Horta said China is also angling for big ticket infrastructure contracts such as a pipeline that East Timor wants built from its Greater Sunrise oil field to a proposed processing plant on land. He said Chinese oil giant PetroChina has already done studies and is keen to drill.

"In 2004, PetroChina did a seismic study and said they didn't find much. But then, two years ago, I heard from Alkatiri and from my father the President, that they were willing to drill but they want exclusivity rights," he said.

Yang Donghui, a spokesman for the Chinese ambassador in Dili, said that the first phase of the seismic investigation was completed as an aid project, but that a proposed second phase investigation became the subject of commercial talks between the East Timor government and PetroChina.

"Maybe the company asked some rights, if they do the investigation. We think it is normal and just a commercial issue, no company can put so much money to do something and do not consider the result," said Yang Donghui.

China's ambassador to East Timor, Fu Yuancong rejected speculation that China's interest in the fledgling nation is driven by a desire to gain an advantage when East Timor is handing out contracts to develop its billion-dollar oil and gas fields.

"All this assistance from China to Timor Leste is full of sincerity and without any selfishness, unlike what the Western media has speculated. The Chinese government never bore any political strategy in Timor Leste," he said through a translator.

He also said that his government was in energy talks with Dili. "The Timor Leste government always expresses its will to have co-operation with China in this field. After I took my position, the leaders of Timor Leste talked with me many times to say they would like to invite Chinese companies to have some oil exploration in future," he added.

"The Timor Leste government should give a concrete project for co-operation."

And as stability has slowly returned to Dili, Fu said his government has encouraged a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs to move to East Timor.

"The growing Chinese presence is part of their natural expansion into Southeast Asia and I think Timor is not really their priority," said Loro Horta, at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"But they are definitely keeping an eye on it. The Chinese are very patient people and they think very long term." (Editing by Sara Webb and Megan Goldin)

Timor pressing ahead with plan to develop oil and gas industry

Associated Press - September 10, 2009

Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – East Timor's government has designated land to be developed into a regional petrochemicals hub, its top resources official said Thursday, in the latest push to bring disputed offshore oil and gas to its coast rather than to Australia.

The neighbors share proceeds from the Bayu Undan field in the Timor Sea, but there is disagreement about a larger, untapped field called Greater Sunrise, which contains about 300 million barrels of light oil and 8.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

It is worth billions of dollars in commercial oil and gas sales and the country that hosts the processing facilities will also generate billions in tax revenue.

East Timor's government has designated three towns in the southern part of the island to build a petrochemical processing plant, liquid natural gas facility and supply center, Alfredo Pires, the country's state secretary for natural resources said Thursday.

"We feel quite strongly that for the people to benefit from these resources they need to be brought to our shores," Pires told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

"The discussions will continue, but we are making our position known... We are not just the stakeholders, we are the owners of these resources," he said.

Pires's comments show the unwavering position of East Timor's leaders and could set the stage for a standoff with a group of oil and gas companies led by Australia's Woodside that could block short term development.

"Our commitment to this project makes it very difficult to reconcile any other agreement," Pires, told an oil conference Thursday in a speech e-mailed to The Associated Press. "The development of Greater Sunrise will either transform our nation on shore or remain a distant dream for all of us."

Woodside and its partners are licensed to develop Greater Sunrise and want to build a 530-kilometer pipeline running south to Darwin, where ConocoPhillips has built a $5 billion natural gas processing plant.

The group argues that technical studies concluded processing the resources in Australia is more commercially viable.

"It is possible to build a subsea pipeline from the Greater Sunrise reservoir to onshore Timor Leste, (but) it carries significant technical, cost and schedule risks," Woodside said in a statement Thursday, using the country official name.

The studies concluded that a floating liquid natural gas facility or a pipeline to Darwin are "the best commercial and technical development options for Sunrise," it said.

But Timor sees the resources as key to lifting its 1.1 million people out of poverty, by stimulating the local economy and creating jobs. The nation has no major industry and unemployment is more than 30 percent.

East Timor has around $5 billion in a petroleum fund that can be used to build infrastructure such as roads, ports and a power plant. But it is seeking outside funding of up to $10 billion to create the petrochemicals industry, Pires said in the AP interview. He said discussions are ongoing with several companies, but provided no names.

Under a current agreement, neither party can develop Greater Sunrise unilaterally.

Timor became Asia's youngest democracy just six years ago after centuries of colonization, but faces challenges from decaying infrastructure and poor health, with roughly half the population living below the poverty line.

Australia, Timor discuss gas field development

ABC News - September 10, 2009

The differing priorities of Australia and East Timor have come to the fore, at a major oil and gas industry conference.

Debate centres on the Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea, which is being jointly explored under a treaty between the Australian and East Timorese Governments.

The treaty recognises that the Timor Sea is a disputed territory, but under the treaty Australia and East Timor are committed to exploring and developing the Greater Sunrise gas field together.

Addressing a major oil and gas industry meeting in Darwin today, East Timor's secretary of state for natural resources Alfredo Pires used gentle diplomacy to highlight his government's desire for onshore development of the Greater Sunrise gas field in his country.

"The development of Greater Sunrise will either transform our nation onshore or remain a distant dream for all of us," he said.

"It is only fair that Timor Leste will benefit from the development of infrastructure from the Greater Sunrise with an LNG plant in Timor Leste. Is it technically feasible, it is commercially viable and it is legally merited."

But the Northern Territory Mines Minister Kon Vatskalis says a deep and seismically active trench in the Timor Sea is the only obstacle preventing gas from being piped to East Timor for onshore development.

He says if Australia developed the resource, the East Timorese people would get hundreds of new jobs, training and royalties.

Defense & security

Indonesia, Timor Leste militaries to step up cooperation

Antara News - September 3, 2009

Dili – Indonesia's and Timor Leste's military chiefs agreed here on Thursday to step up cooperation between the two countries' armed forces.

The agreement was reached when Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) Commander General Djoko Santoso met with his Timor Leste counterpart, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, at the latter's headquarters in Tositolu, Dili.

"The cooperation will cover education, training, capacity building and other things," General Djoko Santoso said.

Djoko said his visit to Timor Leste was significant because it was proof that relations between the two countries were continuously improving.

The Indonesian military chief who came to Timor Leste at General Matan Ruak's invitation was accompanied by a number of high ranking TNI officials including the chief of the Udayana 9th Military Command, Major General Hormangaradja Pandjaitan.

The TNI delegation arrived at Dili's Nicolau Lobato international airport at 9.45am local time aboard a plane from the 17th Squadron based in Bali.

Matan Ruak expressed pleasure and pride about Djoko's visit which proceeded in an atmosphere of warm friendship and brotherhood. It marked the first time for a TNI commander to vist Timor Leste since the former East Timor declared its independence from Indonesia.

