East Timor News Digest 6 – June 1-30, 2012
- Mysterious mass grave at East Timor PM's office - Agence France Presse. June 26, 2012
- Mass grave found in grounds of Xanana Gusmao's Dili office - Jakarta Post. June 21, 2012
- Two people held for stoning Fretilin supporters - Lusa. June 24, 2012
- Speaking in mother tongues to aid learning - ABC News. June 24, 2012
- A tiger with teeth - The Dili Weekly. June 19, 2012
- East Timor's lessons for Syria - Canberra Times. June 13, 2012
Mysterious mass grave at East Timor PM's office
Agence France Presse - June 26, 2012
Police in East Timor have uncovered a mass grave of 52 people at the government palace in Dili, with initial examinations suggesting the bodies are not Timorese, an official said Tuesday.
Construction workers discovered the remains last week in a garden outside the beachfront government palace, which houses the office of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and contacted police.
In 1975 Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony, starting a 24-year occupation in which an estimated 183,000 people were killed or starved to death.
But East Timor's Criminal Investigation Service Commander Superintendent Calisto Gonzaga said that while a preliminary examination suggested the bones could date back to 1975, they appeared too large to be Timorese.
"We look at the heads and they are very big and some bones are very long. In summary I think they are not Timorese," he said. "Until now we've found 52 bodies, but only 11 bodies are complete," Gonzaga added, saying the way they were buried indicated homicide.
Gonzaga said police would wait for an expert from Australia, expected to arrive in July, before making further investigations.
Australian professor Damien Kingsbury said if the bones were not Timorese it was most likely they were Chinese. "The Chinese were still in Timor when the Indonesians invaded in 1975 and they were one of the primary targets of the Indonesian military at that time," he said.
Kingsbury, an expert on East Timor at Australia's Deakin University, said Indonesians would not have buried their own people in a mass grave, and it was less likely the bodies were Portuguese.
In 1999, East Timor voted to become an independent nation in a UN-sponsored referendum.
Mass grave found in grounds of Xanana Gusmao's Dili office
Jakarta Post - June 21, 2012
Jakarta – Twenty four bodies were recovered on Wednesday from a mass grave that was accidentally found in the garden of the office of Timor Leste's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Dili last week by several construction workers.
The workers were digging the ground to construct pipes for the park's new water fountain.
Timor Leste's detective chief Calistro Gonzaga told Tempo on Wednesday that he believed more bodies would be found in the mass tomb. He added that his office would summon an anthropologist from Australia to help identify the bodies. "We will try our best to identify all of the bodies as soon as possible. We will announce the names once all the victims are identified," he said.
A number of technicians from Bantuan Tenaga Kerja Group, a water construction company, initially found 13 bodies that were buried in a 3 square-meter hole about 2 meters deep on Monday last week.
The country's State Secretary for Veterans Affairs, Marito Reis, said separately that he had suspected the bodies were the victims of a massacre during the announcement of Timor Leste's independence in 1999. He also suspected that one of the bodies was the former Indonesian professional boxer, Thomas Americo, who had been missing since 1999.
A member of the forensic team who refused to be named told Tempo that the result of the identification process would be announced next week.
Timor Leste was an Indonesian province before becoming an independent state in 1999 through a United Nations-organized referendum. The country will hold a parliamentary election on July 7. (asa)
Two people held for stoning Fretilin supporters
Lusa - June 24, 2012
The Timorese police today arrested two persons in Baucau, east of Dili, for stoning supporters of the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin) at the end of a rally for the parliamentary elections on July 7.
"The PNTL arrested two individuals undergoing investigation following the incident," said the police source to Lusa.
The same source also told Lusa that since the beginning of the election campaign since 5th last only about six minor incidents were recorded, some of which related to the destruction of election campaign material.
Contacted by telephone by Lusa, Harold Moucho, political adviser to the president of Fretilin, said two cars were stoned and a supporter was injured, but not seriously with a machete wound, and is receiving hospital treatment.
