Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Ash Power said the last ADF personnel deployed on Astute returned to Australia on Wednesday, following the ceasing of operations in November last year.

Lt Gen Power praised the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force for its success in restoring public order to the fledgling nation. "The ADF is proud to have assisted the Timorese people in the quest for self determination and governance," he said in a statement.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the formal end to the operation marked a "significant milestone" for the ADF. "I extend my thanks to all ADF personnel who have served under Operation Astute for the contribution they have made in assisting Timor-Leste to establish a peaceful and independent nation," he said in a statement.

"In recent years, Timor-Leste has seen its economy grow and institutions strengthen. The 2012 national elections clearly demonstrated the ability of Timor-Leste security forces, both military and police, to manage domestic security."

Freedom of information & press

TDD absolves two journalists but gives $150 fine each

Dilly Weekly - March 22, 2013

Journalists Oscar Salsinha and Raimundo Oki were given a $150 fine each at the Dili District Court on March 14 following the accusation of slanderous denunciations over an article published about a car accident in Oe-Cusse.

The Dili District Court absolved the two journalists accused of slanderous denunciations but issued them to pay $150 in compensation each.

The two journalists, Oscar Salsinha from Suara Timor Lorosae (STL) and Raimundo Oki from Independente, were accused by the Public Ministry of slanderous denunciations following stories published in January and February last year.

On 14 March the Dili District Court gave the accused a $450 fine to be shared between the two journalists and the journalists' source Mateus Sufa, with each to person to pay $150.

According to lawyer Cancio Ximenes the two journalists will pay compensation because after the stories the Prosecutor could not sleep well and the case impacted him and his family.

"According to my interpretation, they did not say they committed a crime, so they must be free from civil responsibility," explained Ximenes after listening to the final decision at TDD (14/03) in Mandarin, Dili. About the possibility of an appeal, he said he would consult his clients.

The two journalists were accused by the Public Ministry of slanderous denunciations after a story was given to STL and published on 30 January, 2012 with the title "Accident case, Oe-Cusse Prosecutor receives bribe."

The other story, published in The Independente on 2 February, 2012 had the title "Three people dead in a Traffic Accident in Oe-Cusse, Driver Flees to Indonesia, Employer Target of Protest by the Victims Family."

According to Article 285 of the Penal Code, those accused of slanderous denunciations can be sentenced with up to three years in prison or with a fine.

The story involved a traffic accident in Nonan village in Oe-Cuse on 18 September 2011, which resulted in the deaths of three people. It's believed following the accident the driver fled to Indonesia.

Before the first hearing of the case on 28 February at the Dili District Court, the Timor-Leste Press Club President Jose Belo said the Public Ministry should not accuse and make judgements against journalists directly but should accuse the media institution the journalists work for.

"If they accuse journalists, we create a precedent that in the future journalists will run and abandon the media and free of the press which the state included in the constitution will be abandoned," said TLPC President Jose Belo (05/03) over the phone.

Women's rights

GMPTL: Abortion is a crime

Dili Weekly - March 19, 2013

GMPTL President MP Josefa Soares said abortion is a crime and it violates the rights of the child.

The President of the Women in Parliament of Timor-Leste (GMPTL), MP Josefa Alvares Soares, said those who voluntarily practice abortion are committing a crime and violating the rights of the child and could be sent to prison for three years.

MP Soares said Article 141, section 3, speaks about pregnant women who willingly allow other parties to practice the act of abortion to them or they do it themselves through whatever means, and said they could be given a three-year prison sentence.

She is also concerned with health professionals who are aware of this practice and do not raise the issue.

"The implementation of our health service is not yet adequate. If health professionals detect those who practice abortion or want to abort a baby but do not raise the alarm against these women, this show we are not serious about implementing this law and that is why abortion continues," said the MP Soares.

She explained there are two types of abortion, involuntary when it results from illness such as malaria, a fall, and stress and then there is voluntary abortion where a woman tries to abort a baby and when there are health complications she goes to a hospital.

"The hospital needs to take action when they come across a woman who has tried to abort her baby. They cannot just remain quiet."

The MP also said some of the parts of Article 141 need to be fixed because there were other recommendations from the church at the time of the approval of the law that are not factored in.

