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East Timor News Digest 6 – June 1-30, 2014

Media & journalism

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Media & journalism

East Timor elites try to muzzle media

Crikey.com - June 23, 2014

Jose Belo – The tale of East Timor's controversial proposed media law is a story of insiders versus outsiders, of the rich versus the poor. Those inside the elite classes are seeking to implement a restrictive new media law so as to limit and control the information available to Timorese outside the elite group, as well as all those outside of East Timor.

The proposed media law is anti-democratic and unconstitutional and in clear breach of articles 40 and 41 in East Timor's constitution, which uphold and protect the rights of the media, and citizens' freedom of expression. The new law will, if passed, require that all journalists be certified by a government-controlled media council. Foreign journalists will require permits to report from East Timor, and citizen journalists using Facebook, blogs or Twitter will also need to have permission to report and express opinions.

If this law is passed it will allow government, through the media council, to impose large fines on media outlets or individuals that are uncertified or distribute information that is considered "undesirable" as defined by the media council. The proposed fines are designed to be large enough to intimidate people, and/or put certain media out of business.

It is in some ways the opening shot in a growing class struggle between rich and poor in East Timor. There are new millionaires who have become rich due to corruption and political access to East Timor's Petroleum Fund (which has over US$15 billion in it).

As the director of Tempo Semanal newspaper and president of the Timor-Leste Press Union I will neither submit to being certified, nor will I pay any fines. As a result, in the worst-case scenario, there is a strong chance I will be prosecuted and jailed for not submitting to the new law. Other media might submit and self-censor, or be punished, censored or even put out of business by the government-sponsored media council. We have already seen the government successfully persuade almost all media outlets in East Timor to accept "capacity-building grants" in the last 12 months.

This state of affairs has come about because Timorese elites from the pro- government and pro-opposition political parties have joined forces in order to protect their individual and family financial and commercial interests. Before 2012 the main opposition party FRETILIN opposed corruption and nepotism in East Timor, but now it sides with the government as the elite insiders seek to consolidate their grip on power (and the Petroleum Fund). This law has come from the office of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao with direct and explicit support from the office of the Leader of the Opposition, Mari Alkatiri.

Amazingly the Australian government has recently agreed to give tens of millions of direct budget support and public financial management technical assistance to the Timorese Ministry of Finance, headed by Minster Emilia Pires, who is under investigation for guiding Ministry of Health supply contracts to her husband (a story broken by Tempo Semanal). One of her most senior foreign advisers, a tax lawyer named Bobby Boye, was just last week arrested in Newark Airport by the FBI for corruption and fraud in his work in the Ministry of Finance.

During the Indonesian occupation we fought for self-determination and freedom. Most of the people who died were poor people in the mountains. Now the elite classes inside the halls of power want to limit the information available to the public. They want to do this so the public does not know what is going on with their money. What the elites should remember is that Timorese history is one of resistance to injustice. Pass the media law and poor Timorese will resist the injustices imposed on them by the elite insiders, just as they did the injustices of the Indonesian occupation.

Source: http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/06/23/east-timor-elites-try-to-muzzle-media/

Confusion reigns over Timor-Leste's controversial new media law

Pacific Scoop - June 15, 2014

Shannon Gillies, Dili – Confusion reigns over a controversial media law adopted by Parliament but yet to be promulgated in the fledgling Asia- Pacific democracy of Timor-Leste.

Timor-Leste parliamentarians have adopted a new media law that does not differentiate between journalists and social media users, will impose licensing for journalists and a narrow definition of a "journalist" and potentially bars foreign journalists.

Journalists are expected to fall into line with the government's media definitions and foreign reporters could be blocked at the country's borders.

Parliament passed the law on May 6 that impacts on the press and rights of freedom of speech. The President, Taur Matan Ruak, has 30 days to examine the law and has the right to veto it and send it back to Parliament with any concerns he may have.

The law is available in Portuguese, which only a limited number of the Timor-Leste population understands, and the indigenous national language Tetun.

The government last week held a national debate attracting members of the press and human rights groups in the centre of Dili.

Delayed debate

Participants were allowed to ask questions and they were fielded by a member of Parliament.

People left in the middle of the debate after its scheduled start time was delayed several times during the day. Originally scheduled to start at 10am, it was then delayed until 2.30pm and did not get going until after 3pm.