"At the gas station, a car that was ahead of the party president Lu Olo and Secretary General Mari Alkatiri's convoy was stoned," said Harold Moucho. Then, according to the advisor, a bus carrying Fretilin members was stoned, and a member attacked who "was injured by a machete wound."
Asked by Lusa that the two detainees were supporters of a party, Harold Moucho explained that it is a "group known to cause disturbances in Baucau".
"It is the first incident that we have in the election campaign. We again appeal to our members and supporters not to get involved in trouble," he said.
The campaign ends on July 4. 21 parties and coalitions are contesting the country's third legislative elections.
Speaking in mother tongues to aid learning
ABC News - June 24, 2012
In East Timor, the politics of language can be a complex and fiercely debated topic. While the official languages are Tetum and Portugese, there are no fewer than 16 other local languages. For children starting school that's a complicated world to understand, let alone navigate, and many are being left behind.
Reporting: Liam Cochrane
Elizabeth jackson: In East Timor, the politics of language can be a complex and fiercely debated topic.
While the official languages are Tetum and Portugese, there are no fewer than 16 other local languages. For children starting school that's a complicated world to understand, let alone navigate; and as Liam Cochran reports many are being left behind.
(Sound of guitar playing)
Liam Cochrane: From East Timor's capital, the harbour city of Dili, it's about a two hour drive to the district of Manatuto.
When it comes to education outside Dili, this school is about as good as it gets. The classrooms have books and learning aids, the playground has clean toilets and running water, and young children are learning basic numeracy. But venture into the countryside and it's a different story. Just getting there can be a challenge.
Kirsty Sword Gusmao: Well, sadly with all of the recent very heavy rain the road has washed away.
Liam Cochrane: These challenges are nothing new for Australian born Kirsty Sword Gusmao who was part of the clandestine resistance movement working for East Timor's independence. These days her husband, Xanana Gusmao, is Prime Minister and she's goodwill ambassador for education in East Timor.
It's a sector in trouble. A World Bank study in 2009 found at the end of grade one 70 per cent of children couldn't read a single word of Tetum or Portuguese. By grade three, 20 per cent were still totally illiterate.
Kirsty Sword Gusmao and a range of supporters want to change that. This year a pilot program has started in 12 schools across three districts using the local language or mother tongue to teach children during their first years of school. With this foundation in a language they already understand, teachers can then slowly introduce Tetum and Portuguese.
(Sound of children singing)
Kirsty Sword Gusmao: Yes, this is the Rembor Primary School and this was previously the grade five classroom. We gave a recommendation to the principal that the grade one students actually be given this classroom, given the very high numbers of grade one students, I think there are about 40 or 50 students.
And therefore, during the training the teacher trainers were able to actually transform the classroom into a child friendly space, putting posters and the kids' drawings, the teachers' drawings on the walls. And also to set up art corners, reading corners, and activity corners for the kids.
So it's a much different place from the one that we first visited a month or so ago.
Liam Cochrane: Tetae is 7-years-old and she's typical of children who have struggled under the old system.
Despite two years of formal schooling, she still can't recognise a single letter in either Tetum or Portuguese. And the reason for that is at home she speaks the local language of Galoli, like most of her friends.
Her father is Paulino Timun.
Paulino Timun (Translation): Before this program started Tetae was very reluctant, almost scared to go to school because the teachers were forcing her to learn in what are essentially foreign languages. And since this program has started, she's actually become really happy about going to school.
Liam Cochrane: Tetae's mother, Juliana Soares, and her father are both enthusiastic about the mother tongue pilot project.
Juliana Soares (Translation): I want my daughter to have a good education and to be able to acquire other languages in the future.
Liam Cochrane: The pilot has only been running a few weeks but already Tetae is engaging at school like never before. She says when she grows up she wants to be a doctor.
But not everyone agrees with the mother tongue teaching pilot. Laura Pina, a member of the Women's Network.
Laura Pina (Translation): This project will cause discrimination among the students from different mother tongue groups. We have to provide quality education to all students equally.
Mother tongue languages can be developed and protected in many ways, but if we use mother tongues in formal education, it will cause great confusion.