Security was tight but people in Dili and from surrounding areas enthusiastically geeted the Indonesian military delegation. A Timor Leste source said the invitation was actually sent to TNI Headquarters a few years ago. "We invited the TNI commander several years ago but it is only now that it could be met," the source said.

General Djoko Santoso was welcomed with a military ceremony at the Timor Leste armed forces headquarters. General Matan Ruak accompanied Djoko throghout the four-hour visit.

"We have agreed the two countries' governments would facilitate various cooperation activities and so an inventory of the needs for it will soon be made," Djoko Santoso said.

To newsmen General Matan Ruak said "the visit is very significant for improving and boosting the relations between the two countries. We were thankful to the Indonesian government as well as our government for the opportunity," he said.

Regarding the cooperation plan General Matan Ruak said that it would also cover cooperation in border areas and capacity building.

People

Exclusive interview with President Jose Ramos-Horta

The Huffington Post - September 3, 2009

President Jose Ramos-Horta On East Timor, genocide, & why President Clinton is "One of my favorite politicians in the world"

Sabine Heller – East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta discusses life after an assassination attempt, hypocrisy and what it means to forgive in the face of an American-supported genocide that brutally took the lives of four of his siblings and one third of his country.

Sabine Heller: You've spent your life campaigning for the freedom of East Timor.

President Horta: Yes, I first landed in New York in '75, in the midst of one of the worst New York winters, to begin my advocacy of East Timor at the United Nations.

Sabine Heller: Why did the major powers support Indonesia and turn their backs on the horrors taking place every day in East Timor?

President Horta: East Timor was vulnerable because Indonesia was able to play with everyone. The Western powers allied themselves with Indonesia because of the cold war and for many reasons, including Indonesia's vital strategic location and control of the Malacca Strait through which 70% of the oil going from the Middle East to Japan is passed. Also, as the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia had solidarity with Muslim countries. Even China and Russia did not want to upset Indonesia. So who was left to be sympathetic to East Timor? Only the African countries because they were sensitive to invading and changing colonial boundaries. They were aware of that fact that if it could happen to East Timor, it could happen to them. And Brazil, because of its Portuguese heritage.

Sabine Heller: What was the most frustrating part of your campaign?

President Horta: Well, the most frustrating, the most exasperating, was the then hypocrisy and duplicity of countries like the United States that preached human rights and democracy wherever they didn't have any interests. They even went to war in Angola to stop the spread of communism there and bombed the hell out of Nicaragua, El Salvador... and yet they were supplying weapons, aircrafts to Indonesia, which was bombing East Timor. One of my own sisters was killed by a US-supplied aircraft.

Sabine Heller: And the UK's role?

President Horta: The UK and the US were the biggest suppliers of all weapons.

Sabine Heller: Didn't the bombing in East Timor start right after Kissinger left from a visit to Indonesia?

President Horta: Yes, conveniently the invasion took place 12 hours after Gerald Ford and Kissinger left Indonesia, on December 6.

Sabine Heller: How did you find the faith to work within a system that had revealed itself to be so morally bankrupt?

President Horta: There were people who trusted me. I was given a mission, a mandate, in leaving my country to be an advocate. There was always a voice, an inner voice, telling me not to give up. I always remember my own blood – brothers and sisters – some of whom had been killed by then.

Sabine Heller: Was it was three brothers, one sister who were killed?

President Horta: Yes, so I couldn't betray them. And I went on and on in the long corridors of the UN building talking to people. Some people wouldn't want to talk to me and pretend to be too busy. I would travel by bus and train to Washington to lobby members of Congress. Some became very, very good friends, like the late Senator Ted Kennedy or Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Congresswoman, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Sabine Heller: How did you know who to trust? Kissinger,for example, is known as a great statesman and yet he aided in one of the most horrific crimes against humanity.

President Horta: When it comes to those who have power, whether it be in a position of privilege like members of Congress or the Administration, it's not up to me to judge whether they are to be trusted or not. I have to talk to them, try to touch their heart, and, failing that, to see whether it should be in their own interest, in the interest of the United States, for instance, not to side completely with a regime like that one in Indonesia.

Sabine Heller: Is it correct to say that 200,000 people were part of the genocide in East Timor, but looking at the numbers per capita, it was more like the Holocaust?

President Horta: Yes, in 1975 the population of Timor was no more than 700,000. By around 1981, 6 years after Indonesia's invasion, at least 200,000 had died – from mass killings, summary executions, massacres, but also from mass starvation caused by the war. So in per capita terms, it was like 1/3 the population died within a few years.

Sabine Heller: And they died in brutal ways.

President Horta: Yes, it was unimaginable and horrendous what was done to the people of East Timor. But that was not different from what the Indonesian military did to their own people when the Suharto regime took over in '65 and half a million people were killed in a period of 6 months. So, a military institution that was able to decimate a minimum of half a million of its own people – alleged communists and communist sympathizers, students, workers, peasants – well, what would you expect them to do when they invade another country with which they have no association whatsoever.

Sabine Heller: When did the world take notice of the horrible things that were happening to your people? Was there a definitive turning point?

President Horta: It began in '91. But the real turning point was in '96 with the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize increased the visibility of the Timor problem; it increased the diplomatic cost to Indonesia and led them to accepting a referendum in '99. Indonesia is a proud country that cares about its international image.

Sabine Heller: President Clinton helped a lot as well.

President Horta: Yes, William Jefferson Clinton was instrumental in setting Timor free in '99. If it were not Bill Clinton there, standing on the White House lawn, basically setting an ultimatum to the Indonesian military to allow in an international force, probably we would not be free. So we thank President Clinton a lot. He's one of my favorite politicians in the world.

Sabine Heller: How did you feel when you returned from exile to a liberated East Timor?

President Horta: As I went up to the town, climbing the hills out of Dili, looking down to the city in its magnificent beauty, I said to myself, "This must have been an act of God that Timor today is free." When you look at the overwhelming odds against us, it must have been an act of God.

Sabine Heller: Or an act of you! Ultimately you went from being an activist to governing. Where did you learn to govern?

President Horta: Well I never actually learned to govern. At first I was a journalist and then became an activist, organizing street demonstrations, writing, making speeches – so I never knew anything about governing any country. In terms of knowledge and skill of running a country, I am ignorant.

Sabine Heller: Did you ever underestimate or overestimate the psychological effects of terror on a population? During the uprisings of 2006, the world questioned whether East Timor could maintain an independent democracy. Do you feel your government overestimated your country's ability to heal?

President Horta: What happened was that too soon after our independence, personalities clash and visions overlap, mutual suspicions intervene, and leaders were not able to work together to address the simmering tensions in the country. I was a foreign minister so I was not involved in our domestic politics. I was not able to influence – I tried, even as foreign minister I tried always to caution my colleagues in regard to their behavior.