Charlie Scheiner, spokesperson for La'o Hamutuk, a local non-government organisation playing a leading role in providing public information and criticism, says the push for the media law was not from the grassroots in Timor-Leste.

But once the law is in place it makes no difference who is in charge of Parliament, the law will be set and journalists and all others will have to follow it.

"We think it's important to look at what the law is. The fact that it passed in Parliament without any dissenting vote," he says. Lao' Hamutuk has provided an English-language translation of the law on its website.

Tempo Semanal editor Jose Antonio Belo says he has informed Timor-Leste's political leaders to get the paperwork ready for his arrest over his opposition.

Suppress media

He regards the law as being designed to suppress the media and to create an environment where people do not feel they can express their opinions freely.

The way the law is written is broad and there is no common interpretation of what the law means so that will make it hard to operate under, says Belo.

"There will be no forum for the people to speak. I have fought this law from day one. This law will force media owners to self-censor", he says. "They tell the world this country is very democratic but it's all lies. In the meantime they're punishing the newspapers who are trying to tell the truth."

The media law has been pushed by outside agencies as well as the Timor- Leste government, he says.

The law has been discussed and debated since the early 2000s by a United Nations group, the European Union, by Australia and by the US, says Belo. "For me as a Timorese, I feel embarrassed by this."

Different view

Asian Justice and Rights worker Jose Luis de Oliveira acknowledges he has a different take on what the proposed law will do.

Timor-Leste needs a law to regulate the media to protect the public and the public need to be given a way to make complaints about their media, be believes. Some media owners don't want regulations because they enjoy a lot of liberty without responsibility, he says.

De Oliveria believes other parts of the law also need to be discussed. He criticises the idea of foreign media having to be registered or having to let the government know that they are operating in Timor-Leste.

Radio Liberdade director Francisco da Silva Gari strongly criticises the government's move to implement media law changes. He suggests the government ought to look into corruption before restricting a fledgling media industry.

Undermines laws

The law impacts on peoples' rights to freedom of expression and undermines laws already passed by the East Timorese government, he says.

The government wants to dictate the qualification a journalist must have. It also wants journalists registered by a licence to operate and wants the power to revoke the licences.

Journalists and their media organisations will also be open to fines that Da Silva Gari believes are out of proportion to what a journalist earns and the small incomes Timor-Leste's media organisations actually have.

Everyone in the country has a right to freedom of expression according to law, he says – and that means journalists as well. People in Timor-Leste and expats living overseas want access to information about what is happening in the country and what the government is doing.

"This law restricts people who want to be journalists," he says. "The press council can stop a journalist working if they might be writing a story that is against their interest. They can withdraw the licence like that.

Asking permission

"Any journalists that come to Timor-Leste to cover stories [will] have to ask permission from the government. That is going back to the past."

For the past 10 years Timor-Leste journalists have been using a code of ethics. Each media outlet also has its own code of ethics guiding them to produce their stories, he says.

Da Silva says the government should remember the role media played in gaining independence from Timor-Leste. "The role of the media was very important by helping the community be distributing information. I think the leaders and politicians should think of this."

[Shannon Gillies is an independent New Zealand journalist based in Melbourne and a graduate of AUT University. She recently travelled to Timor-Leste.]

Source: http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/06/confusion-reigns-over-timor-lestes-controversial-new-media-law/

Labour & migrant workers

SEPFOPE registers 40 labour dispute cases in 2014

Dili Weekly - June 24, 2014

Paulina Quintao – From January until April 2014, the Secretariat of State for Vocational Training Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) through the National Directorate for Employment Relations (DNRT) registered 40 cases involving labour disputes between workers and employers.

The National Director of DNRT, Angela Dos Santos Veloso said the socialisation of Labour Regulation No.4/2012 partially explains the rise in labour dispute complaints and it shows workers increasingly understand the law.

"The complaints we receive are mainly regarding cases where employees do not have clear contracts or do not get paid the standard minimum wage set by the government of US$115," said Director Veloso from her office in Caicoli, Dili.

She added of the 40 cases, 10 were solved through mediation between SEPFOPE, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Timor-Leste (CCITL) and by the East Timor Syndicates Confederation (KSTL). Other complaints were subsequently dropped by the workers.