Liam Cochrane: Laura Pina is concerned about friction between the languages groups of East Timor. And there's also a practical element to her opposition.
Laura Pina (Translation): In Manatuto they're going to use only Galoli, but as we know there are many mother tongues in Manatuto, three or four, not just Galoli. So how will they use mother tongue to give a lesson to the students when the students speak so many languages? How many different math teachers will we need?
Liam Cochrane: Teaching kids in their mother tongue as a bridge to another language is a concept that's been tried in other countries with great success, notably in Cambodia.
Teo Ximenes works for the humanitarian organisation Care, and he travelled to Cambodia to see the mother tongue teaching program in action there.
Teo Ximenes: If we introduce this mother tongue in the lower grades of primary school, children can learn easily.
Liam Cochrane: However, Kirsty Sword Gusmao says the criticisms of the project go beyond education policy.
Kirsty Sword Gusmao: I think some of the criticism is politically motivated. For some reason my involvement seems to suggest to people that this is an official program and policy of the present government, which is actually not the case.
The ministry has given its full support to the pilot, but has actually delayed any, you know, overarching support for or embracing of this policy until some results are shown.
Liam Cochrane: It's early days for the 12 schools where the mother tongue teaching approach is being tried. It's only cost $US13,000 to get these pilot programs running, but more money it needed to keep going and to assess whether it's actually helping kids learn.
Kirsty Sword Gusmao: I hope that when we hold those results up, that our ministry of education will see the benefits and will want those benefits to be shared and enjoyed by young people and teachers, communities all over the country.
Elizabeth Jackson: And that was Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Goodwill Ambassador for Education in East Timor, joining Liam Cochrane.
A tiger with teeth
The Dili Weekly - June 19, 2012
Damien Kingsbury – When Timor-Leste's Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC) was established in 2009, many people wondered whether it was just a political sop to minimise concern about perceptions of growing corruption, or whether it would be serious in trying to tackle the growing problem. If the CAC was to be serious, they wondered, would it last?
In many respects, the CAC was always going to face significant challenges in a small and relatively interconnected society such as Timor-Leste. If the CAC pursued senior figures in Timor-Leste's small and relatively closed political society then the CAC and its senior figures would earn powerful enemies, come under attack and perhaps be professionally destroyed. If the CAC did not pursue high profile corruption cases it would then be labelled as ineffective; as a 'toothless tiger'.
There was concern, too, that after the establishment of the CAC it appeared to be inactive. Was this, some people wondered, to be a government agency that cost much but did little? When it finally became active, it was through public education. Most people agreed that public education about corruption was important, but this was a long way from going after the hard cases.
However, with the high profile conviction of former Finance Minister [Justice Minister] Lucia Lobato, the CAC has now proven that it is not a 'toothless tiger', but a tiger which has teeth and which is not afraid to use them.
On 8 June, Lobato was convicted by Timor-Leste's District Court and sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the misadministration of funds. Lobato was found not guilty of three other charges including corruption, the abuse of power and falsification of documents.
However, her conviction for the misadministration of funds and subsequent sentencing sends a powerful message to Timor-Leste's power holders that no-one, including government ministers, is above the law and that people considering engaging in corrupt behaviour need to think twice about it.
When he was appointed to the position of the CAC's commissioner, Aderito Soares had a longer term plan for how the CAC would work. To start, Soares had to interrupt work on the PhD that he was undertaking with noted Australian National University criminologist Professor John Braithewaite.
Professor Braithewaite was disappointed that Soares, a promising student, chose to leave. But he also understood Soares' first loyalty was to serving his home. Soares hopes to return to his PhD one day, but it probably will not be until after he has made a significant impact on corruption in Timor-Leste.
After his appointment, Soares went about assembling the most competent and clean investigative team possible. In doing so, Soares took some of Timor- Leste's best and brightest, establishing the CAC as Timor-Leste's premier institution in terms of both intellect and capacity.
Having established the anti-corruption team, its members went to work quietly investigating a number of cases, including that of Lobato. Meanwhile, Soares also set the public scene for such prosecutions by building up a public profile for the fight against corruption.