Sabine Heller: How are things today? What is it like to build the newest country in the world?

President Horta: We have made enormous progress in the last 2 years. Today, if you visit our country, you see bustling cities, thousands of people in the streets, hundreds of restaurants, shops, a lot of traffic. A recent survey done by the International Republic Institute, says the vast majority of the people are very happy with the direction the country is heading.

Sabine Heller: You have suffered a great deal of personal loss. Who pays the price for that, and have they paid? Has there been adequate retribution for the atrocities that have happened to your country in the last 30 years?

President Horta: In an ideal world, everyone implicated in a crime, whatever it is, should face justice and pay. But we are not in an ideal world. In countries like mine, or anywhere, justice cannot be always the only option because institutions are very fragile, society is in transition. If you start chasing the culprits of the violence, the court system cannot handle it, the institutions are weak, and these people you are chasing have their supporters and friends. You never heard me after '99 criticizing Indonesia or the Americans or the Australians. I don't like to rub salt in the wounds of people who I know have lost. For me, the great principle is: in victory, be magnanimous. Be magnanimous toward adversaries who feel that they have lost. Try to make them feel like they didn't lose and that we all won. Why do I say that Indonesia won? I say that Indonesia won because they resolved a conflict, a problem that was costing them in their lives, prestige and economically. So Indonesia won, they didn't lose.

Sabine Heller: I know you've been vocal about Burma. What else is going on today that the public might not immediately see?

President Horta: No, fortunately, today, 21st century, there are very few problems in the world, like massacres or genocide, that go unnoticed because of globalization and an international network of media, the internet. There are very few cases that are totally suppressed.

Sabine Heller: After the '08 assassination attempt on your life, do you live, more or less, in fear?

President Horta: I haven't had a single nightmare or bad dream of anything.

Sabine Heller: You've been through a lot of anguish, what is there left to fear?

President Horta: Death... is my biggest fear. I hate death. I don't like death.

Sabine Heller: What's your biggest regret?

President Horta: A very personal one.

Opinion & analysis

East Timor: A long way from international justice

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2009

Usman Hamid and Yati Andriyani, Liquisa, East Timor – Mentioning Timor Leste not only brings to mind a state that was once Indonesia's 27th province, but also a place where gross human rights violations took place before, during and after its UN- sponsored August 1999 referendum.

According to Geoffrey Robinson (East Timor 1999; Crimes Against Humanity, 2006), around 400,000 people were forced to leave their hometowns following massive riots after the referendum, 70 percent of buildings across the territory were burned and destroyed, and an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 people were killed.

But 10 years later, Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta reiterated again that "there will be no international tribunal".

A serious move to pursue justice over the crimes against humanity and war crimes that took place during the Indonesian occupation in East Timor will enable both Indonesia and Timor Leste to bring about a sense of democracy and respect for the principles of human dignity and rule of law. Until there is justice, neither country can leave the past behind.

Our concern now is about the monitoring report of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) entitled Embracing Friendship, Forsaking the Truth: Monitoring Report of the Commission for Truth and Friendship for Indonesia and Timor Leste, 2008, which says several mechanisms of court and truth revelation were "carried out in response to the crimes against humanity that occurred in Timor Leste".

First, there was an official mission carried out by three UN special rapporteurs and the UN Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. This team reported that the Indonesian Army (TNI) was involved in orchestrating violence in East Timor in 1999 and therefore must be held responsible for human rights violations there. This report recommended that should Indonesia fail to set up a credible court, an international court should be formed.

Second, Indonesia formed a commission to investigate human rights violations (KPP-HAM), and an ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal.

The KPP-HAM concluded in its report that serious human rights violations did occur in 1999 in East Timor and it also disclosed the names of 33 security officers and officials held responsible for such violations.

The Indonesian government followed up the recommendation by setting up the tribunal. However, the Supreme Court eventually released all defendants. None of the verdicts endorsed compensation for the victims.

Third, a Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) was established in East Timor in 2002 to investigate and file a report on human rights violations that occurred between April 25, 1975 and October 1999 in East Timor. In 2005, the CAVR completed its investigations and issued several points of recommendations, including, among others, to award reparation for victims and establish an international-style tribunal.

Forth, the UN Commission of Experts (2005) was established in response to the failure of the ad hoc human rights tribunal in Indonesia and the Special Panel in East Timor. The report concluded that the ad hoc tribunal in Indonesia and the process of revealing serious crimes in East Timor had failed.

They recommended the establishment of an international-style justice process should there be no improvement in domestic justice mechanisms within six months.

Fifth, both Indonesian and East Timor administrations agreed to establish the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) in 2004. In the rounds of hearings held by the commission, "the accused" as well as senior officials of related institution dominated the testimonial-giving process, leaving the victims with a little space. The CTF acknowledged that crimes against humanity occurred in East Timor. This should open the way for future prosecutions.

Ten years after referendum, it is important to reflect on whether any efforts have fulfilled the victims rights to justice, to knowing, to reparation, and to a guarantee of non-recurrence.

Politically, and substantially, the fundamental problem lies in the failure to scrap impunity practices; and it is not only the victims who should be, again, being victimized as they continue suffering from "damages" until today, but also such practices have endangered the human rights movement – a movement that agrees to see crimes against humanity as the enemy of all mankind.

[The writers work for the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).]

Not just Balibo that is unjust about East Timor's past

Sydney Morning Herald - September 24, 2009

James Thomas – In seeking the truth behind the deaths of six Australian Journalists in East Timor in 1975, actor Anthony LaPaglia and Kevin Rudd have something in common.

LaPaglia's portrayal of journalist Roger East in the movie "Balibo" is compelling. Kevin Rudd was also convincing when he took centre stage on November 17, 2007 to deliver this heroic pronouncement on the fate of the Balibo five.

"I believe this has to be taken through to its logical conclusion. I also believe those responsible should be held to account."

"My attitude to this is dead set hardline. I've read a bit about what happened in Balibo, I've been to Balibo, walked up there, I've seen the fort, I've seen where these blokes lost their lives. You can't just sweep this to one side"

No, Prime Minister, you can't. However, you can do the next best thing: launch an AFP investigation. Then, should journalists ask questions which embarrass you in front of your good friend and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, you can respond "it would be inappropriate to comment until such time as the Australian Federal Police's investigation has concluded."

It may seem impertinent to suggest that our Prime Minister and his government would conspire to ignore our nation's obligations under the Geneva Conventions to appease the Indonesians. However, the case of Guy Campos suggests this is a plausible argument.

In June 2008, Campos, an East Timorese man, entered Australia on a World Youth Day Visa as a pilgrim to see the Pope. Campos is not a holy journeyman. He is a self confessed child beater, and numerous witnesses have recalled in acute detail his acts of torture – allegations he has denied.