In 2013 the DNRT registered 293 cases and whilst 160 of the labour disputes were solved, other cases were dropped.

The DNRT also received complaints of violent abuses against workers and because the directorate does not deal with such cases, it recommended workers to bring their accusations to the police for subsequent criminal investigation.

Meantime worker Eugenio da Silva suggested that SEPFOPE should establish branch offices in the districts and sub-districts to collect complaints by workers because there are also many employers in the districts and in rural areas.

"I recommend SEPFOPE sets up boxes where workers can drop their complaints especially those working in the districts and who cannot bring their concerns to the capital," said Da Silva.

He proposed the inspector general ensures workers identities are protected if they make a complaint because workers fear losing their jobs if they come forward to file their concerns.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/news/12542-sepfope-registers-40-labour-dispute-cases-in-2014

Health & education

Lingering trauma impact of Timor-Leste's violent past

IRIN - June 30, 2014

Dili – Repeated bouts of violence in Timor Leste's recent past and a persistent sense of injustice have had a lasting mental health impact, new research shows. Researchers say recovery may require more than therapeutic interventions.

Results from a 2004-2010 mental health study showed that the conflict leading to Timor-Leste's 2002 independence had lasting mental health effects, and communal violence in 2006 which left 100,000 displaced exacerbated the situation.

"Our research shows that the strongest predictor, by far, of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is feelings of preoccupation with injustice related to multiple incidents," Belinda Liddell, a psychology professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and research director on the study, told IRIN.

"For example, if a respondent reported his brother had been disappeared during the Indonesian occupation, then also that he was now frustrated because his neighbour had received a pension [pay-out] from the government and he hadn't, that quadrupled the likelihood of him presenting with PTSD."

Liddell and her colleagues assessed more than 1,000 adults in a mix of rural and urban settings in Timor-Leste in 2010.

In 2004 researchers found 2.3 percent of participants exhibited PTSD. "That rate was much lower than one would expect," said Liddell, pointing to a 2010 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association that surveyed data from 181 mental health surveys across 40 countries and found an average PTSD rate among conflict-affected people of around 30 percent.

However, six years after the initial study in Timor-Leste, Liddell and her team found that 16.7 percent of respondents showed PTSD. The pattern, she explains, is linked to both repeated experiences of violence and protracted experiences of injustice. The solutions, researchers say, involve more than diagnoses of disorders.

Trauma

"Our staff hear stories even today about the violence in 1999," said Manual dos Santos, director of PRADET, a psychosocial recovery and development NGO in Dili, referring to the bout of violence that ravaged the country after a majority vote in a UN-administered independence referendum officially severed ties with Indonesia.

"People witnessing their families being killed are still dealing with the mental aspect of that experience," he said.

Mental health services in Timor-Leste, along with other infrastructure and social services, are weak. There were no specific mental health services in the country prior to 1999.

In a 2008 assessment that employed the Inter-Agency Standing Committee's (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, researchers noted that the country needed 300 mental health workers to provide appropriate care, but had only 15 at that time.

The government's 2011-2015 Mental Health Strategy acknowledges the ongoing – though improving – mental health service gap, and lists "post-conflict issues", including past experiences of violence, torture and persecution, death or disappearance of family members, and loss property, as risk factors for mental disorders.

However, some observers say the focus on trauma as a pathological issue might distract from the tangible causes and solutions. Emily Toome of RMIT University in Melbourne whose research investigates how trauma is understood in Timor-Leste argued: "Conditions diagnosed at the level of the individual have their grounding in broader socio-political contexts."

In a 2013 conference paper, Toome argued that the focus on psychological trauma as a potential trigger for renewed inter-personal tension or violence may be over-emphasizing diagnostic and clinical solutions, saying "remedies aimed at the psyche that come at the expense of the material may pose a greater threat to a sustainable and secure community." Toome told IRIN: "It's important to tease apart local meanings of suffering across mental and material dimensions, as well as structural and... spiritual."

Injustice-related mental health outcomes

Liddell explained that the injustice-related mental health outcomes captured in the longitudinal study were linked to a variety of factors, including religious beliefs.