This was where the CAC's public education campaign came in. The intention of this campaign was to remind all Timorese that corruption damages the economy and society for all Timorese, that is illegal and to discourage its practice. But it was also intended to prepare the ground, so that no-one could be surprised that the CAC's campaign was also intended to expose corrupt officials and others. All of this was pre-planned. So, it should come as no surprise that the first high profile case has been successful.
Allegations about corruption have abounded in Timor-Leste since soon after achieving independence and there is little doubt that a growing economy set against need on one hand and greed on the other also fuels corruption. But, for those who have engaged in corrupt practices or who might have been considering doing so, there is now a strong incentive for reconsidering their actions.
The question that some of Timor-Leste's economic and political elite must now be asking themselves is, with a former Finance Minister convicted, who will be next?
East Timor's lessons for Syria
Canberra Times - June 13, 2012
Emma Macdonald – The decision by independence fighters in East Timor to swap guns for diplomacy not only worked in creating the new independent nation of Timor-Leste, but serves as a cautionary tale to countries such as Syria.
Australian National University academics have traced Timor-Leste's resistance movement and found the turning point was in using non-violent protest and gaining the approval of the international community through diplomatic channels.
Peacebuilding expert Professor John Braithwaite said it was hard to be hopeful that the Syrian uprising could be moved back from bloodshed but history and a growing body of evidence showed non-violent resistance had a greater chance of success than violent civil uprising.
The new publication, co-written by Professor Braithwaite and Professor Hilary Charlesworth from the ANU's Regulatory Institutions Network, and using input from ANU PhD student and Timor-Leste Anti-Corruption Commissioner Aderito Soares, found that international networking proved the most potent weapon against Indonesian invaders for the East Timorese.
While the Timorese independence movement was considered crushed by the 1975 Indonesian invasion, everything changed when the fight was taken "from the battlefield to the world's corridors of powers and networks of diplomatic support," Professor Braithwaite said.
"In particular, the movement became very effective through the diplomatic leadership of Jose Ramos-Horta who linked up the Timorese movement with pockets of diplomatic support around the world.'
Professor Braithwaite attributed the "genuis" of leaders like Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta in inspiring the Timorese people to the possibilities of non-violence, diplomacy and clandestine resistance. "Furthermore, a strategic decision was made by leaders in the independence movement to link up with the Indonesian democracy movement."
When Indonesia became a democracy in 1998, it created the historic opportunity to implement the independence that Timor had been fighting for.
Professor Braithwaite said there were two key moments when non-violence came to the fore – the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and the 1999 independence referendum.
"The Santa Cruz massacre was an exceptionally courageous form of non- violent resistance. A large demonstration was planned, even after people had been threatened that they would be killed if they marched. The march went ahead and more than 200 people, including children, were killed. And it was the filming of this massacre by the international media that became the turning point in the conflict," he said.
"Also, after the historic 1999 independence referendum, the East Timorese military forces were held in cantonment, even though certain leaders of the Indonesian military had mobilised militia who were slaughtering civilians and burning up 70 or 80 per cent of housing and public buildings across the country."
Not reacting to this with military force ensured that the East Timor received UN and US backing for General Cosgrove's Australian forces to restore order and make sure civil war did not break out.
Professor Braithwaite said increasing international ease about Syria was warranted. Unlike the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Libya, where the armed forces refused to turn the guns on their own people, Syria's army was largely made up of an ethnic minority.
"It increasingly looks like the Syrian people will continue down the path of violent resistance, a very difficult road and one which will keep the international community divided," he said.
Commentary by James Dunn
This work appears to raise some interesting points, including some cautionary points. For one thing, the invasion and annexation might not have occurred if major powers like Australia and the US had intervened, even diplomatically, before the invasion began in October 1975. The leading player in the task of getting the international community to heed the Timorese appeal for an act of self determination was surely Jose Ramos Horta. In Timor the R esistance kept Timorese hopes alive, but the mass protest came from students and ordinary people rather than guns.