The former Principal Analyst on East Timor for the Australian Defence Force's Intelligence Corps, Dr Clinton Fernandes, confirmed Campos as a key collaborator with the Joint Intelligence Unit of the Indonesian military during their occupation of East Timor between 1975 and 1999.

Today Tonight broke the news of Campos' illegal entry to Australia on the 9th September 2008. We reported he was living 1 kilometre from Joanna Ximenes. She claims her 11 year old brother was bashed to death by Campos.

Then there was Odete Alves. At 16, she watched as Campos, dressed in military fatigues, abducted her father. He was never seen again.

Now in her forties, Odete, like many East Timorese refugees, fled to Australia for a new life and protection from the atrocities they endured in East Timor. Odete and Joanna were deeply distressed when they learned our government granted Campos entry into Australia to live less than 5 km from their homes in Sydney.

When we confronted Campos, he denied killing Francisco Ximenes. Amazingly though, he confessed to beating the child on the night he died.

Samantha Wills, spokeswoman for the Attorney General and Minister for Home Affairs told me Today Tonight's report "didn't have much". Immigration spokesman, Sandi Logan, issued statements justifying Campos' entry on the basis that immigration was unaware of any charges, convictions or allegations that Campos had been involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Within one hour of arriving in East Timor, we uncovered court documents showing that Campos had been convicted of "maltreatment leading to death of a child", namely 11 year old Francisco Ximenes. These court documents were supplied to the Australian Embassy in 2006. Immigration has personnel at the Embassy.

We reported Campos' alleged involvement in a massacre and attended the exhumation of nine resistance heroes from a mass grave. All nine were said to be nominated for execution by Campos, a story told to us by their families and corroborated by Jamie Maia, a former collaborator with the Indonesians who admitted to working alongside Campos.

We interviewed several East Timorese resistance members who say they were personally tortured by Guy Campos.

We asked the Immigration Department how Campos had managed to enter Australia despite a history of torture and war crimes. The Department stated that it vetted individuals based on sources such as international criminal tribunals and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Yet there has never been an international criminal tribunal for East Timor, and the ICJ hears proceedings between states, not individuals. It has nothing to do with the issue of war crimes and torture. The department's answers were evasive and misleading.

Furthermore, East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation provided its report to the Australian Embassy in Dili in February 2006. Three years later, the Immigration Department seems to have taken no steps to identify individuals named in the report in order to deny them a visa to visit Australia. There are some pretty evil characters listed in the report – why would Immigration not use it as a point of reference?

Guy Campos lived freely in Australia for more than a year. During that time, numerous victims gave detailed statements to the AFP. At ground level, the war crimes unit of the AFP headed by Bruce Pegg did an impeccable job. It is understood they were confident of a successful prosecution. The alleged perpetrator was alive and within reach. Eye witnesses to his alleged acts were also in Australia and his alleged torture victims were willing to testify. Jose Belo and Naldo Rei travelled from East Timor to Australia to give detailed accounts of their torture at Campos' hands.

The AFP does not take the unilateral decision to lay charges in these matters. This decision rests with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Chris Craigie. Craigie and his department stated more information was needed before they could make the decision to launch a prosecution. However, if Campos was to leave the country the police investigation would lapse. Last week Guy Campos left Australia. The AFP's investigation was suspended.

The Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth speaks of "openness" and "accountability". This means that those who make the decisions on whether to prosecute can be summoned to explain and justify their actions. The AFP investigation into Guy Campos has come to a halt. The investigation into the Government's handling of the case should now begin. Kevin Rudd and his fellow thespians will not want a part in that play... It has no heroes.

[James Thomas is a reporter for Channel Seven's Today Tonight.]

Just when is the right time for Balibo justice?

Sydney Morning Herald - September 13, 2009

Germany reminds us that human rights and justice have no time limits.

Tom Hyland – Two types of justice, related to atrocious events that happened far away and long ago, were on show in Germany last week.

Both have lessons for Australia, Indonesia and East Timor as they grapple with atrocities not so far away, not so long ago. Last Tuesday, the German parliament delivered justice to Ludwig Baumann, 87, by revoking his conviction as a "war traitor" almost 70 years ago. His crime was deserting from the German army when the Nazis occupied France in 1940.

As punishment, he was tortured, sentenced to death and sent to a concentration camp. He escaped execution and was dispatched to the Eastern Front. He survived, but thousands of other deserters didn't. His conviction for desertion was annulled in 2002. But lifting his conviction for what the Nazis called "wartime treason" didn't come till last week, when all such convictions were revoked.

Justice of a different type was being played out in a Munich court, involving another old man.

On Thursday, the court announced the trial of alleged former Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk could begin in November. Demjanjuk, 89, is charged with being an accessory to the murder of 27,900 people.

Germany, it seems, recognises it can't move forward without confronting its terrible past. This is something that seems to be beyond the imagination – and the will – of some in Jakarta, Dili and Canberra.

Two weeks ago, East Timor's Government, without judicial authority, released a man who has been charged by a UN panel with crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, enforced disappearance, torture, rape, deportation and persecution. His alleged crimes include taking part in the slaughter of up to 200 men, women and children in Suai, East Timor, on September 6, 1999.

None of this was far away, long ago. Next Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the landing of an Australian-led force to end massacres, like the one at Suai, unleashed by Indonesian officers after East Timor voted for independence. In a speech on the August 30 anniversary of the vote, President Jose Ramos Horta ruled out an international war crimes tribunal.

"We must put the past behind us," he said. Similar sentiments were expressed by Indonesian leaders last week after Australian Federal Police launched a formal investigation into the murders of five Australian-based journalists in Balibo, East Timor, in October 1975.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it was a backwards step that could damage relations between Jakarta and Canberra. Jakarta's response was echoed by respected, well-informed commentators in Australia, including Hugh White, a former senior Defence Department official. Australia's "obsession" with Balibo was, he said, a distraction that risked harming relations with modern, democratic Indonesia.

The Age's Michelle Grattan agreed, asking if it was wise to "pick at" a tragedy from decades ago. She pointed out Indonesia is now a democracy and argued: "Our national interest won't be particularly served by going down a path that could put our two countries at odds."

Implicit in this line of argument is that "national interest" should take precedence over the independent functions of police and courts. It assumes countries can't atone for events of the past while focusing on the future. And it implies Indonesian democracy is so fragile that powerful men accused of atrocities can't be called to account.

And it prompts the question: if now is not a good time to subject war criminals to justice, when is?

Howard may be history on Timor

Sydney Morning Herald - September 13, 2009

Paul Daley – The former Coalition government had a vastly different idea of how independent our near neighbour should be than what eventuated.