"Burying the dead is very important in Timorese communities," she explained. "And if you have no closure to a loved one's death because there has been no investigation as to the location of the body, that unfinished business of the burial can produce a lot of stress."

While the Timorese justice system has become more formalized in recent years – including through a "mobile courts" initiative – inspiring increased confidence in the government to resolve disputes and legal matters, attention to past crimes has been limited.

According to the 2013 Timor-Leste Law & Justice Survey published by The Asia Foundation (TAF), "there has been very little progress in the pursuit of justice against defendants for past atrocities." Instead, TAF researchers argue, "events such as the 2009 release and repatriation of Indonesian citizen Maternus Bere, indicted for serious crimes including the killing of more than 30 unarmed civilians and three priests [in Timor- Leste] on 6 September 1999, only fuel the fire of frustration."

The stresses of material loss

According to PRADET's dos Santos, some clients presenting with mental health problems explain their experience in terms of material losses.

"During the Indonesian time, some people had a decent material life – house, motorbike. And after 1999 this changed dramatically," he said. "Their belongings were destroyed, and they were left with nothing – which triggered a lot of trauma and mental health problems."

The World Bank estimates that the 1999 violence destroyed 70 percent of Timor-Leste's infrastructure.

In a 2014 paper by Lao Hamutuk, a Dili-based policy analysis organization, researchers framed trauma in terms of persistent consequences for economic survival. "Many people are traumatized," the paper said. "Repeated unpredictable, uncontrollable interruptions to people's lives has taught them not to plan for or invest in the future."

"Mental health is related to conflict, human rights violations, and witnessing atrocities – we see this in our data," said Liddell. "But it's also related to poverty, access to livelihoods, and access to justice," she said, pointing to a mental health recovery theory called ADAPT – Adaptation and Development after Persecution and Trauma. ADAPT's creators argue that "frustration and disappointment with a failure to achieve social justice in the form of economic opportunities, social stability and good governance, are... typical of many post conflict societies," and "the restoration of a sense of justice will be a slow and piecemeal process, best advanced by a multi-sectoral, grassroots and participatory approach."

Timor-Leste, home to 1.1 million people, was a Portuguese colony before it was occupied by Indonesia in 1975, prompting a decades-long violent struggle during which hundreds of thousands of people perished due to conflict and famine; it achieved independence in 2002. In 2006, the country experienced widespread riots and conflict due to dissent within the army, which resulted in military intervention. (kk/cb)

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report/100281/lingering-trauma-impact-of-timor-leste-s-violent-past

The country where nearly two-thirds of men smoke

BBC Magazine - June 4, 2014

Peter Taylor Presenter, Burning Desire – East Timor has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, with nearly two-thirds of its men hooked on the habit. Why is one of South East Asia's poorest nations so addicted to tobacco?

Tobacco is part of the fabric of East Timor – walking through the dark alleyways of market stalls, the air is sweet with the smell of raw tobacco on sale among the neatly stacked piles of tomatoes, potatoes, squashes and beans.

Most cigarettes cost less than $1 (60p) a packet. They are stacked under large sun umbrellas bearing the logos of various brands, such as L.A. and Vinte e Tres.

All carry health warnings but these are effectively meaningless to many smokers – about half the adult population can't read.

In the capital, Dili, the iconic Marlboro cowboy still rides the range on posters above shops, despite having ridden into the sunset in most other countries where advertising is banned or restricted.

ccording to figures from the Journal of the American Medical Association, 33% of East Timor's population smoke every day. The figure for men stands at 61% – the highest in the world.

"Young people are smoking more and more each year, especially young boys," says Dr Jorge Luna, The World Health Organisation's local representative. "It is a very serious problem."

Almost half the population is under 15 and increasingly the demand, especially among the young, is for Western-type cigarettes, often sold singly from packets displayed invitingly along the roadside.

"One cigarette is 10 cents, if you buy two it's 20 cents, if you buy four it will be 25 cents," says Luna. Tobacco grown by small-scale farmers for roll-your-own cigarettes is even cheaper than the named brands that are often imported from neighbouring Indonesia.

East Timor's schools have virtually no health education with regard to smoking. "I've witnessed first-hand teachers who smoke while teaching [while] they're there on the blackboard writing," says Luc Sabot, East Timor's director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. "The whole school system has absolutely no regulation on tobacco use in school."