Meanwhile the Coordinator of the Marie Stopes International Timor -Leste (MSITL) Clinic, Fernanda Maria Serra, said their clinic does not receive women wanting to abort their baby.

According to her the role of MSITL in Timor-Leste is to work with the Ministry of Health in reducing mortality rates of women and children in the country, not to practice abortion.

"Often women come to us to ask us to perform an abortion on them but we never accept this request. We provide counselling and encourage them to look after themselves rather than opting for killing other human beings because that is up to god," said Coordinator Serra.

MP Estanislao da Silva agrees abortion is not an adequate option for women. "This law is too strong and I do not agree with abortion as a family planning tool but we must also create specific conditions for women because they must be allowed to decide their own lives," said MP da Silva.

Graft & corruption

KAK proud of investigating 27 corruption cases

Dili Weekly - March 1, 2013

Since the Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) was established in 2010, it has investigated 27 corruption cases and some of those cases have now been closed after going to court.

According to the KAK President, Commissioner Aderito de Jesus Soares, the Court of Appeal is still processing some of the cases.

"There are about five or six cases that have been given final decisions by the court, I don't remember which cases, but some cases also are still before the Court of Appeal," said Commissioner Soares (19/02), in Farol, Dili He said he was proud that although KAK had only operated for two years, they had succeeded in closing some corruption investigations.

"KAK is proud because in the two years we've succeeded in looking into cases compared to other Anti-Corruption Commissions in the Asia Pacific region, which in two years haven't had such high level investigations," said Commissioner Soares proudly.

The KAK Commissioner also asked all institutions to have the objective of combating corruption in the country. "We all must have one objective, to combat corruption as a culture," he said.

Member of Parliament Arao Noe said the progress of KAK was very significant even though it was only created in 2010. "That was like a new situation. If they started their work and detected 27 cases with five already given a ruling by the court, this shows a big success," MP Noe said.

He also suggested the government create good conditions for investigators so they can do their professional duties better.

50% of TL community ignorant about corruption

Dili Weekly - March 1, 2013

According to an Anti-Corruption Commission (KAK) survey released in 2012 a lot of the Timorese community still do not understand what corruption is.

"About 50% of people said they don't understand what corruption is," said KAK President, Commissioner Aderito de Jesus Soares, (19/02), in Farol, Dili. He said it's a big job for KAK to improve the community's understanding about this issue.

"We have our people in the investigation division work on a prevention and education campaign. Last year we also visited districts to give education about the issue, but sometimes the public did not value this as the public want to know how many people KAK have detained," said the KAK Commissioner.

He said this year KAK would continue the program of visiting communities to raise awareness about what corruption is. "This month we gave training to 25 schools, and we also involved youth and community leaders, so they could also understand how to combat corruption," said the Commissioner.

Member of Parliament Inacio Moreira said people know about corruption but sometimes people do not understand how it occurs. "Corruption, collusion and nepotism, how this behaviour occurs people don't know, but when people speak about thieves maybe they can understand," MP Moreira said.

That's why he suggested when they give training to the community they need to use words people can understand. "They should speak with simple words, for example like saying conflict of interest, then making work just for your family, you can call it nepotism, this might explain as people understand quickly."

Foreign affairs & trade

Government to measure the Timor Sea

Dili Weekly - March 1, 2013

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs said this year a technical team from Ministry of Foreign Affairs will measure the Timor Sea.

The objective of measuring the Timor Sea, according to the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, is to find out exact the confines of the sea ground.

"The sea surrounds us, so we must measure it according to our international rights," said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Constancio da Conceicao Pinto, in National Parliament, (15/02).

About the size of the Timor Sea, he said, "I have no idea how to respond, it's only the technical staff that could respond that."

Meanwhile MP Cesar Valente de Jesus said this issue needs attention because the Timor Sea is a part of Timor-Leste sovereignty. "It needs to be measured because many of our mineral resources are still inside the sea," said the MP.

Besides that MP Estanislau da Silva said a deal was signed between Timor- Leste's government and the Australian government a few years ago to connect the pipeline to Timor-Leste, so they would not speak more about the maritime border.

"We have a deal with the Australian government that for 50 years we will not discus the maritime border," said the MP. He said according to international maritime law of there is a line between Timor-Leste and Australia.