In the late 1990s, as world opinion began a long-overdue shift against Indonesia's carefully considered and finely orchestrated campaign of human rights abuse in East Timor, the penny finally began to drop among the guardians of our national interest within the Department of Foreign affairs and Trade.

Indonesia, they figured, was on a collision course with Europe, the US, and therefore Australia, over the future of the tiny Indonesian province to our north. The international outrage over Indonesia's brutality was leading inexorably to a potential security and diplomatic crisis between Australia and Jakarta over the future of East Timor.

Despite the considerable distance between Dili and Washington, debate had long raged within Congress about Indonesia's conduct in East Timor, whose then roving ambassador Jose Ramos-Horta, had found some very sympathetic ears, especially among senior Catholics like Senator Ted Kennedy, in the Democratic Party.

By 1997 Kennedy and others were openly lobbying officials in the Clinton White House about American arms sales to Jakarta and the parallel issue of Indonesian military atrocities in East Timor.

By mid-1998, then Indonesian president B.J. Habibie – reflecting his and the Indonesian military elite's view that the East Timorese were essentially an ungrateful rabble – was discussing with his cabinet the possibility of granting some sort of autonomy to East Timor.

There was no such back-room or public debate in Australia. Here, questions about East Timor had been pretty much officially decried as the obsession of the left intelligentsia. This had been the case since the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975.

Suddenly, however, towards the end of '98 news filtered out of DFAT that Australia was preparing to change on East Timor. Australia would now support semi-autonomy – a somewhat ambiguous state that would, preferably, be unilaterally granted by Jakarta rather than voted upon.

Sensing a diplomatic opportunity, our then prime minister John Howard famously wrote to Habibie in December 1998 suggesting that after a period of autonomy, East Timor should be granted an act of determination.

Those privy to Australia's policy shift insist the "period of autonomy" envisaged by the PM and his foreign minister Alexander Downer was at least a decade.

In other words, the Howard-Downer plan involved East Timor remaining yoked to Jakarta until about now, when an independence ballot might have been put. They did not anticipate Habibie's impetuous response that East Timor should be granted an immediate choice.

So, those who were privy to what was always intended as a nuanced rather than radical policy shift under the former Coalition government, have greeted with some surprise the suggestion that Howard and Downer were secretly working towards an independent East Timor all along.

There has been similar surprise and disbelief at another suggestion that, while East Timor descended into violence after voting for independence in August 1999, Clinton's White House was somehow disengaged from the security implications of what was happening.

These suggestions, based on interviews with Downer and Howard, are included in a new book, The March of Patriots, by respected journalist Paul Kelly.

It is true, as Kelly records, that after the independence vote Clinton rejected a direct personal request from Howard for American troops for an Australian-led multinational peace enforcement mission for East Timor.

But Clinton's rejection came well after months of protracted pressure from Washington for Australia to take an early security lead in East Timor, immediately after the ballot.

Washington, not surprisingly, saw East Timor as part of Canberra's beat. Nonetheless, from early 1999, Washington was making it clear to Australia the US was willing to go it alone if Australia failed its implied obligations to take the post-ballot security lead.

Clinton's eventual rejection came after at least two occasions when Australian and US officials disagreed on the appropriate external military response to the looming crisis in Timor. America, characteristically perhaps, favoured a "big stick" swift and hard international military response to end the violence that could be anticipated to greet a vote for independence. Australia was apparently fearful of antagonising and confronting Jakarta.

We know this because some of the diplomatic cables recording those meetings leaked around the time of the ballot. The cables contradicted Downer's earlier denials that America had shared its plan to unilaterally deploy thousands of troops through Darwin, in the event of a security crisis in East Timor.

Downer also denied that there was any difference between Australian and US contingencies for enforcing post-ballot security. All the while he insisted, to save Jakarta face, despite overwhelming intelligence to the contrary, the Indonesian military was not orchestrating pro-Indonesia militia violence in East Timor.

It's worth recounting one cable that annoyed Downer and Howard. It is dated June 21, 1999, recording a conversation in Hawaii between Australian and US Defence officials.

It reads, in part: "PACOM (US Pacific Command) planning for any peace enforcement operation is based on using 'overwhelming force' in order to 'stop the killing'. Once this has been achieved, PACOM envisages the operation would then revert to being a peacekeeping operation under US auspices. The US is planning to use Darwin as an intermediate staging base or any operation (including peace enforcement) in East Timor. Marine Force Pacific have requested Australia agree to the provision of Australian liaison officers to any enforcement operation in East Timor." The cable records Australia's then Air Vice-Marshal Bob Treloar as saying he "would take the request back to Australia because it would require consideration at a senior level of government".

This happened. And the "request" – for it was nothing less than that – was shelved at a senior level of government and the Americans were politely told "no thanks".

By the time Howard phoned Clinton, the White House had determined Australia would be taking the lead in East Timor.

History accurately records the subsequent Australian-led InterFET operation a resounding success, thanks in part to the provision of US equipment and an American naval ship packed with marines anchored just off the East Timor coast.

However, history may treat more cynically the secret Howard- Downer plan for an independent East Timor.

[Paul Daley is a Canberra-based writer and an award-winning political journalist.]

Howard and Kelly rewrite history on East Timor

Crikey.com - September 7, 2009

Damien Kingsbury – It is hardly novel that a politician looking back at the glory days of office will want to ensure that their political legacy looks as positive as possible. And for whatever faults one might find with John Howard's period as prime minister, he was a politically-successful prime minister.

One wonders, then, why Howard finds it necessary to create a palpable fiction over his commitment to East Timor's independence, which he claimed was both inevitable and that he would go along with it. Similarly, one wonders why a journalist of Paul Kelly's stature would participate in the peddling of the fiction that "the Howard government decided in early 1999 to work for East Timor's independence", given evidence to the opposite is both overwhelming and freely available.

Howard's claim is contained in Paul Kelly's book The March of Patriots – the Struggle for Modern Australia, the subject of a self-authored puff piece in The Weekend Australian. In short, Howard not only did not "work for east Timor's independence". In fact, both his words and actions were contrary to this outcome. By late 1998, Indonesia had already been involved in discussions with Portugal and the UN about moving towards some sort of resolution to the East Timor issue, and the Indonesian army had begun forming its anti-independence militias from that time. Howard's letter to Indonesia's President Habibie in December 1998 suggesting a protracted process of resolution was intended to ensure that Australia was no longer seen to be unquestioningly endorsing East Timor's incorporation into Indonesia at a time when Indonesia's no longer held such a view.

Howard's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, publically accepted Indonesia's patently false denials about the militias, despite intelligence briefs to the contrary. In a discussion between DFAT secretary Ashton Calvert and senior US envoy Stanley Roth, Roth said that a full-scale peace-keeping operation in East Timor was necessary. Calvert, acting on government orders, refused. Roth later said Australia's policy of keeping the peace-keeping option at "arms length was essentially defeatist".