Near one school, I watch a young man, cigarette in hand, sitting astride a motorbike with a Marlboro logo, casually chatting to a young woman.

The scene reminds me of a controversial advertising campaign for Vinte e Tres that ran in the capital last year, depicting a cool looking young man, clad in black, on a black motorbike.

The slogan read defiantly "Proud of Yourself". Initially the posters contained no health warnings, and after protests from health campaigners they were taken down.

They were then put back up again, this time with a small warning at the bottom. When the campaign had run its course, some of the banners became improvised wall coverings for tin-roofed shacks.

And in East Timor you can smoke anywhere. The air in bars, restaurants, hotel lobbies and cafes is invariably full of smoke. There's only one exception – a sparkling new shopping mall owned by a passionate anti- smoker where smoking is prohibited.

Even the prime minister is a heavy smoker. Xanana Gusmao was one of the guerrilla leaders who fought the Indonesians after they had annexed East Timor in 1975 and before the country achieved its independence in 2002.

He was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment before his release prior to independence. He says that cigarettes kept him and his comrades going when they were fighting in the bush and that an Indonesian bullet was far more dangerous than smoking.

He admits he's an addict, having tried unsuccessfully to give up three times, and admits he's not a good role model. When I ask him about banning cigarette advertising, he repeats what is tantamount to the tobacco industry's line.

"The law, banning this, banning that, will not be so effective. It needs education [and] it will take time but I believe that the more people are aware of the diseases that it can cause, the more they are able to stop by themselves."

But the prime minister's feisty Australian wife, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, is a committed anti-cancer campaigner, She had breast cancer herself, and is concerned about the increasing number of young smokers.

"Tobacco companies in Indonesia and elsewhere are targeting very much young people who are conscious of image, conscious of 'the cool factor'," she says.

Some, she says, were as young as 10 and 11. The tobacco industry, however, always vehemently denies it targets children.

As yet, East Timor's hospitals are not overrun with patients suffering from smoking related diseases as the young have not been smoking cigarettes long enough to incubate them.

At the moment the big killer is tuberculosis but Dr Dan Murphy, a Canadian who's been running a local hospital and clinic in Dili for 20 years, is worried about the future.

Some 80% of the world's smokers live in developing countries and "young people are learning that what they're supposed to do to be Western and advanced is to smoke cigarettes," he says.

"Now we have to change their whole way of thinking and start worrying about tomorrow. I'm afraid we're going to have to go through a phase of learning the hard lesson that's been seen throughout poor countries."

He isn't convinced that the government is serious about tackling the problem – the tobacco lobby, he says, is powerful.

"They can make it seem like [smoking] is something that's a pleasure, something that adds to your life and puts meaning on your life. You're up against a propaganda machine – for cigarettes, smoking and the image. And that's a tough battle."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27677882

Sexual & domestic violence

Public ministry proposes amendment to Penal Code to criminalize incest

Dili Weekly - June 24, 2014

Paulina Quintao – The General Prosecutor for the Republic of Timor-Leste (PGR), Jose Ximenes said that the Public Ministry submitted a proposal for amendment of the Penal Code to the Ministry of Justice to add an article criminalizing incest.

PGR Ximenes added incest is a serious problem and it needs to be given maximum attention as it affects the credibility and the dignity of Timor- Leste as a predominantly catholic country.

"After I accepted the mandate of Prosecutor General, I held discussions with legal organisations. They believe we need to make changes to the penal code. We need to add an article that criminalizes incest, whether it is consensual or not it should be a crime," said PGR Ximenes during a ceremony to launch the annual report of ALFELA organisation that provides legal assistance to women and children, in Vila Verde, Dili.

He said also the PGR's office cannot amend legislation and that is the competence of the National Parliament and of the Government but so far both institutions have not yet pronounced on the proposal submitted to the Ministry of Justice. "I urge members of parliament to pay due attention to this matter."

Meanwhile, ALFELA's Director Merlita Correia said she has concerns with this matter because the number of incest cases has increased in Timor- Leste.

"We are still working together with legal organizations including JSMP and advocating at every level so this issue is taken more seriously and so that this immoral practice is criminalized," said Director Correia.

The Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality (SEPI), Idelta Maria Rodrigues said that SEPI will coordinate with the Ministry of Justice to study the recommendations from civil society and others on the issue of incest.

"Incest is not part of the law against domestic violence therefore the Public Ministry recommended this amendment. There is a process that needs to be followed and SEPI will coordinate with the Ministry of Justice about this issue."

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/news/12544-public-ministry-proposes-amendment-to-penal-code-to-criminalize-incest

Armed forces & defense

PNTL and F-FDTL elements in trouble with the law

Dili Weekly - June 25, 2014

Venidora Oliveira – NGO Belun's Early Attention and Response Program identified 17 members of the national police force PNTL and of the national defence forces F-FDTL involved in crimes.

The Director of the NGO Luis Ximenes said the 17 elements were identified from January to April 2014 and includes 10 members of the PNTL and 7 from the F-FDTL.

"These elements were involved in physical violent crime, such as beatings, punching and threats to others," said Director Ximenes. He added the crimes took place mainly in the capital Dili. "The complaints came from the community in Dili in larger numbers."

The reports and complaints were compiled and submitted to the Secretariat of State for Security and to the Secretariat of State for Defence so measures can be put in place.

President of the Republic, Taur Matan Ruak, also the Supreme Commander of the PNTL and the F-FDTL acknowledged the issue of elements of the PNTL and F-FDTL involved in crimes.

"The president will register theses cases and the president will ask the command of PNTL and F-FDTL to seek more information and find solutions to these challenges," said President Taur Matan Ruak.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/capital/12548-pntl-and-f-fdtl-elements-in-trouble-with-the-law

Global Komited, Timor Leste defence forces sign RM2.2 million contract

Bernama - June 10, 2014

Kuala Lumpur – Global Komited Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Weststar Group of Companies, has signed a RM2.2 million contract for the supply of 10 initial Weststar General Service (GS) cargo military vehicles with the Defence Forces of Timor Leste.

In a statement on Tuesday, Weststar said the contract was signed in Dili and the delivery of the vehicles was due to be completed within four months of the contract signing.

"Following months of negotiations and trials, the Defence Forces of Timor Leste has agreed to procure the Weststar GS cargo utility vehicle as part of its military vehicle line-up expansion exercise.

Weststar Group Senior Vice President, Datuk Nik Hamdan Nil Hassan, said the initial batch of 10 units was part of the 50 units to be delivered in the pipeline later this year. "The total worth of the contract is estimated to amount to about RM11 million," he said.

The light utility Weststar GS Cargo military vehicles, currently being used by the Malaysian Armed Forces, are customised and fabricated utilising 40 per cent of parts and materials sourced locally in Malaysia.

Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=1045014

Mining & energy

East Timor plans first onshore bid round

Oil and Gas Journal - June 20, 2014

Rick Wilkinson, Melbourne – The Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (East Timor) is planning its first bid round for onshore acreage toward the end of this year.

The country's Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Alfredo Pires, said recently that his department is considering adding an onshore acreage release to the proposed next round of offshore permit bidding.

Timor Leste has known onshore oil and gas seeps, particularly along the south coast where 20 such occurrences have been documented. Several have been exploited by the local population by digging pits and bailing out the oil for domestic use.

The region was of prime interest to the Japanese during its occupation of Timor during WWII.

An Australian company called Timor Oil NL had leases granted by the Portuguese colonial government over the region during the late 1960s and early 1970s until the country's annexation by Indonesia in the mid-1970s. Despite this the seepages have never been officially explored.

Details of the new bid round are expected late this year or early 2015. Pires said his government planned to create a special consortium that will be allocated part of the onshore areas to undertake exploration under a production sharing contract.

He added that Timor Leste wanted to take leadership and initiative in exploring onshore and in getting some economic partnerships and momentum going.

Source: http://www.ogj.com/articles/2014/06/east-timor-plans-first-onshore-bid-round.html

Analysis & opinion

Whoever is president, Timor Leste is a priority

Jakarta Post - June 10, 2014

Kristio Wahyono, Yogyakarta – When it was a non-self governing territory under the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Timor Leste was the first neighbor former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid visited in February 2000.

Two years later, Gus Dur's successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri attended a ceremony to mark the territory's independence and the swearing in of president-elect Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao in Dili. Megawati dismissed objection from the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Whoever wins the presidential election in July, either Joko "Jokowi" Widodo or Prabowo Subianto, should consider a Dili a priority trip before engagement in the regional and multilateral levels.