Economy & investment

Official Portuguese mission takes businesspeople to East Timor

Macauhub - March 19, 2013

The Portuguese secretary of state for Energy, Artur Trindade, is due Tuesday to begin an official visit to East Timor in the company of Portuguese businesspeople, the State Secretariat said in a statement issued in Lisbon.

On this visit, Trindade will make contacts with investors in the area of oil prospecting and exploration in East Timor as well as analysing the possibility of cooperation in renewable energy.

The visit is due to end on Friday 22 March when Trindade will sign a memorandum of cooperation between Portugal and East Timor in the geology and energy sectors, said a spokesperson from the State Secretariat who gave no further details of the agreement.

After his visit to East Timor the secretary of state for Energy is due to take part in the Pacific Energy Summit, in Auckland, New Zealand, where he will give a talk on Portugal's experience in developing renewable energy. (macauhub)

Potential investors meet to analyse construction of port and airport

Macauhub - March 11, 2013

A conference intended to find partners for construction of Eat Timor's new port and airport has taken place in Dili, organised by the Timorese government with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank Group.

"This conference served to invite potential investors to come to Timor to take part in the new projects, namely construction of the port of Tibar and the new Nicolau Lobato international airport," said the Timorese Minister for Transport and Communications, Pedro Lay.

Around 100 people took part in the conference, including 20 national and international investors.

The port of Tibar and Nicolau Lobato airport were identified as strategic construction projects in the East Timor Strategic Development Plan for the period between 2011 and 2030.

The IFC is a branch of the World Bank focused on providing loans and taking stakes in some companies, in order to support growth of the private sector in developing countries. (macauhub)

Book & film reviews

'Alias Ruby Blade' - Love story against the backdrop of Timor's revolution

Huffington Post - March 27, 2013

If the story of East Timor is one of success, of a small country claiming its independence over the incredibly stacked odds of an oppressive regime, it it also the backdrop of the extraordinary love story of its leaders, now told with incredible intimacy and personal footage in a documentary.

Kirsty Sword is an unlikely-looking revolutionary figure, a sweet-faced Australian girl who ended up working as an activist in East Timor at the height of its unrest. She became a conduit (with the alias Ruby Blade) for secret messages smuggled out of prison by the guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao and, in the process, their personal story began. In nearly eight years, they met in person only once but, through correspondence, presents and bonsai trees, they fell in love.

Film makers Alex and Tanya Meillier couldn't believe the footage Kirsty Sword was able to provide from this heady time.

"She was an aspiring filmmaker herself, so she had recorded many of the key moments, which became watershed moments," remembers Alex.

"She had those tapes, and invited us to come back to Dili to view them. We couldn't believe what she had, showing Xanana Gusmao in prison, and the final scene when they returned to Dili.

"It's all hers, and we knew we had something special. That was when Kirsty's story became the primary point of view."

East Timor's recent history has been a massive success story. 20 May 2013 will be the 11th anniversary of the restoration of independence, but the first one with the country's leaders working without UN support – "a great achievement worth shining a spotlight on" as Meillier puts it – and challenges to continue to rebuild the nation.

Of course, Kirsty Sword is no longer a covert operator. Since the country's rebirth, she has been its First Lady when her now husband Gusmao was sworn in as the country's first president. More recently she has been running her Alola Foundation to improve the lives of her adopted country's women... but she was happy to reveal this side of her extraordinary story...

"She believed we were coming from the right point of view," remembers Meillier. "We're playing with genres in the film, spy story, love story, three-act structure. This isn't about one hero coming to save the day, but people coming together and throwing their lot in together. There's a lot to celebrate."

Of course, the missing person in all of this is Xanana Gusmao himself, who doesn't comment in a film otherwise peppered by its leading protagonists, including Nobel winner Jose Ramos-Horta.

"We wanted to reveal his personality in the film as it was first revealed to Kirsty," explains Meillier. "First the enigma, the legend, and then who he really is, as she started to learn it.

"We know him as this Che Guevara figure, an inspirational poet and leader, with the ability to order total restraint in the face of enormous pressure, but it was a revelation to discover what a wonderful human he is personally, too.

"The footage of him in prison, it's so intimate, he's just being himself, so it was very natural the way they fell in love, and we get to see what an incredibly charismatic, warm person he is, just as Kirsty did."