Howard also opposed having official Australian observers to the ballot, and only accepted the need for a small parliamentary delegation at the last moment, and after the creation of a politically independent Australian NGO observer group.

Australian Defence Forces were similarly told not to prepare for involvement in East Timor, including no logistic support for the ballot or to send military observers. It did, however, plan to extract Australian civilians if and when the situation deteriorated. Yet just two weeks ahead of the ballot, Downer told Australian observers in the courtyard of Dili's Resende Inn that they should not expect assistance if the security situation deteriorated further. The message was clear: do not stay. That was the same message being sent at that time by the militias, who wanted not witnesses to their carnage.

At this time, the Australian government was acting against – and denying the content of – a flood if since leaked intelligence showing the Indonesian army was working to derail the ballot. The Howard government's position on East Timor was, in public that it should remain as part of Indonesia, and in private that it would do nothing to hinder that outcome.

In that Australia sent an intervention force, the Howard government did not even give the order to prepare until 7 September – more than a week after the ballot, and the force was immediately faced with equipment shortfalls due to this lack of planning.

Ultimately Australia was pushed into leading INTERFET by the US, which acted as guarantor for Indonesia's acquiescence. To suggest that, as Howard has done, that he secretly supported East Timor's independence can only be understood as true if such a secret was not only kept from the public, but also government ministers, the most senior government officials and the Australian Defence Force that was ultimately required to cobble together an intervention capacity.

Australia's intervention in East Timor was a great achievement, if too late to stop a slaughter. But it followed the outrage of the Australian people, not some "secret" agenda of the then prime minister.

[Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University is author of 'East Timor: The Price of Freedom' (Palgrave 2009).]

Ramos-Horta's refusal of court prolongs painful way to justice

Jakarta Post - September 7, 2009

Pandaya, Dili – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta's refusal of demand for an international tribunal to try perpetrators of serious crimes against humanity in East Timor between 1975 and 1999 has further complicated the long, painful search for justice.

The statement he made at the presence of representatives of world leaders on the 10th anniversary of the UN-sponsored referendum on Aug. 30 in Dili, no doubt, has disappointed not only campaigners but also East Timor victims of the tragedy.

Various estimates put the deaths at between 100,000 and 200,000 during the 24 year subjugation, not to mention those who were raped, tortured or have their property destroyed. How these one of the most horrendous tragedies in the history of humankind should be forgotten?

Ramos-Horta said, "Ten years after the 'Popular Consultation' we must put the past behind us... We are free in body and spirit, and we are free and clean in the eyes of God. Those who committed crimes are the ones who have to live with these crimes and the ghosts of their victims haunting them for the rest of their lives."

He dismissed the demand for an international tribunal as "simplistic assertion" that the absence of prosecutorial justice fosters impunity and violence, and that historical evidence challenges these "academic jargons".

Ramos-Horta made it clear that East Timor should make the most of their urgently needed thoughts, energy and resources to build the young nation and raise from poverty. But how can such a proportion of human tragedy be forgotten?

In Timor Leste, the general public say they support the government's efforts for reconciliation between their country and Indonesia and between the pro- and anti-independence camps. But, at the same time they have also been desperately hoping for credible trials of the high level perpetrators who remain free and enjoy impunity.

The international community has given Indonesia that bad look for allegedly providing a safe haven for alleged perpetrators, including commanders and planners of the atrocities. The Ad-Hoc Human Rights trials were dismissed as a sham by the international community when the 18 people were charged with failing to prevent crimes against humanity from happening instead of giving orders. Of the 18, 12 were acquitted and the six convictions were later over tuned by the Supreme Court.

In fact human rights observers had long suspected that Ramos- Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao are behind the stall of the 10-year efforts to bring principal perpetrators to justice, nonetheless the statement still came as surprise to many rights who closely follow every development of the affair.

On the same day, the visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda acknowledged that Ramos-Horta's stand was part of an agreement with the Indonesian government under the Commission of Truth and Friendship

As the name suggests, the commission finds truth and then work for friendship and reconciliation instead of taking perpetrators to the court of justice.

Obviously, Ramos-Horta's counter arguments will not stop victims, local and international activists from seeking justice. In fact, it's pumping their spirit. Establishment of an international tribunal is only one tool they are pursuing.

Enraged Timor Leste rights activists have threatened to mobilize international support to keep their pressure for the establishment of an international tribunal.

Patrick Borgess, director of the International Center for Transitional Justice - Asia said when addressing a recent conference in Dili that it would take many years, probably decades, for Timorse before they get their due justice, just in the cases of the Khmer Rouge affair in Cambodia and the many government leaders taken to the international tribunals.

"We have a lot more to do. We should not allow the big fish to sleep quietly because the threat is still there," he said.

The non-prosecution settlement that the two countries have agreed can also put the UN, which had repeatedly told the world that it would not allow impunity to prevail, in an awkward position.

The UN began to honor its commitment in 1999 when it establish the Serious Crime Unit and the Special Panels. But it wasn't able to work effectively because Indonesia refused to cooperate on witnesses, evidence and extradition of alleged perpetrators. Of the 391people that crime unit indicted, only 84 were convicted and arrest warrants have been issued for 303 people who remain at large, many of those believe to be in Indonesia.

An international tribunal would have been irrelevant if the Unit and the Panel had been effective.

Well aware of the complications, the then UN secretary general Kofi Annan established in 2005 UN Commission of Experts to evaluate the judicial processes and to come up with recommendations on best possible ways to hold perpetrators responsible.

The Commission recommended that if within six months Indonesia failed to show it was serious about prosecuting high-level perpetrators, it would urge the UN Security Council to establish an international tribunal.

Things are even more complicated now when Timor Leste, the victim that the UN is suppose to defend, is rejecting tribunal settlement.

The legal mechanism that the UN created has been a great step in itself and the efforts should be focused on how to make it work. The international unfulfilled obligations to unravel historical truths in the 1975 – 2009 serious human rights abuses and failure to uphold justice is hampering development of democracy.

John Howard's covert East Timor independence plan

The Australian - September 5, 2009

Paul Kelly, Editor-at-large – The Howard government decided in early 1999 to work for East Timor's independence but concealed this from the Indonesian government, John Howard and Alexander Downer have revealed.

And senior Australian and US officials have disclosed that the Clinton administration threatened Jakarta with US military retaliation if Indonesian forces contested the Australian-led UN intervention in East Timor.

These revelations in the book The March of Patriots – the Struggle for Modern Australia, contradict the decade-long orthodoxy about the 1999 East Timor crisis.