The new president will also need to maintain the tradition for a new ASEAN member head of state to visit the nine regional neighbors as well as attend the ASEAN summit scheduled for Nov. 9-10.

A trip to Timor Leste will be strategic as the two nations could address issues such as strategic partnership, economic cooperation and, if necessary, sensitive matters. In May 2012, President Suslio Bambang Yudhoyono visited Dili to attend the 10th anniversary of the country's independence and inauguration of president-elect, Jose Maria Vasconcelos, known as Taur Matan Ruak.

Back in 1986 Taur was deputy chief of staff of Fretilin's armed wing, which was responsible for all guerrilla operations throughout, what was then, East Timor and Yudhoyono was the commander of the 744th Battalion in the territory.

Yudhoyono made his first trip to Dili as President in April 2005. He laid a wreath at the Santa Cruz Cemetery, a move deemed to be the clearest symbol yet of the improving ties between the two neighbors since Timor Leste broke away from Indonesia in 1999.

But in recent months allegations of human rights violations involving Prabowo have intensified. Jemma Purdey voiced the opinion that as an soldier Prabowo had four tours to East Timor and led units that were "involved in some very extreme instances of violence".

Many believe that Prabowo also played a role in the 1983 massacre in Kraras, known as the village of widows, which killed many East Timorese. Prabowo protested in the strongest terms and refuted the scurrilous allegations in a letter to the editor of The Jakarta Post on Dec. 27, 2013.

During my immediate past tenure as Indonesian representative in East Timor (2000-2003) then president Gusmao asked me to facilitate and seek information concerning the remains of Timorese national hero, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato.

It is not clear where, when and how he was actually killed and "brought to Indonesia". Reports at the time said Lobato was shot by the unit led by, then captain, Prabowo.

New pleas have been submitted to the Indonesian diplomat in Dili on the occasion of every commemoration of Timor Leste Independence Day. The issue has been highly sensitive in relations between the two countries for years. Lobato is one of the founding members of the Fretilin Party and regarded as the first prime minister of Timor Leste. He was killed in an ambush in December 1978, three years after Indonesia entered East Timor.

Human rights violations between April 1974 and October 1999 committed by both ABRI/Indonesian Military (TNI) and Fretilin/Falintil – including the 1978 and 1983 incidents – are comprehensively recorded in the five-volume book with 3,557 pages of the (Independent) Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) titled Chega!

Over the last decade the situation has dramatically changed. The TNI has stepped up cooperation with its Timor Leste counterpart, encompassing education, training and capacity building. The agreement was reached when TNI Comm. Gen. Djoko Santoso met his Timor Leste counterpart Taur in 2009.

A year later Taur visited Indonesia to follow up cooperation on maritime security, military staff and college training and education and border control, particularly in the Tunubibi and Tilomar posts.

Despite the negative perception of the TNI's past role in Timor Leste, as far as Prabowo is concerned, I believe the time is right for him to announce his first state visit to Timor Leste if elected president, considering his past duties in the territory.

The important reason why Timor Leste should be the first country Jokowi or Prabowo visits is related to Gusmao's resignation as prime minister sometime in September or October. The frontrunner in the race for the post is almost certainly Minister for State Agio Pereira.

Whoever leads Indonesia and Timor Leste, smooth transition of power in the two countries is required. Assuming that Dili receives confirmation from Jakarta concerning the new president's visit before the ASEAN summit, Gusmao should postpone his resignation until November or December.

Gusmao will leave the stage amidst growing state failure and rampant mismanagement. Despite the huge international support and oil money, Timor Leste remains fragile. The country has accumulated more than US$10 billion since independence in 2002 from offshore and oil gas exploitation, yet according to Siktus Harson, on ucanews.com, it remains a low-income country, with extreme poverty and complex social problems.

State failure in Timor Leste has the potential to severely impact on regional security and subsequently should be of common responsibility for the region, particularly its next-door neighbor, to prevent it from happening. The writer, a former Indonesian representative to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), is a guest lecturer in Yogyakarta and Bandung.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/06/10/whoever-president-timor-leste-a-priority.html


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