Interviewed for the book, the former prime minister revealed he believed it was "inevitable" the East Timorese would vote for independence, but Australia could never admit nor concede this "because we had to work with the Indonesians".

The former foreign minister, who spearheaded this strategy, told the author off the record at Davos in late January 1999 at the start of the process: "I think there is now a very good chance East Timor will be independent by the end of this year, and we intend to go along with this."

However, this Howard-Downer stance was not widely recognised within the Australian government. The Defence Department was not privy to such views and acted on the official policy: that East Timor should remain within Indonesia.

The Howard-Downer strategy culminated in a determination to proceed with the August 1999 independence ballot despite growing violence.

Mr Downer said: "If you kept putting it (the ballot) off because of the level of violence, well, on that basis, it would never happen. The critics will say I was wrong, but I was absolutely determined the ballot was going to take place. I spoke to (East Timor's Jose) Ramos Horta about it when the violence was growing and growing. I told him that if you don't take this ballot now it may not come again for another 10 or 20 years. And he said, 'We need the ballot now'."

While Mr Howard and Mr Downer publicly said they preferred East Timor to stay within Indonesia, their actions were geared to creating a new nation.

Interviewed for the book, Mr Howard said he "accepted that (independence) would happen". But, as prime minister, "one had to be careful about handling that publicly" and the task was to reconcile Jakarta to this. "You had to get the Indonesians to agree," Mr Howard said.

He said the reason he refused to insist on a peacekeeping force before the ballot was because that "would have meant no ballot" and no transition to independence.

Before the Australia-led UN force under Major General Peter Cosgrove landed in East Timor, US defence secretary William Cohen visited Jakarta and delivered a lethal warning.

Former foreign affairs chief Ashton Calvert said: "The message Cohen conveyed was, 'If you touch the Australians, the United States will come after you'."

A Pentagon official travelling with Mr Cohen, James Schear, said: "The Pentagon's top leadership was of the view that if Australian forces got into serious difficulties, then the US, as an ally, would unquestionably act to assist them."

Mr Cohen's message to Indonesia's president Habibie and defence minister General Wiranto was that "this deployment must not be contested".

The truth, however, is that American engagement came very late and only after the independence vote.

Former US assistant secretary of state Stan Roth said Mr Howard's post-ballot pressure on the US was critical in getting the Clinton administration to re-assess.

"My personal belief is that thousands of East Timorese are alive today because of John Howard," Mr Roth said. When the UN force did arrive, post-ballot there were an estimated 30,000 Indonesian and pro-Indonesian forces in East and West Timor.

The then chief of the Defence Force, Chris Barrie, said: "We were very lucky. "Had a firefight started, I think the outcome could have been different."

Howard and East Timor

The Australian - September 5, 2009

[Excerpted from "The March of Patriots" by Paul Kelly, Melbourne University Press, to be published next week]

East Timor was John Howard's coming of age, the point at which the novice was transformed into a national security leader. This was Australia's most important military involvement since the Vietnam War. From this point Howard became a bolder prime minister. His actions after 9/11 cannot be comprehended without reference to East Timor. Paul Kelly: The March of Patriots

According to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief Ashton Calvert, an architect of the policy: "John Howard's diplomacy over East Timor was the most impressive example of head-of- government international advocacy that I saw in my career."

The East Timor story is riddled with myths. Three of the benchmarks should be defined at the outset.

First, in early 1999, Howard and his foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer recognised that an independent East Timor was likely and they worked to achieve this result.

Second, the crisis became an example of Australian-American alliance co-operation and not the disaster often depicted. And, third, the Australian-led UN intervention was successful because of Jakarta's acquiescence and its decision not to contest Australian forces in a theatre where pro-Indonesian forces had a numerical superiority.

Asked about the damage to the Indonesian relationship, Downer says: "They loved us a lot less but respected us a lot more." Often an undiplomatic foreign minister, Downer says of the intervention: "I mean, the others (regional nations) could never have done this. They know that but they are not going to put out a press release saying that."

The Howard Letter: In October 1998, after the Howard government was re-elected, Downer told Calvert: "I want to be more proactive on East Timor."

He was talking to the right man. Calvert disagreed with the pro- Indonesia stand of former department head Dick Woolcott and believed Australia had finished with an untenable stance on East Timor: "In public we had to criticise Indonesia's conduct, yet in private we were largely supportive of Indonesia's policy."

Under Calvert's guidance, DFAT prepared a cabinet submission for Downer and a draft letter from Howard to Indonesia's president B.J. Habibie. On November 30, 1998, Calvert sent Downer a memo marked secret with a draft letter attached.

This letter would be reworked and dispatched from Howard's office 19 days later. But Calvert's note signalled the new thinking on East Timor policy.

He wrote: "You will note it (the draft letter) picks up on your thought that, in effect, there are only two realistic scenarios for the future of East Timor: either full independence (and probably sooner rather than later) or some form of free association with Indonesia achieved as the end point of a process."

This note reveals the true Downer-Calvert position that unless Indonesia could legitimise its incorporation, the radicalisation of East Timor opinion would lead, one way or another, to independence.

Before the letter was sent, Downer told his senior officials: "Much as you may not like this, one day that place will be independent."

But independence, at this point, was not their policy. They preferred to see the Indonesian incorporation succeed and become legitimised.

This was Australia's firm position. The reality, however, is that by proposing a ballot (an act of self-determination), even a far-off ballot, Howard was opening the door to independence. Dressed up to help Habibie, the beauty and the trap in the Howard letter was its ambivalence, and Habibie saw through it.

Meanwhile deputy prime minister Tim Fischer was excited. "This was the most important letter written in the Howard years," he says.

"There were two letters written last century that led to nations being created: the Balfour letter and the Howard letter." (The first letter, written in 1917 by Britain's foreign secretary Arthur Balfour, had pledged a homeland for the Jewish people.)

Habibie's Audacity: In late January 1999 the Indonesian cabinet took its remarkable decision. East Timor would be offered a consultation (later defined as a referendum) on autonomy or independence. This was Habibie's personal decision; it was impetuous, audacious, dangerous and utterly stunning. Habibie had called the bluff of the old pro-Suharto establishment and the army.

While Howard and Downer were surprised by Habibie's leap, they were not dismayed. Howard says: "I felt that once Habibie had agreed to it (a referendum) that the result would probably go the way of independence. Rather than it being a contestable goal it seemed to me inevitable."

"This referendum was only going to go one way," Downer says. Yet many Indonesian leaders could not see this. Australia's position became support for a UN-supervised ballot later in 1999. While telling Indonesia that autonomy would be the best result, Howard and Downer, as 1999 advanced, became willing backers of an independent East Timor.

There was, however, abject internal confusion about Australian government objectives. Defence Department deputy secretary Hugh White, the leading strategist, defined what he believed were Australia's objectives. They were: having East Timor remain part of Indonesia; ensuring ties with Jakarta were put before the fate of East Timor; retaining Australia's military ties with Indonesia; and avoiding any Australian Defence Force deployment, if possible.

These were White's principles guiding the Defence Department; each of them was trashed before the end of the year, proof of the violation of policy orthodoxy that Howard and Downer would entertain.

Showdown at Bali: The Liquica and Dili massacres were a turning point. Howard had read Australian intelligence assessments that implicated the TNI (Indonesia's armed forces) with the militia resistance.

Downer told Howard: "You have got to get him (Habibie) to agree to more than 50 UN police, this is hopeless because there is too much violence." By going to Bali to meet Habibie, Howard accepted that Australia was the principal regional power with responsibility to secure an acceptable outcome.

En route to Bali and before the meeting, the differences within Australia's delegation were stark. White argued that Australia must demand peacekeepers before the vote. Calvert disagreed, insisting that neither Habibie nor the Indonesian political system would tolerate peacekeepers.

On April 27, Howard began the Bali talks with a private meeting with Habibie. "I tried very hard," Howard says of this meeting.

"I raised the question of getting peacekeepers in before the referendum. But Habibie was absolutely emphatic that it wasn't acceptable. He basically said to me, 'I'd be dead politically if I agreed to this', and he was right." They began to discuss, instead, how to strengthen the police numbers and this became Howard's main hope.

The plenary meeting was large with 14 representatives from each nation. The Indonesian performance was filled with brazenness, intransigence and mendacity. Habibie pledged to prevent violence but his contempt for East Timor was undisguised.

Looking straight at Howard, Habibie said he would not be "insulted and embarrassed because of 700,000 people in East Timor". He said: "East Timor would always have problems. If integration was chosen, those who wanted independence would cause problems. If it separated, those who preferred integration would cause problems." Then he threatened: if East Timor became uncontrollable before the ballot then Indonesia would unilaterally walk out (that meant civil war between separatists and integrationalists).

In a series of exchanges Howard warned that if the ballot lacked integrity, then "Indonesia's international standing would be damaged". But Howard was searching for political leverage. The Australian record of the conversation says: "He (Howard) did not think it was realistic to expect 40-50 police advisers, as had reportedly been suggested, could do the job. Australian personnel would also be participating. He needed some assurance about their safety. He would be asked by the media and others if he was satisfied with security arrangements. He meant no disrespect to Indonesian sovereignty but he needed room to move on this issue."

White says: "I was shocked when Howard said this. His argument was for Habibie to save him from political embarrassment at home. He wanted Indonesia to solve his own political problem."

The Indonesians remained intransigent. Despite the formality of the plenary, military commander Wiranto, sitting next to Habibie, gestured in a slashing motion, saying to Habibie yet not looking at him, "No, no." He was giving Habibie his orders. "Habibie got very aggressive about it," Downer says. "But remember, he was speaking in front of (foreign minister Ali) Alatas and Wiranto. Our position was that 50 civilian police was completely inadequate."

Wiranto said: "If Australian citizens did not trust the Indonesian military and police to maintain peace and security, then they need not come to East Timor." Howard ignored this gratuitous comment and directed his remarks to Habibie. He asked "if the UN were to propose a police contingent of several hundred, (whether) this would be acceptable to Indonesia".

Alatas was alarmed by this notion. Habibie said it would be difficult to have such numbers and claimed, incredibly, that "even without increased police numbers the current security situation in East Timor presented no problems". But Howard pressed him again, insisting Australia "as a contributor" had a right to express such views. And with this Howard suddenly broke through. The mercurial Habibie said he "now understood the prime minister's point".

They quickly agreed on a form of words. The Australians had said informally that the increase in police advisers should be 200 to 300, so Howard had more flesh for the meagre bones. He left Bali with extremely limited concessions, the minimum needed to look tenable.

"We came out of the meeting with enough to argue that the process should advance," Downer says. By appealing to Indonesia as a friend, Howard probably used the best tactic.

The Risk of War: Australia took a deliberate decision that the ballot should proceed despite flawed security. This responsibility fell on Howard and Downer. The moral justification, ultimately, was that this was what the East Timorese leaders wanted.

The August 30 vote transformed the politics. "The violence was a lot worse than I anticipated," Downer says. UN secretary-general Kofi Annan promptly rang Howard to ask if Australia would be prepared to lead a multinational force. Howard agreed. But he told Annan that Australia must lead. "I made that clear," Howard says. "I had the idea that the leadership might end up being a bit negotiable. I made it clear that I wouldn't accept that." Initially there was very little international support for a peacekeeping force.

For US president Bill Clinton, East Timor was not on the radar. Misjudging this, Howard expected Clinton to support the international force not just in political terms but with a US troop commitment.

Howard rang Clinton, only to be turned down. "We're very heavily stretched. We can't offer troops," Clinton said. "There's a lot of resistance to us committing ourselves any further, we've got many thousands in Kosovo." Howard was caught out. "I expressed my intense disappointment," Howard says. "We made our position very clear." For Howard, this was a violation of the alliance's spirit.

Howard and Downer were charged up. Downer went public on CNN to criticise the administration and on September 7 he took a call from US secretary of state Madeleine Albright. She rang to express her anger. "You're not as angry as we are about your attitude," Downer shot back. On September 8 the White House decided to support a peacekeeping force and Clinton rang Howard to say the US would make a "tangible contribution". America was committed in political terms; this was more important than troops. Clinton moved to smash Habibie's resistance to a UN force by mobilising the might of the US.

On the eve of the operation US secretary of defence William Cohen went to Jakarta for meetings with Habibie and Wiranto. Cohen told them the world expected Jakarta to co-operate with the Australian-led UN operation. "Any Indonesian forces that contest them will meet US forces," Cohen said. This was a reference to a marine group in the Pacific. "The marines were just offshore and everyone knew they were there," former commander of the International Forces in East Timor Peter Cosgrove says. Calvert had no doubt about the importance of Cohen's visit. "This gave John Howard a lot of assurance," he says.

The opening days of the deployment were the most dangerous of Howard's prime ministership to that point. Howard expected casualties. Habibie refused to take his calls. Australian troops were told they would be targets. White says: "We were very exposed. If the militias had resisted we would have had trouble. If backed by TNI, we would have been defeated."

East Timor saw Australia's acceptance in psychological, political and military terms of a stronger regional security responsibility. "This was the first time we had done this without American combat forces," Howard says. On East Timor Howard created the nexus between military action and populist politics that would henceforth mark his leadership.

[Edited extract from The March of Patriots by Paul Kelly, published by MUP next week ($59.99). Further extracts will be published tomorrow in News Limited Sunday newspapers and in The Australian on Monday.]